FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 4, 2004-- Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) to Establish Hub at Equinix Centers to Link Research and Education Communities Throughout the U.S.

Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq:EQIX), the leading provider of network-neutral data centers and Internet exchange services, today announced that the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC), a not-for-profit organization serving California's educational system, will move its Internet network connectivity operations to Equinix's two Los Angeles Internet Business Exchange(TM) (IBX(R)) centers. As a part of the move, CENIC will establish its "Los Angeles Gigapop" hub within the two centers that will link research and educational facilities throughout the U.S.

CENIC is a not-for-profit corporation serving the California Institute of Technology, California State University, Stanford University, University of California, University of Southern California, California Community Colleges and the statewide K-12 school system. CENIC's mission is to facilitate and coordinate the development, deployment and operation of a set of robust, multi-tiered, advanced network services for this research and education community. By the end of the decade, CENIC hopes to bring broadband connectivity to every school in California.

The move to Equinix's two Los Angeles facilities will provide CENIC with a secure and reliable network connectivity infrastructure that offers direct access to a critical mass of network and content providers for the exchange of data and the purchase of network transit. By reaching these strategic partners within the same physical location, as opposed to linking to them in multiple locations across great distances, CENIC can greatly streamline the network connectivity and the path between origin and destination networks. The result is an enhanced connectivity infrastructure that improves performance and speed while reducing overall connectivity costs.

The exchange of data traffic with other networks, or "peering," that CENIC will conduct within Equinix's centers is a fundamental element of the Internet's infrastructure that improves the performance of the Internet for all users by enabling data to pass from one network to another without intermediary networks or bottlenecks. Increasingly, as pressure builds to lower costs while improving network performance, peering has become an essential element of most network strategies.

In addition to the critical mass of strategic partners available within Equinix's neutral ecosystem, each center features a high-performance physical infrastructure that includes industry-leading security, power and environmental features. Security elements include interlocking "mantrap" doors, multiple layers of biometric hand-geometry scanners controlling access, as well as 24-hour security officers and hundreds of surveillance cameras. The power operations of each center include a high-performance backup system that guarantees uninterrupted power even in the event of utility power disruption. Cooling and environmental control features enable deployment of the most demanding IT deployments, including high power density equipment, such as blade servers. In addition, CENIC can utilize the 24 by 7 professional support of Equinix's on site IBX technicians with expertise in telecommunications, IP, NT and networking technologies for any maintenance, installation or other assistance with equipment located in IBX centers.

"As we lead the charge toward ubiquitous high-speed connectivity throughout California's educational institutions, we require a robust infrastructure that ensures the highest levels of uptime and performance with connectivity to other educational institutions, content providers and all of the major network service providers," said Jim Dolgonas, president and chief operating officer of CENIC. "After a thorough review, we determined that Equinix's Internet hubs were the only locations that exceeded our high requirements and offered an ideal location for us to base the core of the network linking all of California's research and educational community."

"As the aggregation of Internet organizations at Equinix's neutral centers continues to grow, the appeal for new businesses and other organizations to operate within these hubs of network connectivity becomes increasingly more attractive," said Margie Backaus, chief business officer of Equinix. "This snowball effect has made Equinix's hubs key meeting points for the networks that comprise the Internet."

About Equinix

Equinix is the leading global provider of network-neutral data centers and Internet exchange services for enterprises, content companies, systems integrators and network services providers. Through the company's 14 Internet Business Exchange(TM) (IBX(R)) centers in five countries, customers can directly interconnect with every major global network and ISP for their critical peering, transit and traffic exchange requirements. These interconnection points facilitate the highest performance and growth of the Internet by serving as neutral and open marketplaces for Internet infrastructure services, allowing customers to expand their businesses while reducing costs.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from expectations discussed in such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the challenges of operating IBX centers and developing, deploying and delivering Equinix services; competition from existing and new competitors; the ability to generate sufficient cash flow or otherwise obtain funds to repay outstanding indebtedness; the loss or decline in business from our key customers and other risks described from time to time in Equinix's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see Equinix's recent quarterly and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available upon request from Equinix. Equinix does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.

Equinix and IBX are registered trademarks of Equinix, Inc. Internet Business Exchange is a trademark of Equinix, Inc.

CONTACT: K/F Communications, Inc.
David Fonkalsrud, 415-255-6506
dave@kfcomm.com
SOURCE: Equinix, Inc.