The new capabilities include statistics which gives users of the IX-API software greater value and specifically greater insight on the amount of traffic that is exchanged via their connection.
In addition, the API access to statistics gives customers insights on the performance and efficiency of their connection, which in turn supports their capacity planning and routing design. Users can also include it in their own management dashboards.
“Observability is important, because succesful operation of any network requires insight in its performance metrics. Getting information about your IXP connection through an API may contribute e.g to automated decision making,” said Ruben van den Brink, CTO of AMS-IX.
At the same time, the IX-API team is also working on the interoperability of the software, when earlier this year, the open-source project Peering Manager, added support for version 2 of the IX-API, allowing users to check their IX resources in real-time.
“We are excited about any customer being able to take advantage of reading statistics and telemetry data live from their IXP. And these features of the API, which start with version 2.4, are an add-on that do not require them to implement the rest of the API,” added Marcos Sanz Grossón, head of global software at DE-CIX.
Additionally, discovery mechanisms have been introduced to allow implementers to build parts of the standard that are relevant to their business and announce them, without having to build every single endpoint.
"This release marks a very significant stage in the evolution of the IX-API," said Richard Petrie, chief technology officer of LINX.
"With statistics we expect many more customer to start to adopt the standard API and with the modular implementation structure it will provide a quicker and simpler route to adoption for the wider IX community."
These new features will be available at all three exchanges via the IX-API in Q1 2023.
