internet exchange
termISP & telecom
Stands for: IX
A shared fabric where many networks interconnect directly, instead of paying a third party to carry traffic between them.
The argument is cost and distance at once: without an exchange, traffic between two networks in the same city can travel to another country and back, which costs money and adds delay. An exchange removes both by making the connection local. That is why exchanges are strategic infrastructure for a country rather than commercial products, and why the largest ones are run as neutral non-profits with membership rules rather than as businesses.
Also known as: IX, IXP, ptt