Meet Me in Chicago

July 2022

Richard Lukaj
Experienced Financial Executive, Private Investor, Philanthropist

Great value to feature the substance behind the strategic value of these critical interconnection facilities.
Arnold Nipper
Chief Technology Evangelist (CTE) at DE-CIX

Great work!

Series Introduction

Welcome to the next evolution of the "Meet Me In..." research series. The goal of the series has always been to educate, create awareness, and highlight key facts about where, how and why the physical networks that make up the world's information infrastructure meet.

Since this series began in 2003, Internet Exchanges (IXs) have established themselves as an essential element of the greater global network infrastructure landscape. Over the past several years, PeeringDB has built an incredible database for the world’s Internet Exchanges, the facilities that house them, the networks that connect with them, and more. This 2021 research correlates the live PeeringDB data via a custom API populated below with the original 2003-2005 Meet Me In research to create a unique analysis of the North American network interconnection landscape.

Between the where, how and why, the why is the most important. It is the reason behind wanting to know where and how. The "why" is that by aggregating demand to a point, a single physical address or facility at that address, buyers enjoy access to wholesale rates as opposed to retail rates with savings as great as 90% (just like buying at Costco or Sam's Club versus a convenience store). The "why" to seek out an Internet Exchange (IX) goes beyond this wholesale rate. IXs can reduce costs even further by handing off Internet traffic directly to the destination, avoiding ISP transit costs, but more importantly, saving time (just like a direct airline flight versus having to connect). This is referred to as reducing latency. So, in short, neutral meet points and IXs save time and money.

For all of the economic development and elected government officials out there, why is this important to know? It is important because if you do not have a neutral meet point and IX in your community, it means that all of your residents, students, and busineses must leave your community to get to the content and applications they desire on the Internet. This equates to higher costs and longer wait times and specifically means that "the Internet" does not exist where you are. Those that have this network-neutral infrastructure in their community have a tremendous advantage over those that do not. Which one are you?

Then

The original series featured RACO, a neutral colocation facility tenant, at 600 S. Federal Street and the building owned Meet Me Room at 350 E. Cermak Road. Both facilities and buildings have amazing histories, especially 350 E Cermak, which was originally the R.R. Donnelley printing plant, and at 1.1 million square feet it is one of the largest carrier hotels in the world. Over the years both buildings traded and are now both owned by Digital Realty Trust. The original series referenced 30 networks at 600 S Federal, with 8 carriers listed at RACO and 350 E Cermak had 16 networks listed as present in the building MMR. There were no Internet Exchanges listed at either facility.

Read the original 2003 article

Read the original 2005 article

Now

600 S Federal has faded from prominence with CoreSite’s 427 S LaSalle moving up to take the number two position in the city, but 350 E Cermak has surged and remains at the top of the list with 10 IX’s across 4 facilities within the building.

Chicago Internet Exchanges

Currently there are a total of 12 IX’s in 18 facilities within 14 addresses that appear within PeeringDB. The largest, Equinix Chicago, has 249 ASN’s and the smallest, CyrusOne IX Chicago, has 0. The difference between the largest and 2nd largest, NetIX with 87 ASN’s, is 162.

The Top 5 Networks, by number of IX’s connected to, are Hurricane Electric, CloudFlare, Google, Facebook and Microsoft.

The tables below display live data on all IXs in the region highlighted in this map image.
Map of the search area

Chicago - Internet Exchanges by Location Address

Address	IX`s @	Facilities @	IX Name:	Equinix Chicago	NetIX	ChIX	FD-IX - Indianapolis	AMS-IX Chicago	DE-CIX Chicago	Any2Chicago	Digital Realty Chicago	BBIX Chicago	GCIIX	Global Peer Exchange	CyrusOne IX Chicago
			#ASNs:	249	87	63	43	27	16	10	9	3	1	1	0
350 E Cermak Rd	10	,,,		✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔		✔	✔	✔	✔
427 S. LaSalle	4	,				✔		✔	✔	✔
603 Discovery Dr.	2					✔								✔
717 S Wells - Netrality Data Center Meet Me Room	2						✔							✔
1432 S. Clinton St	2								✔	✔
2800 S. Ashland Ave	2					✔			✔
600 S Federal St	1										✔
800 Jorie Blvd	1								✔
840 S. Canal Street	1								✔
1850 Springer Drive	1														✔
1905 Lunt Ave	1			✔
2200 Busse Rd.	1										✔
2299 Busse Road	1								✔
2905 Deihl Rd	1								✔

All data is courtesy of peeringdb.com. Live data is refreshed nightly. If you see innacurate data for your organization, or your organizaion is missing, please update or create your profile at peeringdb.com and allow 24 hours for this table to update.

