IXPN upgrades core switches, offers 25GE and 40GE ports

The Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) has acquired Switches capable of 25GE and 40GE ports for its entire network in Lagos. The Chief Executive Officer of IXPN, Mr. Muhammed Rudman, disclosed this yesterday in a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos. He said the upgrade of the switches will help the company address […]

The Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) has acquired Switches capable of 25GE and 40GE ports for its entire network in Lagos.

The Chief Executive Officer of IXPN, Mr. Muhammed Rudman, disclosed this yesterday in a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos.

He said the upgrade of the switches will help the company address the current and anticipated needs of its members, adding that it was aimed at improving performance, services and scalability that are critical to today’s evolving Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry.

“The essence of upgrading our core switches is to keep up with global trends and to ensure that the expectations of our members are met. This would allow us to offer 25Gbps and 40Gbps (Gigabits per second) ports to our existing and potential members.

“Prior to this time, we could only provide a maximum capacity of 10Gbps. With the acquisition of the current switches, IXPN is providing an opportunity to our members to scale and to get access to the latest features,” he said.

He said the upgrade will provide more switching platforms for the Exchange customers that need high capacity, and also, boost the scalability of the exchange by accommodating more volume of traffic.

The Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria has recorded an increase in membership, with the connection of 7 new members, thus increasing its membership strength to 66 who get direct access to multiple internet networks with a single connection.

These new members, according to the company, include Bitflux, Brainshare Technologies, Cynox-IT, Microsoft, SoftAlliance, WACREN and WIOCC.

He noted that this necessitated the addition of a 4th Point of Presence to its list of Lagos POPs, located at Interconnect ClearingHouse Nigeria Limited’s Data Centre in Marina area of Lagos, adding that members within Lagos Island can now establish their connection at the ICNL data centre.

In addition, the IXPN chief executive said the company will soon launch a standard training facility, where its members and members of the public can constantly receive capacity building/training in tandem with modern trends in the ICT industry.

He further noted that the facility, located at the IXPN’s headquarters in Lagos is set for launch this month, saying it will be used for training IXPN’s members on topical issues affecting their services, with facilitators regularly drawn from local and international organisations.

Speaking on the facility, Rudman said that as the ICT ecosystem is evolving rapidly, it is has become imperative to have an avenue for increasing the knowledge base of members and players in the industry.

“As a regional IXP with 66 members presently connected to the exchange point, we felt it was high time we upgraded our facilities to include capacity building for our members, so as to tackle the current dearth of technical skills in the ecosystem and to also keep our members abreast on the latest trends in internet technologies,” he said.