We're Passing Packets

Back in November I said Chicago Open Pipes was coming soon. On March 16th it stopped being "soon" — we passed our first real traffic.

The first bilateral BGP session on the exchange came up between two networks that were willing to bet on a brand-new, data-center-neutral, nonprofit IX before there was much to point at: South Front Networks (AS397326) and Hoyos Consulting (AS53597).

Being the first two peers on a new exchange is a real leap of faith. There's no traffic to justify the port yet, no long list of other networks already connected — just a mission, a switch at 350 Cermak, and someone telling you it's going to work. South Front and Hoyos took that leap, and I'm grateful they did.

Then the session came up, the routes came across, and the packets started flowing. It's a small graph today, but it's our graph — the first bytes of Midwest traffic staying local on independent, public-interest infrastructure.

I also want to thank Jay Hanke. Jay got involved early, back when this was still gear sitting in my office and a date on a calendar, and did the unglamorous work of actually setting things up and getting the first sessions turned up. Every project like this needs someone who'll roll up their sleeves before it's obviously going to succeed. Thank you, Jay.

This is a soft launch, not a finish line. If you've got a network in Chicago and you want your traffic to stay local, neutral, and out of the toll booths — this is exactly the moment to get in early. Reach out: [email protected]

More soon. This time it's already live.