This table is in the process of updating with live data. You are viewing an archived data table from the time of the article. Please check back in a few minutes for live data.
All data is courtesy of peeringdb.com. Live data is refreshed nightly. If you see innacurate data for your organization, or your organizaion is missing, please update or create your profile at peeringdb.com and allow 24 hours for this table to update.

Chicago - Networks by Internet Exchange

Network Name (ASN)	#IX`s	IX Name:	Equinix Chicago	NetIX	ChIX	FD-IX - Indianapolis	AMS-IX Chicago	DE-CIX Chicago	Any2Chicago	Digital Realty Chicago	BBIX Chicago	GCIIX	Global Peer Exchange	CyrusOne IX Chicago
		#ASNs:	249	87	63	43	27	16	10	9	3	1	1	0
Hurricane Electric (6939)	8		✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Cloudflare (13335)	7		✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔			✔
Google LLC (15169)	6		✔	✔	✔		✔		✔	✔
Facebook Inc (32934)	5		✔	✔	✔			✔		✔
Microsoft (8075)	5		✔	✔	✔		✔	✔
Packet Clearing House (3856)	5		✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Packet Clearing House AS42 (42)	5		✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
365 Data Centers (BroadbandONE) (19151)	4		✔		✔	✔		✔
Akamai Technologies (20940)	4		✔	✔	✔	✔
Edgecast (15133)	4		✔	✔			✔				✔
G-Core Labs (199524)	4		✔		✔			✔		✔
Yahoo! (10310)	4		✔	✔	✔		✔
Adaptive Data Networks (23367)	3		✔		✔		✔
Amazon.com (16509)	3		✔		✔		✔
Blizzard Entertainment (57976)	3		✔	✔			✔
Digital Realty United States (36086)	3				✔		✔			✔
Netflix (2906)	3		✔		✔			✔
Precision Data Solutions, LLC (PDS Connect) (11142)	3		✔		✔	✔
Riot Games (6507)	3		✔	✔	✔
Salesforce.com (14340)	3		✔		✔		✔
Subspace (32261)	3		✔	✔	✔
Acquire BPO (58907)	2				✔		✔
Adams CATV, Inc. (14928)	2		✔					✔
Apple Inc. (714)	2		✔					✔
Bertram Communications (36001)	2		✔		✔
Bresco Broadband (32899)	2				✔		✔
Charter Communications (20115)	2		✔		✔
Charter Communications (7843) (7843)	2		✔		✔
CoreSite IP (2734)	2				✔				✔
Dialpad (63399)	2		✔		✔
Everstream Solutions LLC (30517)	2		✔				✔
Forcepoint Cloud (44444)	2		✔				✔
Google Fiber, Inc. (16591)	2		✔							✔
Great Plains Communications LLC AS13807 (13807)	2		✔			✔
Hoyos Consulting (53597)	2		✔		✔
i3D.net (49544)	2		✔					✔
Intelligent Computing Solutions (393853)	2				✔	✔
IPTP Networks (41095)	2		✔	✔
Joink LLC (32709)	2		✔			✔
Limelight Networks Global (22822)	2		✔				✔
Merit Network (237)	2		✔						✔
Metro Communications Company, Inc. (53610)	2		✔		✔
Netskope (55256)	2				✔		✔
Nutrien (393891)	2		✔		✔
On-Ramp Indiana (14333)	2				✔	✔
OVHcloud (16276)	2		✔	✔
Pavlov Media INC. (23473)	2		✔				✔
QTS Chicago (394968)	2				✔			✔
Rackspace (12200)	2		✔				✔
RouteViews (6447)	2		✔			✔
Smithville Digital (11550)	2		✔			✔
Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation) (33353)	2		✔						✔
