Silicon Valley-based colocation and Internet backbone provider Hurricane Electric has expanded the reach of its global network in Asia and Europe, also expanding the relationship with its partner Equinix.

Hurricane - operator of reportedly the world's largest IPv6 network and one of the 10 largest IPv4 networks - will add new points of presence at Equinix data centers in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Zurich. Besides enabling Equinix customers to peer with Hurricane's network, the move will improve fault tolerance, load balancing and congestion-management infrastructure capabilities, according to a Hurricane statement.

The company said the move was driven by increasing demand for IPv6 services in Europe and Asia.

Hurricane founder and President Mike Leber said its IPv6 network was the largest in the world, based on the number of the next-generation IP networks it connects with (600 mark passed in November) and the number of IPv6 prefixes it announces.

Fremont, Calif.-based Hurricane recently opened second phase of its 208,000-square-foot Fremont 2 colocation facility. It operates one more data center in Fremont and another one in San Jose, Calif.

Hurricane Electric has recently expanded data center floor in its 208,000-square-foot colocation facility in Fremont, Calif.