IX-API Drives Innovation in Internet Exchange Standards

Last year saw a landmark year of growth and evolution for the IX-API initiative, a leading player in the internet exchange landscape, having successfully propelled the standard forward through significant developments and collaborations. The year 2023 has seen groundbreaking enhancements in the specification, notable progress in open-source implementations, and increased interest from both existing and new implementors.

Evolution in Specification:

The standout achievement in was the major expansion of the specification to include, for the first time, an extension to layer 3. This extension encompasses routing functions and BGP configuration for cloud services, marking a pivotal moment in the evolution of the standard. Additionally, a new proposed and approved specification for peers’ statistics and the sharing of remaining available capacity among peers has been introduced. Notably, DE-CIX’s proprietary extension to the specification for Cloud Router has been accepted into the core specification, highlighting the collaborative and inclusive nature of the IX-API community.

Progress in Open Source Implementation and Deployment:

IX-API has demonstrated its commitment to open-source initiatives, making strides in the development and deployment of the standard:

1. A Terraform provider, now the de facto standard in infrastructure as code, has been successfully developed with over 1000 downloads this year. The provider is accessible on the official Terraform Registry , providing a seamless experience for infrastructure management.
2. The Peering Manager , a widely used tool in the internet exchange ecosystem, has fully integrated IX-API. A dedicated open-source IX-API client in Python, pyixapi, has been developed for Peering Manager, allowing users to remotely manage peering services at any participating IXP. The recently released Peering Manager v1.8 features this client, bringing enhanced capabilities to the community.
3. The network statistics feature introduced in version 2.4 of the specification is no longer theoretical; it has been successfully implemented and released by LINX, further validating the practical impact of IX-API’s standards.

Diverse Implementors and New Entrants:

IX-API continues to foster a diverse ecosystem with contributions from existing implementors and the addition of new players in the field. Besides the well-known existing implementations of AMS-IX, DE-CIX, LINX and Digital Realty (Interxion Cloud Connect, SEE-CIX and Terraco Africa Cloud Exchange), we see new players in the arena, foremost JP-NAP and France-IX, showing interest and willing contribute.

The inclusion of new implementors reflects the growing interest and recognition of the value that IX-API brings to the internet exchange landscape.

Richard Petrie, CTO of LINX:

“The implementation and release of the network statistics feature by LINX mark a tangible step forward for IX-API’s standards. It is gratifying to see theoretical advancements materialize into practical solutions. LINX remains dedicated to the collaborative spirit of IX-API, and we anticipate these developments will foster a more robust and efficient internet exchange ecosystem.”