GR-IX

GR-IX is a neutral and independent Internet Exchange, whose mission is to facilitate the exchange of Internet traffic (IP) and accelerate the development of the Internet in Greece.  It is an important national infrastructure because it interconnects the largest Internet companies in Greece, such as Internet service providers, content providers, cloud service providers, etc.

It has two independent islets, in Athens (GR-IX::Athens) and Thessaloniki (GR-IX::Thessaloniki), which interconnect most of the largest Internet companies doing business in Greece.

GR-IX was founded in 2009 as the successor to the Athens Internet Exchange (AIX), which had been in operation since 1999.  It belongs to the National Infrastructures for Research and Technology (EDYTE S.A. – GRNET), which as a non-profit, public organisation guarantees the neutrality and independence of the Internet Exchange.

Benefits of connecting businesses to GR-IX:

Financial:

  • Significant reduction in telecommunication costs

Commercial:

  • Direct networking, without intermediaries, with the largest internet businesses operating in Greece.
  • Expansion of the possibilities of cooperation and transactions with the other members of GR-IX, with a significant reduction in costs and implementation times.
  • Strengthening the strategic position of the company in relation to suppliers, customers or competitors

Technical:

  • More efficient, resilient and stable routing of IP traffic. Autonomy in routing policy.
  • Direct interconnection with IP traffic producers and consumers. Increased speed and capacity, improved quality characteristics (delay, jitter, packet loss) of this traffic.
  • Resilience to network problems and DDoS attacks; flexibility in dealing with them.

GR-IX was initially aimed exclusively at connecting Greek Internet Service Providers (ISPs), but since 2013 a series of actions have been taken to expand GR-IX and attract other types of companies operating in the Greek Internet space such as content providers, cloud providers, hosting providers, VoIP providers etc. These actions included (a) the adaptation of GR-IX services, (b) the adaptation of the price list, (c) the expansion to commercial datacenters with a high density of potential customers and (d) the adaptation of tools and processes.

As a result of the above actions, there was a significant expansion in the number of GR-IX members (>+100%) and traffic (>x10+). At the same time, there was also a lot of diversification in terms of the scope of the companies, while the attraction of large foreign networks (Amazon, Microsoft, Cloudflare, Hurricane Electric, Onecom, G-Core, Cyta Cyprus, etc.) was considered a major success. Full list of members here: https://www.gr-ix.gr/el/members/

In February 2020, the connection of the Amazon Web Services node to GR-IX was completed, significantly improving the experience of Greek Internet users and enhancing the direct exchange of traffic between Greek and international Internet, content and cloud service providers connected to GR-IX. The connection of the Amazon Web Services node to GR-IX contributed to the further development of the Internet in Greece, creating a new framework for cooperation and development for technology organisations and businesses operating in Greece.

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