Having run an exchange, I can speak to a couple of points. 1.An exchange is only as good as any other provider. If they don¹t have a redundant design then you have more room for failure. Same can be said about good staff behind it. If they know what they are doing and keep it simple, then it can be a very advantageous thing to you. 2.An exchange really shines in data centers where you have to pay for cross connects. I can buy 1 10 gig connection to an exchange in Chicago and peer with 30 other providers easy. If I were to run a cross connect to each provider directly that would cost me between 7 and 9 grand a month in an Equinix data center. Instead I am paying $1300 for the same thing. If I want a private vlan add on a little extra. 3.Some exchanges carry weight with the folks like Netflix and others. In most cases, they will peer with you easier on an exchange than a direct connection. Keep in mind switch ports cost money, especially in a dense data center. Justin -- Justin Wilson <j2sw@mtin.net> http://www.mtin.net <http://www.mtin.net/blog> Managed Services xISP Solutions Data Centers http://www.thebrotherswisp.com Podcast about xISP topics http://www.midwest-ix.com Peering Transit Internet Exchange