Courtesy: DE-CIX

The Deutsche Commercial Internet Exchange (DE-CIX) in Frankfurt set a world record with more than 9 terabits per second data throughput at Frankfurt internet exchange.

Relevance for industrial networks: Faster commercial networking seems likely to contribute to better industrial communications technologies and better access to analytical tools to help engineering efforts. As the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) expands, high-speed infrastructure helps support sensors, computing, and actuation signals sent over the internet.

Never before has so much data been exchanged at peak times at an internet exchange. It was only in December 2019 that DE-CIX in Frankfurt hit the 8 Terabits-per-second mark, and it has now increased its data throughput by more than 12% in a few months. DE-CIX in Frankfurt said it is the internet exchange with the most data throughput worldwide.

“This record confirms that DE-CIX in Frankfurt, and with it the metropolitan region FrankfurtRheinMain, is one of the most important data hubs in the world. Added to this is the fact that as a result of the season, as well as the exceptional situation that people are currently experiencing with the Covid-19 virus, Internet use is playing an ever-greater role. Whether it’s for exchanging information, streaming films, or playing online games. Guaranteeing a stable and secure internet infrastructure – regardless of how challenging the times are – is one of our highest priorities,” Dr. Thomas King, chief technology officer (CTO) of DE-CIX, assesses the new world record.

Generally, the data traffic at internet exchanges moves in waves and reflects the daily rhythm of internet usage, beginning at 6 a.m. and reaching its peak at around 9 in the evening. Seasonal changes – in summer people tend to be online less than in the fall and winter months – can also be registered.

What is a Terabit of data per second?

One Terabit per second, Tbit/s or Tbps, is a dimension for the transmission speed of data.

It is 10 3 Gbit/s, 10 6 Mbit/s, 10 9 Kbit/s or 10 12 bit/s, or 1,000,000,000,000 bit/s.

The next lowest data rates are measured in Gigabits per second (Gbit/s) and Megabits per second (Mbit/s).

What does a data throughput of 8 Terabits per second mean?

9 Terabits per second corresponds to the simultaneous transmission of up to 2 million videos in HD quality or a data volume of more than 2 billion A4 pages of text (a stack of paper close to 200 kilometers high).

This press release is originally from DE-CIX. Edited by Keagan Gay, digital media & production coordinator, CFE Media, kgay@cfemedia.com.