American datacentre and collocation provider CoreSite has reached an agreement with Germany's DE-CIX Internet exchange to provide direct access to the DE-CIX peer exchange from U.S. sites. In doing so CoreSite opens a greater European access to its American clients through peer connections with other DE-CIX partners. Earlier this year the company reached a similar deal with Amsterdam's Internet Exchange. That agreement opened up hundreds of peer connections in more than 52 countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The advantage of such connections is that they allow CoreSite datacentres to immediately expand connectivity without having to work out individual deals with hundreds of ISPs. The deal with DE-CIX is important in so much as the exchange handles more than 12 petabyte of data every single day. All of the German networks handling the data can now be freely accessed by CoreSite datacentres without any need for further partnerships. Furthermore, data transfer speeds between CoreSite and DE-CIX customers are that much quicker because neither is relying on third-party upstream providers. All connections are run directly through DE-CIX. The company's Open Internet Exchange Hub also gets a boost by providing CoreSite customers easy access to one of Europe's biggest exchanges. The resulting interconnectivity will boost data traffic worldwide across a broad spectrum of industries. It makes the world a smaller place at least from the perspective of data exchange. From the standpoint of DE-CIX, the partnership gives them new access to American markets as well. The more than 480 European ISPs part of the exchange will now have greater connectivity options to increase data flow across the Atlantic. The link essentially brings together most of Europe and North America with seamless data communications. Greater Connectivity Means Better Business It goes without saying that Internet exchanges are the engine that makes robust international data transfer possible. Without the connectivity they provide, data centres would not been nearly as productive as they are today. When a deal like this takes place it breeds greater connectivity, which in turn means better business. The question is: can CoreSite customers take full advantage of European connectivity by maximizing peer connections? Can DE-CIX customers do the same? The enemy of international data communications has always been latency; a problem that doesn't go away simply because one company enters an agreement with an Internet exchange. Coresite's next task is to make sure its infrastructure is up to the challenge if the new partnership is to reach its full potential. We don't have any reason to suspect CoreSite won't succeed here. Their 12 data centres across the U.S. support some 700 customers with flexible and scalable interconnection. Prior to the DE-CIX agreement the company already had access to more than 275 U.S. partners and the Any2 Internet peer exchange. Their success in the U.S. market demonstrates they are ready to meet the challenges in Europe.