StackPath (Highwinds) (33438)	2		✔					✔
Steadfast Networks (32748)	2		✔				✔
Telekenex Inc (32035)	2		✔					✔
US Signal (26554)	2		✔		✔
Valve Corporation (32590)	2		✔	✔
VeriSign Global Registry Services (26415)	2			✔	✔
Waddell Solutions Group LLC (12243)	2				✔	✔
Wintek Corporation (11114)	2		✔			✔
WiscNet (2381)	2		✔		✔
WOW! (12083)	2		✔		✔
Xiber LLC (393950)	2		✔			✔
Xplornet Communications Inc. (22995)	2		✔		✔
Zenlayer Inc (21859)	2		✔	✔
4vendeta (50360)	1			✔
20C (63311)	1				✔
123.net AS12129 (12129)	1		✔
Access Communications Co-operative (21804)	1		✔
Adams TelSystems, Inc. (12033)	1		✔
Afghan Wireless Backbone ASN (138322)	1			✔
Air Advantage LLC (27216)	1		✔
Airstream Communications (11796)	1		✔
Akamai Prolexic DDoS Mitigation (32787)	1		✔
Alex Escape (61437)	1			✔
All Points Broadband (393713)	1		✔
ALTICOR (11870)	1		✔
Amazon IVS / Twitch (46489)	1		✔
Any2 Route Servers (32184)	1								✔
AppiaCommunications (20340)	1		✔
Asympto Networks (39533)	1			✔
Atlantic Metro (29838)	1		✔
Automattic (2635)	1		✔
Axia Technology Partners, LLC (26312)	1					✔
Azertelecom (196925)	1			✔
BBIX Chicago (36816)	1										✔
Beanfield Technologies (21949)	1		✔
Beck's Superior Hybrids (395126)	1					✔
Bell Aliant Inc. (855)	1		✔
Bell Canada Backbone (577)	1		✔
BICS (6774)	1			✔
Bigleaf Networks, Inc. (62642)	1		✔
Bluegrass Network (11979)	1		✔
Box (33011)	1		✔
BR.DIGITAL (14840)	1			✔
BridgeMAXX (63060)	1					✔
British Telecom GIIB (3300)	1		✔
BSO (4455)	1				✔
ByteDance AS396986 (396986)	1		✔
C Spire Fiber (11272)	1		✔
Cablevision Systems Corporation (6128)	1		✔
CacheFly (30081)	1		✔
Casair (19310)	1		✔
CDN77 (60068)	1			✔
Cedar Falls Utilities (13855)	1		✔
CFH CABLE INC (394109)	1												✔
China Telecom (4134)	1			✔
ChIX Route Servers (33713)	1				✔
CIFNet, Inc. (14585)	1								✔
Cincinnati Bell Telephone (6181)	1		✔
Cinergy Metronet (30600)	1		✔
Cisco Systems, Inc. - Talos (55219)	1		✔
Cisco Umbrella (36692)	1		✔
City of Bardstown (27202)	1		✔
Clear Rate Communications (22438)	1		✔
Clearwire (16586)	1		✔
Co-Mo Comm, Inc. (33616)	1		✔
Colt (8220)	1		✔
Comnet Bulgaria (29084)	1			✔
COMNET Global IP Backbone (61135)	1			✔
Computer Techniques, Inc. (32160)	1		✔
Connecticore S.A. (197580)	1			✔
Continent 8 Technologies (14537)	1		✔
Convergenze S.p.A. (39120)	1			✔
Conversant US Central (19834)	1		✔
CTS Communications Corp. (19653)	1		✔
DAVEY-HOLDINGS-LLC (54035)	1		✔
DE-CIX Chicago Route Servers (62760)	1							✔
Delta Telecom (29049)	1			✔
Dialpad Staging (134521)	1				✔
Digital Network Access Communications (40764)	1				✔
Digital Realty IX Route Servers (32299)	1									✔
Digital Systems (3245)	1			✔
DigitalOcean (14061)	1			✔
DigiTurunc (48011)	1			✔
DNS-OARC-112 (112)	1				✔
Docusign Inc (62856)	1		✔
DREN (668)	1		✔
Dropbox (19679)	1		✔
