"An Internet exchange point (IX or IXP) is a physical infrastructure that allows different Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to exchange Internet traffic between their networks (autonomous systems) by means of mutual peering agreements, which allow traffic to be exchanged without cost." (WikiPedia)
Any2 began with the above definition as its core inspiration. CoreSite, known as CRG West at the time, built the first Any2 exchange point within the One Wilshire data center in Los Angeles. Given the density of direct interconnection and peering within One Wilshire, it was a natural; additional to the services offered within the building to existing customers.
So we continued to develop Any2 with additional objectives of offering:
The next step was to extend the Any2 exchange point as a distributed exchange by connecting the One Wilshire switch to the Meet-Me Room at 55 S. Market in San Jose. The goal was simple: offer every customer increased value by way of low cost, increased peering options as a result of adding Northern California peers into the same community as already enjoyed in Los Angeles.
Today, CoreSite’s One Wilshire is widely recognized as one of the most connected data centers in the world, with Any2 California receiving accolades as the largest peering community of its kind in the United States. Any2 is available at every CoreSite data center, offering cost-effective, high-performance peering in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Northern Virginia, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Washington DC. Distributed exchange points include Any2 California (One Wilshire, 900 N. Alameda, 1656 McCarthy & 55 S. Market) and Any2 Northeast (32 Ave. of the Americas, 1275 K Street & 12100 Sunrise Valley Drive).
CoreSite built Any2 for the betterment of participating companies. Given the high density of both established and emerging network service providers, including Internet and VoIP, CoreSite made a decision to help facilitate the success of both emerging companies as well as established companies by offering a platform that would allow a low cost, high performance packet exchange as a utility within our data centers.
Any2 facilitates the exchange of Internet traffic between Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Voice over IP providers. It is a place for network providers to interconnect and exchange IP traffic at a local or international level. Networks, VoIP, or Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must have internet connectivity that is independent of the connection made within the Any2 to facilitate access to the “global Internet.”
CoreSite offers companies of all shapes and sizes a utility in Any2 that reduces operating costs, increases network performance and reliability, reinforces resiliency and disaster recovery planning, and enables relationships that would be impossible without the exchange. As a result, Any2 sets the field for further innovation based on availability of an expanded peer, customer, and supplier community.
Any2 is a classic, open Internet peering point. CoreSite provides a high performance switch, assigning participants an ARIN issued non-routable exchange IP address. Once your Any2 order has been received and processed, CoreSite will establish a connection (FastE, GigE, or 10GigE) from your point of presence to the Any2. Once your Any2 connection is established, you are free to engage in a BGP-4 peering session with any other connected and consenting network. Peering relationships are private agreements between Any2 participants.
In addition to classic exchange point utilities, Any2 also fully support IPv6 throughout the exchange infrastructure, with the addition of IPv6-enabled route servers (Any2Easy), reverse DNS lookup, and no cost IPv6 address support to all customers. Any2East route servers in California are supporting more than 100 networks, and have an average of 18,500 routes available at any time.
Any2 welcomes remote access networks (those networks without a physical point of presence within a CoreSite data center), and is open to further federation with other non-profit or regional exchanges.
Click here to see a full list of Any2 participating organizations.