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Operational Policies

Peering is the exchange of routing information between separate IP networks. It is limited to the exchange of your routing information and traffic, as opposed to IP transit, where access to the entire internet is provided.

Note: Most peering participants continue to use IP transit providers to reach end users or services that are unavailable through peering.

Peering includes:

  • Diverse geographical coverage with a global Equinix Internet Exchange platform
  • Ability to publicly peer through Internet Exchange, or privately peer through Cross Connects within Equinix IBX Ecosystems
  • Flexible connectivity options at speeds ranging from 1 Gbps (1 Gigabit Ethernet) to 100 Gbps (100 Gigabit Ethernet)
  • Easily mitigate DDoS attack with Remote Triggered Black Hole (RTBH) filtering
  • Dual-stack IPv4 and IPv6 support
  • Route server-based Multi-Lateral Peering Exchange (MLPE) to reduce the number of peering sessions

Following operational policies are followed by the Equinix Internet Exchange (IX):

  1. No Spanning-Tree Protocol – To remove layer 2 loop issues, participating networks must not run Spanning-Tree Protocol, or other Layer 2 broadcast protocols on their IX-facing switch port. To enforce this policy, the IX runs a brief testing period before initial turn-up and any MAC address change.

  2. One Network (IP and MAC address) per Port – To maintain IX service availability, Equinix restricts IX participants to one MAC address and an IP address behind each port. This allows Equinix to keep away abusive traffic, diagnose traffic at its source, and contact the peering network in violation of the policies to remedy an issue.

  3. Autonomous System Number (ASN) – ASN is a unique identification number for your network on the internet. You have the following options when connecting to the internet:

    • You can have multiple ASNs.
    • You can have multiple ports with one ASN.
    • You cannot have more than one ASN on a port.

  4. Operational Monitoring – The Regional NOC monitors all routers and switches for status and alarms. Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) traps are leveraged for detecting alerts like:

    • Change in port status
    • Change in line card status
    • Missed SNMP polls from events, like power loss or reboot