Every connection, explained
There are two ways to reach the rest of the internet: through another operator's network, or by connecting directly. We use both and, whenever we can, we prefer the direct one.
Where we live
Our servers are at the Global Switch Madrid data center, one of Spain's main interconnection hubs. From there we have direct access to the country's major traffic exchange points.
Transit
Transit is the indirect way to reach the rest of the internet: a larger network carries our traffic to the destinations we don't connect to directly. We use two providers so that, if one fails, the other keeps working.
Cogent
One of the largest IP transit networks in the world. Through it we reach, redundantly, any network we don't peer with directly. It's our main IPv4 and IPv6 transit path.
HE.NET
Hurricane Electric operates one of the largest and longest-running IPv6 backbones on the Internet. We use it as additional IPv6 transit, reinforcing redundancy independently of Cogent.
Peering
Peering is a direct connection to another network, with no intermediaries: fewer points of failure, lower latency, and more control over the path our traffic takes. We do it at DE-CIX Madrid, where we connect directly with Cloudflare and Apple, and we keep adding more networks.
DE-CIX
An Internet Exchange Point (IXP) in Madrid. There we have direct peering with Cloudflare, Apple, and other networks, bypassing generic transit.
Cloudflare
One of the largest CDNs in the world: a huge share of web traffic passes through its network. Direct peering means fewer hops and lower latency for all of that traffic.
Apple
Moves an enormous volume of consumer traffic: iCloud, App Store, FaceTime, software updates. Direct peering improves performance for a large share of your users' everyday traffic.
loadfront reaches the Internet two ways: redundant transit with Cogent (IPv4/IPv6) and HE.NET (IPv6), and direct peering at DE-CIX Madrid with Cloudflare and Apple.
For those who want the detail: all of this runs under our own autonomous system, AS203099, registered with RIPE and a MANRS participant.
Why we do it this way
We didn't want to depend on a single provider. So we combine redundant transit (Cogent and HE.NET) with direct peering at a top-tier exchange point (DE-CIX): fewer hops, lower latency, and more room if either path fails.
Coming: direct customer peering
If your network is at Global Switch Madrid or on DE-CIX, you'll be able to connect directly with our AS203099 without going through transit. It isn't available yet: we'll enable it when we expand to several nodes. If you're interested, write to us and we'll let you know.