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Another global content provider – Netflix – joined the Atman-owned Internet exchange. Thinx is the third largest inter-operator node in Poland in terms of the number of members (500 Gbps of traffic), but the only one located in a professional data center. The Thinx IX offer is distinguished by the possibility of setting up many services in one port, as well as stable, reasonable prices of connectors in the carrier-neutral Atman data centers.

Thinx IX provides unlimited access to resources of the world’s largest content providers, domestic networks and participants of other Polish IXs. Continuously taking care of expanding content, it has recently won a global market leader in video streaming. Netflix currently uses Thinx IX from ports with a total bandwidth of 40 Gbps and saturates them heavily. The popularity of the US VoD service in Poland is growing constantly, and therefore Atman is planning to ultimately launch a 100 Gbps port for Netflix.

Most of the global traffic is video streaming

According to the Global Internet Phenomena report published in October 2018 by the Canadian company Sandvine, Netflix users already generate 15% of Internet traffic – the most from video streaming platforms. Together, they account for 58% of Internet traffic worldwide. Notably, the report does not contain data from China and India.

Analyzing only the European video streaming market, the Netflix platform is outrun by YouTube (their shares are 23.1% and 30.39% respectively), and the first five closes Twitch (6.14%). Like the resources of popular Polish video platforms such as IPLA, tvn player or TVP, the resources of these websites are directly available in Thinx IX.

IX versatility

Internet Exchange (IX) is a supplement or alternative to the traditional access to Internet resources. It is used mainly by telecommunications operators and Internet service providers (ISPs), cable TVs and streaming platforms, social media and other portals with high IP traffic, game platforms and hosting companies. Currently, members of Thinx IX generate 500 Gbps of traffic.

How does it work in Thinx?

The client (hereinafter: the member) buys an access port (1 or 10 Gbps) in one of the three access nodes in Warsaw: at Konstruktorska St. (main), Grochowska St. or in LIM.  Thanks to this, the member gets direct access in the second ISO/OSI layer to the Thinx IX resources, which means that it can freely and without additional charges:

• exchange IP traffic with other members of Thinx IX (i.a. Allegro, Cyfrowy Polsat, dhosting.pl, Facebook, GOG, Hurricane Electric, Netflix, Netia, Toya, UPC, Vectra, Telewizja Polska, Twitch, main mobile operators);
• exchange IP traffic with domestic networks and members of other IX’s in Poland (i.a. PLIX, EPIX-Polmix),
• use CDNs (Content Delivery Networks) and caches of global operators located at Thinx (e.g. Akamai, CloudFlare, Google, redCDN).

The Thinx IX member also gets access to many additional services – without being limited to one operator – which can be run on the same port. These include, among others, access to European nodes (DE-CIX in Frankfurt and Giganet in Kiev), as well as access to all global networks and Internet resources through direct connections with Tier 1 operators (networks forming the global Internet backbone), such as Tata Communications and TeliaSonera, and with the Orange network.

Thinx IX can be used as a basic, equal, backup, transit, peering connection – it’s a universal solution.

A clear and stable price list

Compared to many other IX proposals, Thinx is distinguished by the simplicity of costs.

• The basis is a fixed monthly fee for the port which, of course, depends on its bitrate: 1 or 10 Gbps, on request also 100 Gbps, whereas peering is free. Note: unlike some other IXs, in Thinx IX, a member can use one and the same port for many services, which makes it an economical and thrifty solution.
• The second element is a clear price list of IP transit services (provided on the same port as peering), thanks to which, for example, Internet providers can freely choose resources and build an offer for their clients.
• For many Thinx IX members, the reasonable prices of connectors – unchanged since December 2016 – are of key importance. It is worth pointing out that the prices of connectors do not depend on the location of the connected devices in the Atman data center (distances, different floors or buildings) or the technology used (optical fiber 1U/2U, UTP cat. 6).

Stable and transparent costs (of peering, transit, connectors) allow Thinx IX members to freely develop their business, as well as offer their services to other companies using ATM’s carrier neutral data centers.

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