Eastern Indiana Wifi (54039)	1					✔
Eastlink (11260)	1		✔
Eastlink (Western) (32233)	1		✔
eBay (62955)	1		✔
EchoWireless-Midwest (11946)	1					✔
Education Networks of America, Inc. (11686)	1		✔
eGov Strategies (54202)	1					✔
Ellie Mae East (64255)	1		✔
Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) (293)	1		✔
Eonix N.A. Region (62904)	1							✔
Equinix Connect - CH, Chicago (19930)	1		✔
Equinix Corporate Network - NAMER (14609)	1		✔
Equinix Internet Exchange - MLPE (24115)	1		✔
Equinix Metal (54825)	1		✔
Equinix Solution Validation Center (394749)	1		✔
ESCOM (25374)	1			✔
Everywhere Wireless (17210)	1				✔
Expedient (17054)	1		✔
Expereo International bv (15695)	1		✔
Facebook Inc AS63293 (63293)	1					✔
FairlawnGig.net (396238)	1		✔
Fastly, Inc. (54113)	1		✔
Fiber Networx Inc. (22873)	1											✔
Fiber Telecom (FT) (41327)	1			✔
FibreStream (395570)	1		✔
Finish Line (22425)	1						✔
Foothills Rural Telephone Cooperative Corporation, Inc. (394111)	1		✔
Fortinet, Inc (25885)	1		✔
Frankfort Plant Board (26133)	1		✔
Frontier Communications of America (FCA) (5650)	1		✔
General Communications Incorp (8047)	1		✔
Geodim (29687)	1			✔
GIBIRNET (208972)	1			✔
GigeNET (32181)	1		✔
Global Cloud Xchange (15412)	1		✔
Global Secure Layer (137409)	1		✔
Globe Telecom (4775)	1		✔
GlobeNet (52320)	1			✔
Great Plains Communications LLC AS33483 (33483)	1					✔
Grid Telekom (39582)	1			✔
GTi Telecomunicacoes S/A (263080)	1			✔
H&R Block (26989)	1		✔
Hetzner Online (24940)	1			✔
HGTN.net (13680)	1		✔
Hivelocity INC (29802)	1									✔
HomeWorks Connect (396905)	1		✔
Host Color (46873)	1		✔
HostVenom (30455)	1				✔
Huntington Bancshares (54827)	1		✔
iboss Americas (396253)	1		✔
ICONIC Networks (212175)	1			✔
iFog GmbH - FogNet (34927)	1			✔
Illinois Century Network (6325)	1		✔
Illinois Rural Healthnet (396850)	1						✔
Imperva (19551)	1		✔
Impulse Internet Services (4927)	1		✔
iNAP (31845)	1				✔
Indatel (36280)	1		✔
Indiana GigaPOP (19782)	1					✔
Indiana University Health (27353)	1					✔
Inspire Solutions LLC (398868)	1				✔
Intelligent Fiber Network (32703)	1		✔
Internap (29791)	1		✔
Internet Communications Inc. (394356)	1					✔
Internet2 I2PX (11164)	1		✔
Invesco Group Services, Inc. (14630)	1		✔
IONOS SE (8560)	1		✔
Iowa Communications Network (6122)	1		✔
IPACCT (31287)	1			✔
iRis Networks (11758)	1									✔
ISC F-ROOT ORD1 (33071)	1		✔
ISC F-ROOT ORD2 (33078)	1				✔
IVALUA (55247)	1		✔
J2 Technology (399332)	1					✔
JBHUNT (3465)	1		✔
JSC InterDnestrCom (IDC) (1547)	1		✔
Justin Wilson (209109)	1					✔
Kuehn Networks (399663)	1				✔
L. Garcia Comunicações (264556)	1			✔
LeaseWeb Network (16265)	1			✔
Lifeline Data Centers (30691)	1					✔
LightBound (7332)	1		✔
LightSpeed Communications (63242)	1		✔
LINK BRASIL TELECOMUNICACOES (271253)	1			✔
