In this Article

•    Series Introduction
•    Then
•    Now
•    Seattle's Facilities, Exchanges and Networks

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.

Read More +

Then

The original series featured The Westin Building, 2001 Sixth Avenue, the King of Carrier Hotels and network interconnection in Seattle and all of the Pacific Northwest. Once again, as per the research data, The Westin Building is still reigning champion in Seattle today. Back then, in 2003, were the days of networks measured by a physical presence alone and not ASN’s on an IX. The Westin had 106 physical networks present and published in the official building Meet Me Room at the time. Today it is 211. Building ownership at the time was very advanced in their understanding and support of the incredibly important purpose of the building and they invested in it accordingly. Of all the investments in infrastructure, arguably their best investment was in their people, most notably Michael Boyle, who is mentioned in the original article and remains to this day a great friend and true legend in the industry. The Seattle internet Exchange (SIX) is also mentioned in the 2003 article thus setting the stage for this 2022 update to the research.

Read the original 2003 article

Read the original 2005 article

Now

Once again, and as the research data will prove continually, networks go to where networks already are and the same holds true for IX’s. The Westin Building is a jewel. It was then in 2003 and it is ever more so now. Digital Realty Trust now owns the building and the official building Meet Me Rooms, with Equinix also having a significant interconnection facility as well as their own IX in the building.

Seattle Internet Exchanges

Currently there are technically 7 IX’s in 10 facilities within 6 addresses in Seattle. The SIX has two IX’s, one is specifically for Jumbo Frames. The SIX is the largest with 354 ASN’s currently and the smallest is Global Peer Exchange with 1 ASN published. The difference between the largest IX and 2nd largest as of this publishing, NetIX with 98 ASN’s, is 256. That is a large delta making the SIX clearly the dominant IX in Seattle. The SIX is the largest IX by ASN’s in all of North America. By their own data shown at https://www.seattleix.net, the SIX has added over 2 new ports per day, every day, since 8/31/2007.

The Top 5 Networks on the SIX, by number of IX’s connected to, are Google, Hurricane Electric, Packet Clearing House (AS42), AARNet and CloudFlare, with special mention going to Microsoft and Riot Games also being connected to 4 IX’s in Seattle.

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

Seattle - Internet Exchanges by Location Address

Seattle - Networks by Internet Exchange