The Belgian Internet Exchange BNIX processed 451 petabyte of data last year, which translates into 23,076 years of full-HD streaming on Netflix. That became clear based on figures from Belnet, the Belgian research and education network that manages the BNIX platform. Compared to 2017, that’s an increase of 14 percent.

Particularly January and November were great months for internet traffic on BNIX, with regular peaks up to 210 Gbit/s. What’s striking, is that most traffic was registered on Tuesday nights, between 8.00 and 10.00 PM. Saturdays and Sundays, however, showed a usage drop, and July was the quietest month of the year.

The increase in total volume was mainly caused by large upgrades carried out by a number of participants, such as internet service providers like Proximus, VOO and Belnet, hosting providers like OVH and content providers like Facebook. Jan Torreele, director of Belnet. “The demand for higher connection speeds is growing significantly. That’s why we started offering 100 Gbit/s ports on the BNIX platform in 2017.” In total, BNIX currently has nine active 100G connections, complemented with 48 10 Gbit/s, 27 1 Gbit/s and 11 100 Mbit/s connections.

Faster and more efficient traffic

Companies that are active on the BNIX platform are able to directly exchange traffic with other participants. This ensures that local traffic is faster and more efficient, because it doesn’t pass through transit providers or other intermediaries, which is beneficial for the end users’ user experience. Jan Torreele: “Participants can find all relevant information in a personalized portal. They can monitor their own traffic, for example, and discover where there might be problems. They’re guaranteed that content is easier to request and consult. In addition, the BNIX platform is stable and reliable from day one, which offers added value in terms of reliability.”

Growing internet usage

Jan Torreele: “We continue to meet the needs of our participants and anticipate the growing amount of traffic. In the last five years, the average amount of traffic doubled, growing from 55 Gbit/s to 120 Gbit/s. Because of the technological developments and strong rise of mobile internet, e-commerce, cloud services and the Internet of Things, the Belgian internet usage will only continue to grow in the coming years. The most recent BNIX platform, which has been operational since 2016, was developed with that growth in mind.”

Belgian internet becomes greener

The increasing use of the internet also has an impact on the environment, which is why the infrastructure of BNIX continues to become greener. Jan Torreele: "The most recent platform has a better energy efficiency. The new switches are 4 times more powerful than the previous ones, but they only need about the same wattage at full capacity.”