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    HomeCloud/NFVUpgraded global platform simplifies management of multi-cloud infrastructure

    Upgraded global platform simplifies management of multi-cloud infrastructure

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    Equinix says its infrastructure now directly connects businesses to clouds, networks and services between 37 markets across five continents.

    The global data centre and interconnection firm completed the latest upgrade to its Platform Equinix, introducing what it calls Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric (ECX Fabric) in 37 markets on five continents.

    The Fabric enables customers to connect to multiple clouds in other regions directly and set up on-demand network connections between Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific region.

    Put another way, the upgraded interconnection service allows any organisation to connect its own distributed infrastructure to any other company’s distributed infrastructure, including the world’s largest network service and cloud providers, via Platform Equinix.

    They can streamline their access to Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and Google Cloud.

    Primary connections

    Customers can use the ECX Fabric as a primary connection between Equinix International Business Exchange data centres or to complement their networks — such as Ethernet or MPLS — for data centre-to-data centre connections.

    Those connections could be to link metros, handle seasonal spikes in traffic or offload lower value traffic, or for short-term projects temporarily needing more bandwidth.

    The Fabric is enabled by software-defined networking and customers access it via a new self-service portal user and an API.

    More than 1,400 customers are using the Fabric, including enterprises, cloud and network service providers, have established more than 14,900 active virtual connections.

    According to a market study published by Equinix, the capacity for private data exchange between enterprises, cloud and network service providers is forecast to grow nearly 10 times faster than public internet traffic by 2021.

    Redefining cloud’s parameters

    Brad Casemore, VP, Datacenter Networking, from research house IDC, commented, “The imperative of digital transformation is driving enterprises to adopt multi-cloud strategies, which entail complex management of multi-cloud environments.

    “As their applications become increasingly distributed, residing in on-premises data centres and public clouds, organisations are finding that the parameters of what constitutes a datacenter network must be redefined.

    “In this context, IDC finds that interconnection architectures at the digital edge are becoming integral elements of a comprehensive network for the cloud era. The geographic expansion of ECX Fabric will play a valuable role in helping companies accelerate their digital transformation initiatives through having the ability to instantly deploy flexible, interconnection-oriented network architectures worldwide.”

    Location, location

    ECX Fabric is available in 37 cities including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Culpeper, Dallas, Denver, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Manchester, Melbourne, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Osaka, Paris, Perth, São Paulo, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Warsaw, Washington DC and Zurich.