Liquid Web (32244)	1		✔
LUMOS Networks, Inc. (7795)	1		✔
Lynx Network Group (54376)	1		✔
M247 (9009)	1			✔
Madison Communications, Inc. (18596)	1		✔
Madison Tyler, LLC (36184)	1		✔
Magna International (26838)	1		✔
Mainstream Fiber Networks (18615)	1					✔
Managed Network Systems Inc. (7057)	1		✔
Mathew Philipps (213201)	1			✔
Maxihost LTDA (262287)	1		✔
Melbikomas (56630)	1			✔
MetTel (16524)	1						✔
Midcontinent Communications (11232)	1		✔
Midwest Fiber Networks (18683)	1		✔
MidWest Internet Exchange - Route Servers (13681)	1					✔
Moody's (17350)	1		✔
MTC Communications (14363)	1		✔
MTCO-COMMUNICATIONS (11062)	1		✔
Murray Electric System (47095)	1		✔
N2N Technologies (40604)	1					✔
Nathan Sales (34553)	1					✔
NB Telecom (28338)	1			✔
Neotel (34772)	1			✔
Net-Surf.net (20911)	1			✔
NET1 LTD (43561)	1			✔
NetActuate (36236)	1								✔
Neterra Ltd. (34224)	1			✔
NETGUARD (39251)	1			✔
Netrouting (47869)	1				✔
netsapiens (397494)	1						✔
NetX - NG (204281)	1			✔
New Lisbon Telephone Co. (19112)	1					✔
New Relic (23467)	1		✔
Nexeon Technologies (20278)	1				✔
Nexicom Inc. (11666)	1		✔
Next Dimension (13727)	1		✔
NineStar Connect (11525)	1					✔
Nitel (53828)	1		✔
NL-MLAB (41047)	1			✔
NORDUnet (2603)	1		✔
Northwestern Indiana Telephone Co. (6368)	1		✔
NSONE (62597)	1							✔
Ntirety (20021)	1		✔
NTT Global IP Network (2914)	1		✔
NuCDN (23393)	1		✔
Nuclearfallout Enterprises ASN 14586 (14586)	1		✔
OARnet (600)	1		✔
Omnicity, Inc (46231)	1					✔
OmniSync Networks (46401)	1								✔
Omonia (44306)	1			✔
OneCom Global Communications (51185)	1			✔
Online Direct (31250)	1			✔
OnShore, Inc. (26068)	1		✔
Open X Tecnologia Ltda (263444)	1			✔
Orange County Fiber (54225)	1					✔
Orange Romania S.A. (8953)	1			✔
PacketFabric (4556)	1				✔
PacketHub AS141039 (141039)	1								✔
Path Network, Inc. (396998)	1		✔
PenTeleData (3737)	1		✔
Performive (46562)	1		✔
Perry-Spencer Communications (19008)	1		✔
PhoenixNAP (12189)	1		✔
Pilot Fiber, Inc. (46450)	1		✔
Pixel Factory Data Center (32425)	1				✔
Planters Rural Telephone Cooperative (26744)	1		✔
Plena Telecom (52988)	1			✔
PRLSS (21808)	1		✔
Psychz Networks (40676)	1		✔
Quantil Networks (54994)	1		✔
QuickPacket (46261)	1				✔
R2G Services LLC (12265) (12265)	1		✔
RASCOM (20764)	1			✔
RCI Communications, Inc (17246)	1		✔
RCN (6079)	1		✔
RingCentral (40627)	1		✔
RIPE NCC K-Root Operations (25152)	1			✔
Rise Broadband (17306)	1		✔
RITSNET (17117)	1		✔
Ritter Communications (23404)	1		✔
ROBLOX (22697)	1		✔
Rogers Cable (812)	1		✔
Saskatchewan Telecommunications (803)	1		✔
Saudi Telecom Company (STC IGW) (39386)	1		✔
SBA Edge, LLC (53264)	1				✔
Schneider Electric US (7772)	1		✔
Seaborn (13786)	1		✔
SendGrid (11377)	1		✔
Serbian Open eXchange (13004)	1			✔
SES Networks (60725)	1			✔
SG.GS (24482)	1		✔
Shaw Cablesystems (6327)	1		✔
