The multisite Johannesburg Internet Exchange (JINX) has completed the installation of high-speed dark fibre across the span of the entire network to radically boost the exchange’s resilience and backbone capacity in 2024.
“Successful digital transformation centred around the generation of e-GDP depends on the infinite bandwidth that dark fibre enables,” says INX-ZA chair, Prenesh Padayachee.
Dark fibre rolled-out between the six data centres where JINX is located provides virtually unlimited future network capacity. INX-ZA can now easily enable additional capacity between sites as more peers connect to the JINX peering fabric.
JINX data centre locations presently include:
- Dimension Data Parklands
- Teraco Isando
- Xneelo Samrand
- Africa Data Centres Halfway House
- Africa Data Centres Samrand
- Digital Parks Africa Samrand.
INX-ZA’s overarching objective is to keep internet traffic local to lower costs and improve latencies. The community-run INX-ZA manages SA’s only data centre-agnostic and multisite Internet exchange points.
In addition to JINX, INX-ZA also operates South Africa’s other community-run INXes, namely the Cape Town Internet Exchange (CINX), Durban Internet Exchange (DINX) and the Nelson Mandela Bay Internet Exchange Point (NMBINX).
INX’s three decade investment in South Africa has helped to ensure that local traffic stays local. Most recently, a major content delivery drive has helped to ensure that popular streaming content for consumers in Cape Town and Durban is served locally, instead of content being backhauled all the way from Johannesburg. Typically, this means that consumers enjoy improved services, and the ISP saves on costs which are eventually passed on to the consumer.
As the African continent’s Internet penetration rates catch up fast to the rest of the world, South Africa’s multi-tenant data centre colocation supply is expected to continue its impressive growth trajectory, further underpinning the growth in Internet traffic exchanged locally. As South Africa’s only multi-site Internet exchange point, all the INX locations are well positioned to support the continued local development of the internet.
“The data centre and INX sector continues to grow unhindered and this makes a real contribution to reducing the cost to communicate while boosting the economy,” concludes Padayachee.