Microsoft Uses Equinix for Azure Cloud Connection

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Equinix Inc., the global interconnection and data center company, today announced a joint partnership to bring Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute to 16 global markets inside Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers. As the first and only data center provider to deliver this global offering, Equinix will enable customers to directly connect to Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute in Equinix IBX data centers across four continents. ExpressRoute is designed to help businesses build hybrid cloud solutions that cost-effectively and securely extend enterprise networks while improving performance, reliability, and scale.

Equinix and Microsoft are teaming up to enable companies to seamlessly deploy hybrid cloud environments that extend their network and enhance on-premises investments with ExpressRoute – providing private, reliable and low-latency connections between customer data centers and the Microsoft Azure cloud. Because ExpressRoute connections do not go over the public Internet, they also offer faster speeds and higher security than typical connections, with access to a multitude of network service providers that are part of Equinix’s ecosystem.

Microsoft’s physical infrastructure for Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute services resides in Equinix’s data centers and is available via an Equinix switching fabric that provides secure connectivity and real time provisioning. By connecting to ExpressRoute across Platform Equinix™, companies are able to bridge their cloud and data center strategies and benefit from full integration between cloud services and internal applications. Azure is commonly leveraged for key workloads that include big data, storage, backup and recovery, hybrid applications, productivity applications and media.

Microsoft is using Equinix to benefit from access to over 975 networks, as well as the ability to scale across Equinix’s global footprint. The partnership will provide Microsoft the ability to interconnect with Equinix’s 4,500 customers around the globe.

Equinix Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX)

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT)