Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) has launched Equinix Metal for customers interested in pursuing a bare metal switch approach to connectivity. The service, which Equinix describes as “fully automated and interconnected,” is currently available via Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers in Amsterdam, New York, Silicon Valley, and Washington, DC. Availability will expand to 14 metro markets by early 2021, the company adds.
Equinix Metal, which leverages expertise and capabilities from recent Packet acquisition, provides a variety of hardware options that the company asserts can be deployed within minutes. Paired with other available digital infrastructure building blocks, the Equnix Metal portfolio supports a range of physical and virtual deployment alternatives, the company asserts. It is natively integrated with Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric (recently renamed Equinix Fabric) to enable rapid and seamless deployments of hybrid multicloud architectures with access to networks, enterprises, and clouds on Platform Equinix. The service is available via popular developer tools in both on-demand and reserved models.
"Equinix Metal is another important step forward in our product portfolio, enabling enterprises to bring together and interconnect hybrid multicloud infrastructures at global scale on Platform Equinix. With Equinix Metal integrated with Equinix Fabric, infrastructure customers can move at software speed and tap into the global reach, interconnection value, and unparalleled community of ecosystem partners that digital leaders have come to expect from Equinix," said Sara Baack, chief product officer at Equinix.
"With COVID-19 we've seen enterprises accelerate their digital transformation plans from years to months. Today's digital leaders are increasingly gaining a competitive advantage by leveraging infrastructure choices that meet their exact needs and can be deployed globally and interconnected,” commented Mark Bowker, senior analyst, ESG, via an Equinix press release. “By augmenting its portfolio of foundational services with high-performance, fully automated compute, the addition of Equinix Metal can help digital businesses extract greater value from Platform Equinix's rich ecosystems and global interconnection fabric and rapidly deploy the physical infrastructure of their choice."
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