AMS-IX breaks through 7 Tbps barrier

AMS-IX CEO Peter van Burgel comments: “This traffic peak is a sign of the ever-growing use of digital services and devices in society in general and the importance of AMS-IX as a vital part of the digital gateway to Europe. It is a great way to end the year where we celebrated our 25 year anniversary.”

The new peak is a result of the growth of AMS-IX. The number of connected parties in Amsterdam has risen to over 875 in 2019 and many networks have upgraded their port capacity, allowing for more traffic to be exchanged. Moreover, there is a seasonal factor that comes into play. Data traffic at AMS-IX comes in waves and reflects the daily rhythm of internet usage, beginning early in de morning and reaching a peak around 9 PM in the evening. During winter months, people tend to make more use of video streaming, games and other internet services.

7 Terabits per second accounts for astronomical amounts of data traffic. It corresponds to the simultaneous transmission of up to 280.000 videos in 4k HD quality or a data volume of approx. 7 Terabits is also the same data volume of approx. 175 million A4 pages of text. Imagine you have a large office with 1000 very skilled typists with a wpm of 75 (apm of 300) working away non-stop on electric type writers (that's a very big office). They work hard. They hardly sleep and seldomly take bathroom breaks. They work for 6 years straight, producing 175 million pages of text. At the end, they are exhausted, but proud of the monumental task performed. Then, it's time to distribute it to the world. Surely, this will be a momentous occasion.... The button is pressed... and it's done in a second.