Equinix: Connecting the Cyber World

Around 950 network service providers around the world rely on the services provided by Equinix. The company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ and is a global provider of carrier-neutral data centers and internet exchanges since its inception in 1998.

Giant companies like Sprint, Yahoo, Google, AOL, AT&T, Sony, Sprint and IBM among others, rely on the services provided by Equinix. The company is best known for providing traffic exchange, colocation, IBX (Internet Business Exchange) and interconnection services. They also provide their services to various systems integrators, enterprises and content companies. To accommodate the services required by their clients, the business has strategically positioned their 101 data centers across 15 countries. These hubs are located in 32 major metropolitan areas with their headquarters in Redwood City, California.

Over 90% of the world’s internet route are are managed by their IBXs peer IP traffic. As outlined on their website, the company exists to provide storage, power and connection to the internet. More than the acquisitions it has made, Equinix is able to maintain its top position in the global market through its capacity to leverage network effects. Its network neutral policy has served as the main attraction of the business which has drawn in huge businesses. Through this business strategy, they are able to connect two different networks to each other as long as both parties are customers of the business. With this set-up, they are able to grow the networks they are managing and continue to push telecommunications provider to join the ecosystem they have created. Majority of huge companies like Google and Microsoft are also after the data centers of the business that would serve as a preventive measure for disaster avoidance and off-site data backup.

Equinix is the brainchild of Al Avery and Jay Adelson, who foresaw the growth of the internet and the need for a better and much bigger data centers to be deployed. Both gentlemen were one facility managers at Digital Equipment Corporation prior to putting up the venture.