Israel added to Microsoft network in bid for faster cloud services
Startup Nation and 30 other countries join Microsoft’s globally placed ‘edge sites’ to speed up access to cloud services
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
Israel will be added to a Microsoft project that will enable local users to connect to a private fiber-optic network — the second longest in the world — offering them better access to cloud services provided by the US tech giant.
Microsoft said Wednesday that Israel is among the 31 countries that will be added to Microsoft’s Edge node project. Microsoft’s fiber-optic network is second in length only to that of the US Department of Defense. The network is a highest-speed private network in the world, and connects various regions in the world, the company said.
Joining the network will improve the experience of users living in these countries, by giving them greater speed for time sensitive applications and enabling them to use more advanced artificial intelligence services, taking better advantage of Microsoft’s cloud services, Microsoft said in a statement.
Latency when accessing cloud-based services can hinder cloud adoption or migration. In most cases, this is caused by commercial internet connections that aren’t tailored to today’s global cloud needs.
Microsoft is expanding this network and speeding up access to the cloud by adding regions, or what it calls “edge sites” to it, which are globally and strategically placed, the tech giant said in a Wednesday blog post announcing the new and upcoming edge sites, including Israel.
The addition of the 31 new edge sites will bring the total to over 150 across more than 50 countries, the post said.
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