Hong Kong Internet Exchange

Hong Kong Internet eXchange
Full name Hong Kong Internet eXchange
Abbreviation HKIX
Founded 1995
Location Hong Kong
Website www.hkix.net
Members 283[1] (see Members)
Peak in 1.167 Tbit/s[2]
Peak out 1.154 Tbit/s[2]
Daily in (avg.) 539.427 Gbit/s[2]
Daily out (avg.) 538.335 Gbit/s[2]
Hong Kong Internet Exchange
Traditional Chinese 香港互聯網交換中心
Simplified Chinese 香港互联网交换中心

Hong Kong Internet eXchange (HKIX; Chinese: 香港互聯網交換中心) is an internet exchange point in Hong Kong. The cooperative project is initiated by the Information Technology Services Centre (ITSC) of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) providing the service free of charge.[3] It is now operated by HKIX Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the CUHK Foundation.[4]

The aim of the HKIX is to connect Internet service providers (ISPs) in Hong Kong so that intra-Hong Kong traffic can be exchanged locally without routing through the US or other countries.[5] 99% internet interaction in Hong Kong goes through the centre, and HKIX acts as Hong Kong's network backbone.[6] According to CloudFlare, HKIX is the largest internet exchange point in Asia.[7]

History

It was founded in April 1995 by Chinese University of Hong Kong. It reduced Hong Kong's reliance on US web servers and therefore made internet performance in Hong Kong faster.[5]

In 2004, the HKIX2 back-up mirror site was created, which is located at CITIC Telecom Tower.[8] CITIC's major shareholders and directors are appointed by the PRC Government.

In 2009, HKIX announced their collaboration with Cisco Systems to deploy the Nexus 7000 series switch technology, marking HKIX the first among the world's leading internet exchanges.[9][10]

As of 2013 the exchange handles 280 gigabits of information per second during its peak times every day. Chinese University stated that the amount of information is equivalent to 17,000 five megapixel photographs. In 2013, Edward Snowden said that the National Security Agency gained access to the backbone and took data from it. Chinese University said that it did not find evidence of hacking.[5][11]

In February 2017, it was announced that 3 more sites were launched in data centres located in Fo Tan and Tseung Kwan O.[12][13]

Background

The concept of an "Internet Exchange" is very important after the NSFNet Backbone faded away because IAPs had to be interconnected to maintain full connectivity to the entire Internet.

In Hong Kong, the situation is a little bit different. Many of the IAPs in Hong Kong have their own links to the US. They have to connect to each other locally only in order to have faster and less expensive access to local sites. In addition, there are some commercial Internet Exchanges in Hong Kong for routing traffic within the city.[4]

Facilities

Core sites

The HKIX1 is located on the Sha Tin campus of Chinese University. The door of the building that houses it has no sign. Danny Lee of the South China Morning Post said that the building that houses it is a "grey, bunker-like structure could easily pass for any other building" at the university.[5]

HKIX1b is an extension to HKIX1, and is interconnected with HKIX1 by multiple 100 Gbit/s links. The data center is close to University Station, and is less than 2 km from HKIX1 (fiber distance). The main purpose of establishing HKIX1b is to offer dual-core for high availability and for supporting more port connections.[14]

Satellite sites

Name Date of launch Location District Ref.
HKIX2 August 24, 2004 CITIC Telecom Tower Kwai Chung [15][16][17][18]
HKIX3 February 28, 2017 SUNeVision iAdvantage Data Center Fo Tan
HKIX4 June 19, 2017 NTT Com Asia Data Centre Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate
HKIX5 March 24, 2017 Telehouse Hong Kong CCC Data Centre (owned by KDDI)

HKIX2 is located inside the CITIC Telecom Tower, and is connected to HKIX1 via two 10Gbit/s links.[19]

Members

As of June 2018, there are 283 connected ASN to the HKIX. The following are some of the major participants with 100G speed: [20][1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "HKIX - List of Participants". www.hkix.net. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "HKIX - Statistics". www.hkix.net. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  3. ↑ "Further Development of HKIX for the Future of Hong Kong" (PDF). The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  4. 1 2 "What is HKIX". www.hkix.net. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Hong Kong's internet exchange offers snoopers rich pickings". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  6. ↑ "HKIX Updates & Bilateral Peering over HKIX" (PDF). The Chinese University of Hong Kong & HKIX. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  7. 1 2 "CloudFlare is Now Part of the Hong Kong Internet Exchange (HKIX)". Cloudflare Blog. 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  8. ↑ HKIX - Contact Us
  9. ↑ "HKIX taps Cisco for infrastructure revamp". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  10. ↑ "Hong Kong Internet eXchange Deploys Cisco Nexus 7000 Series to Solidify Hong Kong's Position as a Regional Internet Hub". Cisco Systems. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  11. ↑ "Internet exchange at Chinese University seen as target for hackers". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
  12. ↑ "Hong Kong Internet eXchange". www.cuhk.edu.hk. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
  13. ↑ "HKIX Updates at APIX Meeting #15" (PDF). HKIX. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  14. ↑ "HKIX Announcement - APRICOT 2014" (PDF). HKIX. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  15. ↑ Network9 (2017-02-10). "Hong Kong Internet Exchange opens in Telehouse Hong Kong CCC Data Center | Telehouse". Telehouse. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  16. ↑ "HKIX Establishes New Satellite Site at NTT Communications Hong Kong Financial Data Center | NTT Com Asia". www.hk.ntt.com. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  17. ↑ "HKIX Updates at APIX & APRICOT 2018" (PDF). HKIX. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  18. ↑ "Satellite Sites - HKIX". www.hkix.net. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  19. ↑ Further Development of HKIX for the Future of Hong Kong
  20. ↑ "Hong Kong Internet Exchange - PeeringDB". www.peeringdb.com. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.