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Cloud Computing to Boom with New Cloud Exchange?

Companies that have been making the transition to the cloud have been relying on the open Internet for mission-critical business. But security, performance and vendor lock-in concerns plagued them when they accessed multiple clouds and multiple networks across the globe. Equinix is aiming to allay these concerns with the launching of its Equinix (News - Alert) Cloud Exchange.

Available in many markets worldwide, Equinix Cloud Exchange gives enterprises secure and direct access to cloud services, multiple ways to connect multiple clouds across multiple sites — faster, easier, more reliably and affordably than using the open Internet. Direct connections within the data center are known to be more secure and reliable and have lower latency than public Internet connections.

"Just as it was with the Internet, the key to realizing the business benefits of the cloud is how well connected it is," said Ihab Tarazi, chief technology officer at Equinix.   By utilizing direct access via the Equinix Cloud Exchange, businesses no longer have to compromise on these essential requirements when accessing cloud providers."

The fact that Equinix has both an extensive ecosystem of network and cloud service providers and a global data center footprint is seen as a great advantage. Equinix is home to more than 450 cloud services providers, and the number is growing. As more join the Cloud Exchange, service providers and users can connect to more participants over a single physical port, enabling organizations extend their market reach and increase privacy, performance and reliability of cloud service connections.

Business enterprises, IT service companies, software as a service providers and cloud enablers can now avail cloud resources at a higher throughput, scale their businesses globally, and accelerate time to market without being bothered about security issues.

In fact, tests run in the Equinix Solution Validation Center showed increased throughput of 147 percent when connecting directly to the cloud as compared to public Internet connections.

As of now, businesses can join the Equinix Cloud Exchange and connect to the currently existing 13 markets globally and to more later, with planned expansions into 13 additional markets by the end of the year. In addition, Equinix is working with other key cloud and network service providers to provide access to their services via the Cloud Exchange.

Enterprises moving to the cloud are thus in for a new level of direct, secure interconnectivity that allows access to a wide range of cloud services.


Edited by Rory J. Thompson