Return Material Authorizations (RMA)

This topic explains the handling of a Return Material Authorization as part of an equipment replacement within your colocation space.

For an RMA, your inbound equipment and associated packaging are held in the IBX’s intake area until the time of installation. After installation, the packaging is re-used to return the old equipment. An RMA request generally consists of 3 parts:

  1. An Inbound Shipment order

  2. A Move/Replace Equipment/RMA order

  3. An Outbound Shipment order

You can submit all 3 orders together via the Move/Replace Equipment/RMA order form (see the procedure below).

Important: In most cases, an IBX will only hold a shipment for 5 business days. Therefore, we recommend that you schedule your installation to occur no more than 5 days after your inbound shipment arrival date, and that you schedule your outbound shipment no more than 5 days after the installation.

  1. On the Smart Hands Catalog, select Move/Replace Equipment/RMA from the Equipment tile.

  2. Enter the required fields, such as IBX, Cage, Scope of Work, Technical Contact, etc.

  3. Under Where is this equipment currently, create an Inbound Shipment order — or if you already have one, enter the order number or tracking number to locate it.

    1. In your Inbound order, select the option for Equinix delivers your package(s) to your cage or suite and unpacks boxes.

    2. In the Shipment Handling box of the Inbound order, specify that this is an RMA.

  4. Under How should Equinix handle remaining parts, devices replaced and/or boxes, choose Send outbound shipment or RMA with removed equipment.

  5. Under Outbound Shipment Information, create an Outbound order — or if you already have one, enter the order number or tracking number to locate it.

    1. In your Outbound order, select the option for Pick up shipment from the cage or suite.

    2. In the Shipment Handling box of the Outbound order, specify the detailed RMA instructions.

  6. Check the scheduling of your Inbound, Outbound, and RMA orders to make sure the IBX won't need to store your inbound or outbound shipment for more than 5 business days. (If you need the IBX to hold a shipment longer, explain your needs within the order.)

  7. Submit your order.

Note: This process allows for proper tracking of RMA requests. It also ensures compliance with our Flammable Material Removal Policy, by preventing cardboard from entering the colocation floor. (For policy details, see section D.2 of our Global IBX Policies.)