1-IX Warsaw: distributed Internet Exchange and peering in Poland

1-IX is a distributed Internet Exchange (distributed IXP). Its points of presence are spread across many data centers, roughly thirteen facilities, including in Poland. It connects operators directly to improve traffic exchange, increase reliability and extend reach between networks. Thanks to its distributed architecture, participants can join from several different locations rather than a single building.

A distributed exchange model

In a classic Internet Exchange all participants meet inside one facility. 1-IX works differently. Its fabric is stretched across many data centers, so a network can join where it already has a presence and immediately reach the whole ecosystem of participants. This model lowers the barrier to entry, because it does not force you to build a link to one specific location.

Presence at 1-IX gives a network several concrete benefits:

• Lower latency for communication between Polish networks.
• Lower cost, because peering traffic is usually not billed by volume the way transit is.
• Flexibility to connect from one of many data centers served by 1-IX.
• Greater resilience thanks to an additional path independent of transit.

Keeping local traffic close to its source

Peering at 1-IX keeps traffic between two Polish networks inside the country. Without local exchange, a packet sent from one domestic network to another can pass through nodes in Frankfurt or Amsterdam before returning to Poland. Exchanging traffic close to its source eliminates this detour (so-called tromboning), reduces latency for end users and offloads expensive transit links.

Ports at 1-IX are available at speeds from 1G to 100G, which lets you match the connection to both a smaller regional operator and a high-volume network. For Polish ISPs this means better service quality for subscribers: faster loading of Polish services, lower ping in games and more stable streaming.

AS202520 SkyPass presence and peering

AS202520 SkyPass is present at 1-IX and runs an active, open peering policy there. We are happy to set up new BGP sessions with networks on the fabric, through both public peering and private interconnection, so that local traffic stays local. The distributed nature of 1-IX makes it easy to meet us in one of many data centers. For operators without their own port, we offer remote access to this exchange through our infrastructure.