The Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) has recorded a new internet traffic record for the Netherlands of 12 terabit per second. On Sunday, February 18, at around 7.30pm, a record number of people were apparently turning to the internet for entertainment while the dreary weather continued outside. 

Astronomical amounts of data traffic in the Netherlands 

According to AMS-IX, the whopping 12 terabit per second of data traffic corresponds to almost 6,4 million people watching TikTok videos at the same time, or 100 million people playing Fortnite simultaneously. This new traffic peak came after many networks were upgraded in Amsterdam. 

To satisfy the growing demand for port capacity, AMS-IX recently introduced the first 400G customer ports in the peering platform, allowing internet traffic to peak and break the previous record of 11 terabit per second reached in 2022. These peaks tend to occur when internet users spend more time indoors during bad weather and on Sundays - two elements that collided on February 18 to contribute to the new record. 

Internet exchange in Amsterdam one of the largest hubs in the world

The AMS-IX platform includes industry giants such as Amazon, Booking.com, Google, Microsoft and Netflix. Going beyond the 16 data centres housed in various Dutch cities including Amsterdam, Haarlem, Schiphol, Rotterdam and Naaldwijk, AMS-IX has also established 14 internet exchange points worldwide. 

This record high in data traffic comes after AMS-IX celebrated its 30th anniversary in connectivity. “Internet traffic continues to grow and achieving this milestone shortly after the celebration of our 30th anniversary makes me very proud. I’d like to thank all the connected members and customers for their trust in our services,” said AMS-IX CEO Peter van Burgel in a press release.