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DET-IX Brings Google Into MichiganFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Heather Leigh [email protected] (250) 863-3518 Addition of Google to Internet Exchange Opens Fast Lane for Economic Recovery In Detroit DETROIT – Few cities have been hit harder by 2008’s recession than Detroit, but hope is on the horizon. The city’s emerging tech scene received a big boost last year in the form of its own Internet peering exchange, part of an effort by local Internet and colocation service provider 123Net. In 2016, growth opportunities for technology in Detroit are looking better still with last week’s addition of Internet goliath Google to the exchange. Peering allows Internet carriers to reduce network latency while increasing reliability. Put simply, end-users receive a quicker, more stable Internet connection. The Detroit Internet Exchange, or DET-IX, was formed in December, 2014, and has quickly grown to include 17 participants, including content-delivery network Akamai and, as of Jan. 25, Google. Until their first peering session was turned up last Monday, Detroit’s Google traffic had to be routed through Chicago. Bringing the search giant into the exchange will improve cost, speed and performance results for local Internet users and businesses. “I’m thrilled with the early DET-IX progress, and anticipate another year of double-digit peer growth,” said Ryan Duda, chief technology officer for 123Net. “The focus is to continue to press Michigan networks to interconnect and exchange traffic locally. We can accomplish this by leaving the 123Net data centers and vast Michigan fiber network.” Funded entirely by 123Net, DET-IX launched in December 2014. Soon after, Duda contacted Aptient Consulting Group’s Chris Phillips, a veteran peering negotiator. Phillips was able to leverage his relationships in the Internet peering community to bring in large, attractive peering partners, such as Google and Netflix. Detroit and surrounding regions now have faster and more reliable Internet as a result, which Duda and Phillips hope will help the metro area attract even more suitors to its burgeoning technology scene. “By using peering relationships with high-demand networks like Google and Netflix, partners in Detroit will significantly reduce cost and latency.” Phillips said. “Not every Detroiter will know what Internet peering is, but they probably will notice their YouTube videos are loading a little more quickly this week.” One company that isn’t profiting directly from DET-IX, however, is 123Net. Although 123Net funded the DET-IX effort in its entirety, Duda said the Internet exchange is – and will remain – free to any network that wants to connect. Watching Detroit recover – and helping its Internet catch up – is reward enough. About 123.Net 123.Net is a Michigan business, privately owned and managed by a team of accomplished Michiganders with strong engineering backgrounds and proven success. Headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, 123Net has been successfully providing voice, data, and colocation infrastructure services to enterprises, carriers, ISPs and technology companies for over 15 years. 123Net currently operates a 100Gbps+ IP network connected to multiple global transit carriers, including Cogent, Comcast, GTT, Level 3, TeliaSonera, Verizon, XO Communications and others.123Net operates four Tier 3 data centers in Michigan. Four metro fiber rings and long-haul fiber networks span 2,700 route miles and cover 70 nodes across Michigan. About Aptient Aptient Consulting Group is an international team with an emphasis on service-provider technologies and network security, comprising engineers specializing in network design, implementation and optimization; hardware integration, optimization and management; and peering strategy and negotiation. ### As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments. |