The Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) has expanded its US presence, using space from data center operator Digital Realty in San Francisco, and taking advantage of Digital Realty's support for Open Internet Exchange specifications.

AMS-IX will  set up a point of presence (PoP) ast Digital Realty's site on Main Street, San Francisco. The AMS-IX Bay Area peering exchange will connect to a similar AMS-IX peering exchange set up two years ago in Digital Realty’s New York facility, where 700 clients create peak internet traffic of 3 Tb/s.

The new PoP will give more opportunities peering by AMS-IX customers and improve its connectivity and reach, according to Job Witteman, CEO of AMS-IX.

The two exchanges have been enabled by Digital Realty's support for the Open Internet Exchange (OIX) specifications, a community-driven effort to support neutral peering on the Internet. OIX has created uniform performance standards for interconnections, to reduce complexity and prevent fragementation.

Digital Realty plans to implement the OIX model across its entire estate of 131 data centers, according to Matt Miszewski, Digital realty’s SVP of sales and marketing.

Making data centers OIX compliant cuts the complexity of communications between them and helps move data center culture away from the proprietary comms protocols Witteman told DCD. The establishment of an OIX PoP in San Francisco means the area’s tech companies can benefit from a more finely tuned comms hub. This cuts the complexity and associated costs for interconnection said

“There are a lot of technology clients in the San Francisco area and we have a lot of banking and telecom clients in the New York area. Everyone wants traffic to be peered because it makes the transaction speed much quicker and it costs less. Resetting data centers to open standards is incredibly important, especially to our San Francisco clients,” said Miszewski

“If we continue with OIX across all 131 facilities we will create a much cheaper, faster fabric. When we get nearer to having local PoPs this will be a crucial improvement in the infrastructure,” said Miszewski.