Networks currently interconnecting through SA's Internet exchanges (INX) can now use their peering ports to make virtual private network interconnects (VPNIs) to other networks, for free.
This is according to INX-ZA manager, Nishal Goburdhan, who says this additional INX service is available at all data centres linked to the Johannesburg Internet Exchange (JINX), Cape Town Internet Exchange (CINX) and Durban Internet Exchange (DINX).
"Finding cheaper ways to enable networks to interconnect will help grow the domestic Internet by keeping costs low. This benefits the SA Internet user and the wider country," adds Goburdhan.
Managing physical interconnections to external entities within data centres can be complex and costly. The VPNI service helps maximise efficiencies by enabling peering networks to re-use their existing peering ports to connect to other partners through a simple software configuration, according to INX-ZA.
INX-ZA says the VPNI service represents another step on the journey towards further INX-ZA expansion that has already seen the addition of multi-sites to JINX and DINX, with CINX on the cards.
"Peers are already cabled-up and running existing services, so it literally takes just a few minutes for us to enable the service. That's a fraction of the time that it would take to get completely new cables run across a data centre, tested, and connected to two individual parties," says Goburdhan.
"INXes enable networks to interconnect so that domestic Internet users benefit from faster connections and more efficient access to online services. Network operators benefit from lower costs, resulting in more affordable bandwidth."
SA's first Internet exchange, JINX, began as a project of the Internet Service Providers' Association of SA (ISPA) in 1996, and is now independently managed by INX-ZA, which currently operates the only community-run, public Internet exchanges in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
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