ManxIX Appoint LINX as Technical Partner

The London Internet Exchange (LINX) today announces it has been selected as the technical partner for the new Internet Exchange Point (IXP) on the Isle of Man, ManxIX.

ManxIX, the first and only Internet exchange on the Isle of Man was launched last year. The IXP is based in the BlueWave Carrier Neutral data centre site in Douglas, and currently provides colocation and connectivity solutions for several local and national networks.

The ambition for having an IXP on the island was to not only make traffic routing more efficient by keeping local traffic moving quickly and efficiently between residents on the Island, but also to provide better quality access to media content.

The new partnership with LINX has been established to provide a high grade, future proof technical set up, using the tried and tested LINX set up of a disaggregated network solution.

Professor Adam Beaumont, Founder and Chair of ManxIX says;

“By working with LINX for our technical set up we are able to deliver high quality 1G and 10G peering services for our members, with room to grow and at a cost-effective price point. Having co-founded IXLeeds in 2008, I felt that we wanted to concentrate on community building and outsource the management of the technical layer to LINX.”

“ManxIX remains a not-for-profit mutual, formed to help reduce the cost of internet bandwidth on the Isle of Man and also increase quality and throughput, allowing the Island to retain and attract digital businesses.”

This new partnership comes part of a wider offering from LINX after being approached by several global IXPs for guidance on both a technical and strategic level.

Nurani Nimpuno, is Head of Global Engagement at LINX,

“As a leading, global interconnection provider, we pride ourselves on delivering the best service possible with world class engineering. Our new Managed IXP service is designed to give others access to our proven hardware, management software and portals, and lean on our expert engineers to deliver a modern, efficient Internet Exchange.”

“We are on hand to assist as much or as little as our partners need, from solely a technical provision like with our new partnership with ManxIX to more strategic support that includes sales and marketing collaborations.”

LINX launched the World’s first disaggregated network using EVPN technology set up back in 2018 when they moved their LON2 interconnection platform in London from a sole supplier to a dual set up with Edgecore Networks for the hardware and IP Infusion for software. The engineering team at LINX tested various vendors during the proof-of-concept period and found the open-source solution best for flexibility, cost and growth.

Networks join Internet exchanges like LINX and ManxIX traditionally to increase network resilience and control, whilst reducing latency and specifically for ManxIX and LINX’s regional interconnection hubs, in order to decrease overall traffic backhaul costs toward London and other regional hubs.

Alfred Cannan MHK, Minister for the Treasury, Isle of Man, comments:

“The Isle of Man is home to a rapidly expanding digital industry, particularly in new technologies such as AI, Blockchain and Reg-Tech. The exchange will allow faster routing of internet traffic on the island, providing more efficient video collaboration, better access to high-definition content and also provide an important component in rolling out 5G connectivity. The internet exchange is highly important digital infrastructure and is a great example of private sector cooperation for the benefit of all.”.

ManxIX, powered by LINX, follows on from the launch of JEDIX, powered by LINX back in 2018 with STC and paves the way for more IXs to benefit from LINX’s 25 years of industry experience, for the good of the global Internet community.