Decoding Interconnection: The Backbone of Every Data Center
The role of Data Centers has become more important than ever due to the implosion of data triggered by the fast pace of digital transformation accelerated by the pandemic.
This has resulted in enterprises shying away from the traditional siloed approach of storing all mission-critical data in a single Data Center. Today, to ensure seamless business continuity and on-demand scalability, organisations invest in diversified Data Centers to manage their sensitive business data.
Which is why it is not surprising that over 40 percent of enterprises use a combination of Private and Hybrid Cloud ecosystems to distribute their data workloads. With expert management, advanced technologies, and significantly lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) proving to be the key differentiators, an increasing number of organisations are migrating to multiple Data Centers to fulfill the intensive computing power needed by their modern applications.
And this is where the challenge lies. The data exchange between these physical and virtual infrastructures needs to be rapid and secure. In such complex scenarios with multiple moving parts, a viable Interconnection strategy provides an integrated and resilient mesh of connectivity.
Decoding Interconnection
What is Interconnection?
Interconnection refers to a tight-knit, unified network between diverse IT components spread across the entire Data Center ecosystem.
Interconnection not only includes direct connectivity between multiple Data Centers spread across disparate locations, but also includes direct and unhindered connectivity to diverse Internet Service Providers, Internet Exchanges, Cloud Service Providers, Customers, and other partners.
The true power of Interconnection is best harnessed at Carrier-neutral Colocation Data Centers that house distributed IT assets within the same facility.
Why is Interconnection so important?
The rapid migration to Cloud and diversification in the types of Cloud is one of the primary reasons for the growing importance of Interconnection.
With organisations now increasingly using a combination of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) providers to offer customers and employees low-latency network connectivity, Data Centers can no longer afford to operate in silos.
To share data, provide backups, and enable greater resiliency, Data Centers must ensure a smooth transport of critical data assets across any distance. Interconnections ecosystems have the inherent ability to seamlessly support simultaneous connections to diverse entities and IT components thereby establishing a sophisticated network architecture that significantly reduces costs and improves performance.
By cohesively integrating digital infrastructure and services at software-defined speeds in a secure environment, Interconnection accelerates scalability and ramps up network agility to build a strong foundation of an always-ready digital ecosystem.
What are the different types of Interconnection?
Interconnection can be broadly categorised in four types:
1. Peering Exchange
A Peering Exchange is the direct connection between two or more network carriers without any third-party involvement. Usually carried out through an Internet Exchange Point (IXP), Peering Exchanges ensure that a network can seamlessly peer with multiple other networks through a single connection.
2.Cross-Connect
Cross-connect refers to the direct hardware linkage (via cables, cords, etc.) between multiple IT components within a Data Center.
Colocation Data Centers offer an added advantage by facilitating seamless connectivity to multiple Cloud Service Providers and Internet Service Providers through a single cross-connect within the same Data Center premise.
3.Inter-Site Connectivity
Inter-site connectivity is a physical or virtual link between two or more facilities in the Colocation Data Center’s network. The fundamental idea with this type of Interconnection is to provide limitless scale and network-leveraging properties within a single facility.
Load balancing, traffic management, and undisrupted connections are some of the tangible benefits, along with access to remote locations through regional Interconnection hubs.
4. Blended IP
Blended IP involves a Colocation Data Center working with upstream carriers and multiple ISPs to create an SLA-backed solution. Such network architectures develop a variety of redundancies, thus ensuring a seamless performance across providers. It saves the organisation from negotiating with different ISPs and delivers better transitions than a single provider.
How to Choose A Data Center with The Best Interconnection Ecosystem?
Choosing the right Data Center depends on multiple factors. Much depends on the traffic and capacity needs of the organisation, dividing the priorities between scalability and pay-as-you-go models.
In line with the organisation’s data management objectives, an ideal Data Center should address the following:
1. Carrier Neutrality
Carrier availability is one of the few make-or-break decision parameters for any enterprise. With the proliferation of multiple Telcos, ISPs, CSPs, and Internet Exchanges, the need for a ‘home base’ that is neutral and one that offers the maximum choice of these service providers becomes overwhelmingly imperative.
It is precisely in this context that Interconnection becomes so crucial. Since each organisation has its own set of vendors-of-choice for different services, an ideal Data Center should have a robust and carrier-agnostic Interconnection ecosystem that ensures that organisations have a wide range of vendor choices that cohesively integrate with their existing WAN ecosystem.
2. Locational Proximity
When mapping out the physical route of the network, the shortest distance possible must be aimed for. Since the latency (a measure of time) increases as data travels from one Data Center to another, Interconnection should happen at carrier-neutral exchange points that are in close proximity of each other.
3. Scalability
High capacity and seamless scalability should be facilitated without a massive infusion of CAPEX. Data Centers with cohesive Interconnection networks allow the system to margin and support applications from the metro to sub-sea areas within a single platform.
With the rapidly changing demand for network availability, the Interconnection network should be such that it seamlessly facilitates reactive load sharing during traffic spikes.
4. Instant Access to Multiple ISPs, IXs, CDNs, and CSPs
An ideal Data Center provider will have long-term partnerships with all the major Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Internet Exchanges (IXs), Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), and Cloud Service Providers (CSPs). This not only ensures that organisations have a wide range of service providers to choose from but only makes rapid scalability a relatively easy task by aggregating resources for enhanced flexibility.
5. Integration with Financial Services
Consumer-facing industries such as e-commerce, health, finance, and public services need a seamless Interconnection network between different service providers and third-party organisations. This includes banks, payment gateways, payment processors, certifying authorities, CSPs, etc. An ideal Data Center provider should have a tightknit integration with all major financial service providers for cohesive data transmissions and operational transitions.
To Sum It Up
Advancements in the Interconnection ecosystem have set new benchmarks for virtualisation and scalability. With IT teams running to ramp up the flexibility within their systems, an organisation should look for Data Center providers that can leverage the back-office applications with highly programmable platforms.
In all scenarios, the digital transformation must break the traditional confines of IT and Data Center architecture, delivering capacity and processing power on demand.
Interconnection at distributed points in vendor-neutral, Colocation Data Centers is how this can be achieved going forward.
Web Werks’s robust Interconnection ecosystem offers an unparalleled diversity of Internet Service Providers, Internet Exchanges, Cloud On-ramp Services, and physical as well as virtual cross-connects.
Comprising of a rich fabric of local, regional, national, and global Tier 1 Carriers, 180+ ISPs, major Content Delivery Networks, and Cloud Service Providers, Web Werks’s robust Interconnection ecosystem facilitates flawless connectivity to India’s largest Peering Exchanges like DE-CIX, Extreme IX, and NIXI, along with Cloud On-ramp services for major Hyperscale CSPs like AWS, Azure, and Google.
To learn how Web Werks can help your organisation redefine its Data Center experience, please visit https://www.webwerks.in or get in touch with us on +91 8828 335 555, and we shall reach out to you in a jiffy.
