Toronto Internet Exchange

The Exchange also offers two BGP Route-Servers, which allow peers to exchange prefixes with each other while minimizing the number of direct BGP peering sessions configured on their routers.[3] Participation is voluntary, with approximately 85 percent of the membership using the free service. Strict prefix filtering to prevent unintentional announcements of IP address blocks to other participants. The exchange allows participants the option of eliminating the TorIX ASN from the AS path of prefixes received via the route-servers. This can substantially increase the utility of the route-servers for participants, but should only be undertaken after careful consideration. In addition, TorIX participants will have a range of BGP communities that can be used for traffic engineering purposes.[4]

The Exchange operates a members-only portal that allows peers to publish their peering policies, contact other members with peering requests, configure route-server access and options, track traffic usage, etc.

TorIX will consider hosting Internet community projects that are of an interest to members of the Exchange or the wider Canadian Internet.

Since 2012, TorIX has been hosting a cluster of Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers for use by the Internet as a whole. Using servers which sync to both GPS and CDMA sources, the TorIX NTP cluster is a stratum 1 time source. The original equipment was donated by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) and has since been replaced and upgraded. As of June 2019, it provides time to over 500,000 devices worldwide every minute.[5]

Compared to commercial Internet transit pricing in Canada, the per-megabit cost of being a typical TorIX peer works out to cents-on-the-dollar, versus tens of dollars per megabit. According to Job Snijders' IXP Pricing List, TorIX is one of the lowest cost IXP's in the entire world.[7]

Most commercial Internet transit agreements require a minimum traffic commitment level, which the customer must pay regardless if their usage is below that point. If usage exceeds the contracted commitment level, the customer usually pays based on an agreed per-megabit charge. Billing is typically done based on the 95th percentile. As a not-for-profit, TorIX charges a small port fee based on the speed of the port the member desires, rather than the amount of traffic traveling over TorIX. The more traffic, the better, but peers are not penalized for lower traffic levels.

The low-cost barrier to entry for prospective peers is attractive for smaller companies, while larger companies can see significant operational expense savings by utilizing the exchange at a fraction of the cost of commercial Internet transit.

By utilizing the exchange, members can keep their Internet traffic "local," without the added latency of a third-party Internet transit provider. For example, Internet traffic between two points in the same province that used different last mile ISPs may travel extensive physical distances, including to and from other countries, which would negatively impact latency-sensitive applications. Through direct peering relationships, members and their customers realize better network performance.

While many companies see a benefit in such arrangements, including many of the country's largest ISPs, Bell Canada is not a participant at TorIX.

By keeping Canadian Internet traffic local within the country, many organizations are able to alleviate concerns regarding Canadian source/destination Internet traffic, particularly involving concerns regarding the American NSA's interception of cross-border traffic, best demonstrated by the revelations of Edward Snowden to the press.

Peers are charged an annual port access fee, with the cost dependent on the type of port and the number of ports required. These fees are used to offset the costs of running the exchange, including vendor support contracts, spare optics and hardware upgrades.