Equinix [NASDAQ: EQIX]: Powering a Connected Network

Stephen M. Smith, CEO & President

Be it on the metro, in line at Starbucks, or between boardroom meetings, the Internet indefinitely finds a way to sneak in everywhere. While posting pictures on Instagram, reviewing the latest restaurant on Yelp, or discovering the much coveted dress on Amazon, millennials demand for unfaltering responses, expedited by the high-speed internet. Recent studies indicate that more than 40 percent of users abandon a web page if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Disregarding the type of content consumed online, whether it is watching a YouTube video or reading a blog, chances are that there is a Content Delivery Network (CDN) behind every character, image pixel, and movie frame which is delivered to a computer or a mobile browser. With a network of servers housed in data centers spread across the globe, CDNs minimize the physical distance between a user and a website’s server for quick, uninterrupted content delivery. One such CDN, located inside NY7, a data center in West Side Ave, NJ powers the websites of prominent financial, media, and enterprise companies across the U.S. This data center is just one of the crown jewels of Equinix [NASDAQ: EQIX], a provider of colocation solutions that enables worldwide interconnection, fast application performance, low latency routes and a digital ecosystem for rich-media enterprises and cloud networks. With over 145 data centers called “International Business Exchanges” (IBXs) spread across 5 continents, Equinix is revolutionizing the CDN space by leveraging digital ecosystems to achieve the next phase in interconnection. The company provides one of the world’s best-connected data centers for enterprises to deploy high-performance applications and content delivery infrastructures. According to reports from Gartner, the CDN market is expected to reach $12.16 billion in 2019, growing at an annual rate of 26.8 percent. In such times, it is essential for e-commerce industries to ensure that their CDN infrastructures have enterprise-class reliability, when unforeseen events disrupt delivery and Equinix with their robust foundation is the Internet’s biggest landlord when it comes to high performance content delivery.

“Our global platform is a critical source of differentiation, making us the partner-of-choice for customers looking to respond effectively to increasingly distributed infrastructure requirement,” remarks Stephen Smith, CEO and President, Equinix.

Our global platform is a critical source of differentiation, making us the partner-of-choice for customers looking to respond effectively to increasingly distributed infrastructure requirement

Standing true to its name which denotes equal access, neutrality, and internet exchange, Smith adds, “Companies can choose from any one of our 1,100 networks to move their traffic around the world, and we don’t favor one network over the other. We’re neutral and that was the premise of the original model, and it’s been preserved for more than 17 years.”

Network Re-imagined

Delivering an unsurpassed choice of networks, Equinix enables organizations to securely distribute content from public and private CDN infrastructures. While private CDNs distribute customized content for specific business units, user groups or individuals can gain access to it, a public CDN hosts and serves open source projects. In either case, enterprises require a consistent and reliable interconnection solution to support their CDN requirements. With Platform Equinix and Equinix Performance Hub, clients can increase network bandwidth, reduce latency, and lower the administrative costs by managing fewer circuits. Platform Equinix offers reliable IBX data centers, established business ecosystems, and the proven expertise a customer requires to foster growth. “The reason you can download a Netflix video in 12 seconds is because Netflix’s servers sit inside Equinix’s data centers all over the world,” exclaims the CEO. Platform Equinix brings together the world’s market leaders and innovators on a single, global interconnection platform, accelerating business performance and opportunities.

On the other hand, Equinix Performance Hub is a low risk approach, which offers enterprises secure and scalable access to major network and cloud service providers. Equinix Performance Hub is based on a core set of vendor-agnostic components which uses an Interconnection Oriented Architecture to significantly improve Wide Area Network (WAN) performance and web server response times. The model provides consistent security and Quality of Experience (QoE) to users, while reducing total cost of ownership. In addition, since corporate content requires a solid Disaster Recovery (DR) strategy, Platform Equinix and Performance Hub leverage Equinix’s globally distributed data centers to back up and protect content, away from the primary data center. On one occasion, Cotendo—provider of cloud-based acceleration technologies was able to reliably grow their customer base and service footprint with Platform Equinix. Since Cotendo focuses on Value Added Services (VAS) within the CDN and web acceleration markets, it was challenging for the client to constantly keep up with evolving network technologies and varying network conditions.

The company wanted to expand their footprint geographically and they were on the lookout for a partner who could assist in quick deployment while ensuring safety and security of their facilities. After collaborating with Equinix, Cotendo achieved massive scalability while preserving their service integrity. Since the world’s largest wired and mobile networks, carriers, and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have established strategic Points of Presence (PoP) sites within IBX, Cotendo could quickly and seamlessly connect with carrier partners and customers. Moreover, being in the performance business, it was critical for Cotendo to be able to physically connect to their customers. Platform Equinix enabled them to do this without the need for additional infrastructure, while reducing latency.

"The reason you can download a Netflix video in 12 seconds is because Netflix’s servers sit inside Equinix’s data centers all over the world"

More than Boxes and Cables

Equinix stresses heavily on integrity, neutrality, and innovation as the company firmly believes that interconnection is more than a technical capability. “When you lead globally you have to be patient because you are engaging with different cultures and work ethics,” states Smith. The company runs on a principle called the 3L’s—Listen, Learn, Lead, and each and every employee at Equinix is encouraged to follow it. “Success for us is to think like the customer and we are equally committed to the connections we make,” he explains. Apart from state-of the art solution in content and application delivery, the company also offers professional services to support data center migrations, WAN optimization and the creation of scalable, high performing hybrid cloud solutions.

Data Centers that Power Digitization

Moving forward, the data center giant is looking at expanding their global platform. The company recently purchased TelecityGroup’s 40+ data centers, which doubled Equinix’s capacity in Europe. “Over the next 15 years, we are going to get thousands of enterprises come out of their on-premise data centers and use our facilities to take advantage of the multi-cloud,” reveals Smith. In a digital economy where enterprise business models are increasingly interdependent, Equinix’s official logo depicting a fortress is a perspicuous summation of the company’s profound role in protection of content delivery. Even in the days to come, Equinix is bound to maintain its foothold in high-performance content and application delivery for the greatest return on a CDN infrastructure investment.