New York, USA and Frankfurt, Germany, 9 April 2025 – A new global data throughput record has been set by DE-CIX, the world’s leading Internet Exchange (IX) operator. Yesterday, April 8, at 15:10 Eastern (19:10 UTC) a grand total of 25 terabits per second (Tbit/s) of peering traffic was pumped through DE-CIX Internet Exchanges (IXs) worldwide. This represents more than a doubling of global peering traffic at DE-CIX since 2020, up 130% in five years. 25 Tbit/s would equate to the simultaneous streaming of nearly 14 million TikTok videos every second.
Last year saw traffic peak at the operator’s IX in Dallas, where the region crossed the 1 Tbit/s threshold for the first time. Unusually, this global traffic peak did not coincide with a traffic peak in a regional IX, but was the result of strong throughput across multiple regions – from Dallas and Madrid to Frankfurt and Istanbul.
“The peak last night is the result of higher than usual data traffic from the confluence of multiple events, including the live streaming of sport and software updates, alongside the usual consumption of digital content and services,” explained Dr. Thomas King, CTO of DE-CIX. “This peak demonstrates the power of peering, the glue that binds together the different networks – including networks that supply video content, software downloads, and mobile Internet – that make up the Internet.”
In 2024, the operator saw a total throughput of 68 exabytes across 3,400 connected networks at its sites, marking a new record for global data traffic volume in the 12-month period.
30 Years of DE-CIX: Building Global Digital Infrastructure
The company launched its first Internet Exchange, DE-CIX Frankfurt, in 1995. Today, DE-CIX provides data center and carrier-neutral exchange points worldwide, where Internet, cloud, content providers, and enterprise networks interconnect to exchange data securely and efficiently with minimal latency. DE-CIX Frankfurt, the oldest and largest Internet Exchange, connects nearly 1,100 networks. The globally interconnected DE-CIX platform is accessible from data centers in over 600 cities and interconnects more than 4000 networks worldwide.
For more information about the anniversary, visit the DE-CIX 30 Years website: https://www.de-cix.net/30years
What is a terabit per second? How much data is a throughput of 18 terabits per second?
- A terabit per second, Tbit/s or Tbps, is a dimension for the transmission speed of data.
- The next lower data rates are specified in gigabits per second (Gbit/s) and megabits per second (Mbit/s).
- 1 terabit per second is 10³ Gbit/s, 106 Mbit/s, 109 kbit/s, or 1012 bit/s, or 1,000,000,000,000 bit/s.
- Data traffic of 25 Tbit/s is created, for example, when close to 14 million TikTok videos are streamed simultaneously. If printed, the data involved would equate to a stack of A4 sheets 20 times higher than Mount Everest.
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About DE-CIX
DE-CIX, pronounced DEE-KICKS [dˈi:-kˈɪks], is the world’s leading operator of Internet Exchanges (IXs). Founded in 1995, the company is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2025. DE-CIX offers its interconnection services in 60 locations in Europe, Africa, North and South America, the Middle East, and Asia. Today, accessible from data centers in over 600 cities world-wide, DE-CIX interconnects thousands of network operators (carriers), Internet service providers (ISPs), content providers and enterprise networks from more than 100 countries, and offers peering, cloud, and other interconnection services. DE-CIX Frankfurt is one of the largest Internet Exchanges in the world, with a data volume of over 45 Exabytes per year (as of 2024) and close to 1100 connected networks. Close to 250 colleagues from over 35 different nations form the foundation of the DE-CIX success story in Germany and around the world. Since the beginning of the commercial Internet, DE-CIX has had a decisive influence – in a range of leading global bodies, such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) – on co-defining guiding principles for the Internet of the present and the future. As the operator of critical IT infrastructure, DE-CIX bears a great responsibility for the seamless, fast, and secure data exchange between people, enterprises, and organizations at its locations around the globe.
Further information at www.de-cix.net
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