DedicatedNodes
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"When you're competing on microseconds, proximity to your peers, smart routing, and direct interconnections are at least as important as the hardware itself."
For most organizations, a latency of a few milliseconds is more than sufficient. For DedicatedNodes' clients, that's where the real work begins. Founder Danny Niewenhuis builds infrastructure for blockchain and trading applications where every microsecond counts.
What started as a technical experiment grew within a few years into a specialized infrastructure provider with a presence in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, and New York.
In Search of the Lowest Latency
Danny has been active in the hosting industry for many years. After fifteen years at i3D.net, he decided to use his experience with servers, networks, and infrastructure to build his own company.
Through his interest in blockchain technology, he discovered a market where speed has a direct impact on results.
"I saw that an enormous amount of attention was being paid to software and trading strategies, while the underlying infrastructure can be just as important. If you're the first to get a transaction processed, that can make an immediate positive difference."
That led to the founding of DedicatedNodes.
It quickly became clear that not only the servers matter, but also where those servers are located and how they are connected.
"The latency from Rotterdam to Amsterdam was around 1.6 milliseconds. For many organizations that would be excellent, but for our clients it simply wasn't good enough."
That is why DedicatedNodes moved its infrastructure to Amsterdam Science Park, as close as possible to the networks and parties that are most important to its clients.
More Than Just Hardware
According to Danny, ultra-low latency is not about a single component of the infrastructure.
"Many people immediately think of network connections, but ultimately it's about the entire stack."
DedicatedNodes therefore optimizes everything: from processors, memory, and network cards to BIOS settings and physical connections. But at extremely low latency levels, network architecture becomes increasingly important as well.
Which networks are relevant? Where are key peers located? Which route does traffic actually take? And where are direct interconnections possible?
"At that level, you look at connectivity differently. It matters which route traffic takes and how physically close you can get to other parties."
A Partner That Thinks Along With You
In its search for further optimization, DedicatedNodes came into contact with NL-ix.
For Danny, it wasn't just the connectivity that mattered, but especially the knowledge behind the network.
"What I appreciated most was that they started thinking along with us from the very beginning."
The conversations went beyond standard latency measurements or generic network advice. They looked at routes, interconnections, fiber paths, Peering opportunities, and the locations where relevant parties are active.
"The standard tools that many people rely on often stop at one or two milliseconds. We look far beyond that. It helps enormously when you have a partner that understands what you're actually looking for."
According to Danny, that support played an especially important role during the early stages of DedicatedNodes.
"At the time, we were still a relatively small company. Even so, they took the time to think with us and gave us access to information that helped us make better decisions."
According to him, it was precisely that combination of technical expertise and personal involvement that made the difference.
Security as Part of Performance
Despite the financial interests involved in the blockchain world, DedicatedNodes encounters surprisingly few traditional attacks on its clients' trading environments. The situation is different for blockchain validators. Because these systems are publicly known within the network, they are regularly targeted by DDoS attacks.
"Our trading infrastructure is barely visible. You can't just find it or access it. That makes those systems far less attractive as targets."
According to Danny, blockchain traffic offers an advantage in this regard.
"Blockchain traffic is much more predictable. We know exactly which parties are part of the blockchain network and which systems need to communicate with one another."
That predictability makes it possible to identify abnormal traffic more quickly and filter it more effectively. Based on that knowledge, DedicatedNodes developed its own anti-DDoS approach specifically aimed at blockchain traffic.
Always Optimizing
Today, DedicatedNodes continues to grow from multiple international locations. But the philosophy behind the company has remained unchanged.
"When you're competing on microseconds, there is no unimportant part of the stack. Everything has to be right."
Whether it's hardware, Routing, Peering, or datacenter connectivity, the company is constantly looking for opportunities to improve performance further.
"There's always something that can be faster, more efficient, or smarter. That's exactly what makes it fun."
