Dear MIXP participants.

I hope that you are all well.  It has been a while since we last sent out an update about MIXP activities, and we thought that it would be useful to keep you updated on some of the work that has been happening in the background.

#1 - 10Gb/s port availability We’ve recently taken delivery of 2x 10Gb/s capable switches, courtesy of a kind donation from our friends at INX-ZA in South Africa.  We have already integrated one of these into the MIXP fabric, and we are thrilled to announce that we are ready to support peers that want to upgrade their ports to 10Gb/s at the MIXP-RGC site, as from 4 April 2022. Ports at the MIXP are at no cost, thanks to sponsorships and donations, so upgrading to a 10Gb/s port will continue to be free!

#2 - Sunset on copper, and multi-mode fibre ports. As we move along the technology ladder, we need to be able to leave legacy behind us.  To that end, the MIXP will no longer be supporting copper and multi-mode fibre ports.  All future connections from peers *MUST* be via single-mode fibre 1310nm.  This will provide you with the best long-term growth opportunities.

#3 - Upcoming maintenance Two years ago, we implemented RPKI checking, and dropping of RPKI invalid prefix announcements.  We are now working on the next extension to our route-server platform  (anti dDOS techniques) and to make that transition smooth, we would need to upgrade the route-server daemons at the MIXP.  Starting in two weeks, we’ll be migrating to new versions of the existing software/daemons that support some of the features we’ve identified that we need. We are quite excited by this change for several reasons, and we’ll announce more on the plans to implement anti dDOS techniques, as well as some planned training that we would like to perform within the community, so that you (the peers) can make the most of this important feature.

#4 - Call for volunteers The team that runs and build the infrastructure for the MIXP is purely volunteer-led.  We work in our spare time to keep the IX operational, and to grow new services.  We are a small group of dedicated volunteers, that believe in peering, and the benefits that it can bring to the Internet ecosystem in Mauritius.  If you would like to be a part of this dynamic team, and are willing to dedicate a few hours a month to making the MIXP better, please write to us, mentioning your interest, and skill-set.

#5 - Call for donations As mentioned earlier, the MIXP is run at no-cost to participants, thanks to ongoing sponsorship and donations.  In order to continue to grow the MIXP, and add additional services, we have need of several items that would make the MIXP operations smoother.  If you feel that the MIXP is adding value to your network, and are willing to make a small in-kind donation, please write to us at noc@mixp.org.

For the MIXP volunteer team, Keessun.