• LINX says LON2 reached 1Tbps peak traffic while aggregate traffic across its platforms exceeded 13Tbps
  • Metro Resilience offers a 60% reduction on eligible LON2 services that directly mirror a member's LON1 connection

The fact

The London Internet Exchange said on 15 September that its LON2 network had recorded a new traffic peak of 1Tbps, while aggregate traffic across LINX platforms had passed 13Tbps. Its larger LON1 London fabric peaks at nearly 9.8Tbps.

LON2 operates separately from LON1 and gives members another fabric on which to exchange traffic. LINX launched its Metro Resilience initiative in July, offering a 60% reduction on eligible LON2 port access and peering bandwidth when a direct member matches an existing LON1 service.

The exchange has also refreshed LON2 with Nokia IXR hardware running SR Linux and says the network is now capable of 400 Gigabit Ethernet connections. The 1Tbps figure records traffic carried by the fabric; it is not a measure of its total installed capacity or proof that individual members have fully separate network paths.

The assessment

Members adding LON2 are giving their traffic another exchange fabric to use if LON1 is unavailable. The 1Tbps peak shows that LON2 is carrying substantial live traffic, while the 60% discount reduces the exchange cost of keeping matched connections on both platforms.

That separation can disappear before traffic reaches the exchange. If both connections depend on the same access carrier, building or router, one failure can still interrupt both paths. Routing also has to leave important peers reachable through LON2 when LON1 is unavailable. Two exchange ports can therefore look more diverse on a service order than they are in operation.

For BTW readers, the 1Tbps record says more about LON2's use than about any member's resilience. Networks considering the second fabric should map the physical path to each connection and test an actual failover to see which traffic and peers remain reachable.

What to watch

Watch whether more major networks connect to both LON1 and LON2 and whether LON2 traffic continues rising after the Metro Resilience launch. For individual members, failover tests will provide stronger evidence: how much traffic moves, which peers remain reachable and whether the second connection avoids the same carrier, building and router.