Silknet (35805)	1			✔
Silver Star Communications (26223)	1		✔
SilverIP Communications (46811)	1		✔
SineWave Technologies (20193)	1					✔
Sirius Technology SRL (60501)	1			✔
SKAT TV (34577)	1			✔
Socket Telecom, LLC (4581)	1		✔
SoftLayer Technologies, Inc. (an IBM Company) (36351)	1		✔
Southwest Arkansas Telephone Coop (46632)	1		✔
SpaceX Starlink (14593)	1				✔
Sprint (1239)	1		✔
Star2Star Communications (15092)	1		✔
Start.ca (40788)	1		✔
STELLAR Broadband (10423)	1		✔
Stellar Technologies Inc. (14525)	1		✔
Suddenlink Communications (19108)	1		✔
Superonline (34984)	1			✔
SupraNet Communications (4150)	1		✔
Surf Air Wireless AS13428 (13428)	1		✔
Swisscom (3303)	1		✔
Synapsecom Telecoms (8280)	1			✔
Syringa Networks (15305)	1		✔
T-2 d.o.o. (34779)	1			✔
T-Mobile USA (21928)	1		✔
TDS Telecom (4181)	1		✔
TEC of Jackson (17253)	1		✔
TekSavvy Solutions Inc. (5645)	1		✔
Telekabel AD (29030)	1			✔
Telepacific Wireless , Inc. (formerly Covad Wireless). (7829)	1		✔
Telnyx LLC (63440)	1		✔
TELUS Communications (852)	1		✔
Tencent Global (132203)	1		✔
Thacker-Grigsby Communications (1640)	1		✔
The Constant Company, LLC (20473)	1		✔
The Fusion Network (19754)	1		✔
The Rye Telephone Company (32798)	1		✔
Thomson Reuters U.S. (32067)	1		✔
Tiggee (16552)	1		✔
Traffic Broadband Communications (48452)	1			✔
TransCanada Pipelines AS396960 (396960)	1		✔
Truestream (398143)	1		✔
TSSRB - Telekom Srbija (8400)	1			✔
TurkNet Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S (12735)	1			✔
TVG Network (40752)	1		✔
TWGate (9505)	1		✔
Twitter, Inc. (13414)	1		✔
Türk Telekom International (6663)	1			✔
U.S. Cellular (6614)	1		✔
Ubique Networks (395383)	1						✔
Unidata S.p.A. (5394)	1			✔
Unitas Global (1828)	1		✔
Unlimited Net, LLC (11990)	1					✔
UpCloud USA (25697)	1				✔
UPIX Networks AS266925 (266925)	1			✔
US Internet (10242)	1		✔
Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC (62612)	1					✔
Verisign (7342)	1		✔
Vertical Horizon Networks (396841)	1					✔
ViaSat (7155)	1				✔
Videotron AS5769 (5769)	1		✔
Virtustream (64208)	1		✔
VMware SASE (53766)	1		✔
Vocus Communications (4826)	1		✔
VOXILITY (3223)	1			✔
VOXOLOGY CARRIER SERVICES (40165)	1				✔
WCIX.Net (6473)	1				✔
Webby Enterprises LLC (63031)	1					✔
WebEx Communications (13445)	1		✔
Western Reserve Communications (399541)	1		✔
Westman Communications Group (19016)	1		✔
Whitesky Communications AS62887 (62887)	1		✔
Wikimedia Foundation (14907)	1		✔
Windstream Communications (7029)	1		✔
Winn Telecom (17143)	1		✔
Xaptum Corporation (395470)	1		✔
Xfernet (27630)	1		✔
Your.Org (19255)	1				✔
Zayo (Abovenet Communications Inc.) (6461)	1		✔
Zenlayer AS4229 (4229)	1			✔
Zonata - Natskovi & Sie (34368)	1			✔
Zscaler AS22616 (22616)	1		✔
Zulu (31298)	1			✔

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