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Equinix Fabric FAQs

Key Features​

What is Equinix Fabric?​

Equinix Fabric is an advanced software-defined interconnection solution that enables you to directly, securely, and dynamically connect to distributed infrastructure and digital ecosystems on platform Equinix through a single port. Equinix Fabric is offered to you through the Equinix Customer Portal, REST APIs, and Terraform.

What are the benefits of connecting via Equinix Fabric?​

Equinix Fabric allows customers to connect digital and physical infrastructure in real-time between 60+ global metros and thousands of providers, customers, and partners.

What use cases does Equinix Fabric solve?​

The main use cases that Equinix Fabric solves are hybrid cloud network access, improved network agility connecting to a variety of NSPs virtually, and a business exchange to connect to your business partners, suppliers, and customers.

What are the components of Equinix Fabric (port types, VC types)?​

There are a number of Technical Components of Fabric, the main ones being Virtual Connections and Ports. See the Port Types page to learn more about available port types.

How is redundancy managed on Equinix?​

Equinix Fabric is operated as a fully redundant platform with Primary and Secondary chassis and customers can choose the right level of redundancy in their architecture. Equinix Fabric’s underlying network is designed to be highly available, reliable, and resilient using diverse carriers and diverse routes between all locations globally.

What monitoring capabilities are available on Equinix Fabric?​

  • Equinix offers streaming event and metric data that you can ingest into a third-party data collector for analysis. See Streaming Network Data for more information.
  • You can view port metrics and events as well as those for virtual connections from your Equinix Fabric Dashboard in Equinix Customer Portal.

How is security managed on Equinix Fabric?​

Security is one of the highest priorities at Equinix. See our Security page to understand the policies and procedures followed by Equinix to protect your equipment and data.

How does Equinix Fabric work with Network Edge and Equinix Metal?​

The infrastructure running Equinix Fabric, Network Edge, and Equinix Metal is redundantly connected so you can leverage Equinix Fabric from either of these platforms virtually using our shared infrastructure. Metal users can also leverage a dedicated Equinix Fabric port, giving you full control of the physical port and the traffic. Network Edge users can also use physical Equinix Fabric ports to BYOC to Connect a Device to an NSP.

Does Equinix Fabric support Bi-Directional Forwarding Detection (BFD)?​

If you want to run BFD across a Layer 2 connection, we recommend that you set your timers as shown:

  • Intra-metro - 100ms x 3 = 300ms
  • Intra-region - 300ms x 3 = 900ms
  • Inter-region - 500ms x 3 = 1500ms

Does Equinix Fabric allow multicast traffic?​

  • Point-to-point (E-Line, E-Access, EPL) - All traffic is allowed at the full bandwidth of the connection. This includes VCs on Network Edge devices as well.

  • E-LAN - BU traffic is rate-limited to 10Mbps, but all other traffic including multicast is allowed at the full bandwidth of the connection. This includes VCs on Network Edge devices as well.

  • E-Tree - BU traffic is rate-limited to 10Mbps, but all other traffic including multicast is allowed at the full bandwidth of the connection.

Does Equinix Fabric support MACsec?​

Equinix Fabric supports Media Access Control security (MACsec) across services terminating on EPL (untagged) ports only. This includes point-to-point EPL as well as multipoint networks such as EP-LAN and EP-Tree.

We do not provide any service with regards to encrypting but will transport the customer’s encrypted frames across our network.

Connect Globally​

Where is Equinix Fabric available Globally?​

Equinix Fabric is available in 60+ metros globally. See Equinix Fabric Availability for global availability information.

Who can I connect with on the Equinix Fabric platform?​

Connect to Service Providers, Yourself (Internal), or Another Fabric Customer.

How do I connect my router to Equinix Fabric?​

The Equinix Fabric port and cross connect to your cage/cabinet is included in the Fabric port order. All that is left to arrange is the patching within the cabinet to your equipment, which your engineers can complete. You can also Order Smart Hands to have Equinix personnel complete the connection on your behalf.

What virtual connection speeds are supported on Equinix Fabric?​

See Virtual Connections at speeds up to 100 Gbps for the list of maximum virtual connection bandwidth speeds by metro.

You can choose from the following billing tiers:

  • 10 Mbps
  • 50 Mbps
  • 200 Mbps
  • 500 Mbps
  • 1 Gbps
  • 2 Gbps
  • 5 Gbps
  • 10 Gbps
  • 25 Gbps
  • 50 Gbps
  • 100 Gbps
tip

If a service provider doesn't allow for higher bandwidth connections, you can configure multiple virtual connections to a certain destination using a single 100 Gbps port or multiple 10 Gbps ports in a LAG group.

What is the difference between Equinix Fabric and Equinix Cross Connect?​

Cross Connects are physical interconnections within an IBX or campus that are typically available as Single-Mode Fiber. Equinix Fabric is a global software-defined network that offers virtual connections that can be provisioned instantly and automatically.

How do I order an Equinix Fabric Port?​

The best way to Order an Equinix Fabric Port is through the Equinix Customer portal. If you are unable to order through the portal you can engage your Equinix Account Team to submit a manual quote offline.

I have my ports; how do I start using Equinix Fabric?​

You will receive an email to confirm the port is provisioned and ready for use. Reference it for detailed next steps. A copy of the completion notice is stored in the Fabric Dashboard on the Equinix Customer Portal for your reference.

Where can I find my ‘Port Name?’​

All information related to your port can be found in the Ports Inventory including the Port Name, Cable ID, Bandwidth, and other technical information like Priority and Encapsulation Type.

What is the difference between a remote port and a remote connection?​

A remote port is used when you are not co-located in one of our IBX data centers and you use an NSP to connect from your location to an IBX with Equinix Fabric.

A remote connection is used to connect to a CSP, partner, or even yourself in an Equinix Fabric market (such as Chicago) when you are in a different Equinix Fabric market (such as New York).

What port configurations are available for Equinix Fabric?​

See the Port Architectures page for supported configurations.

Where are 100 Gbps ports available on Equinix Fabric?​

100 Gbps ports are available in the majority of our markets globally. Contact your account team for information on specific markets or IBX data centers. For more information about availability, see Port Interface Availability.

Get Started​

How do I create an account on the Equinix Customer portal?​

Users can create new billing accounts to order Fabric Services. This is fully self-service from the Fabric Port ordering flow in Equinix Portal. If you are not yet a customer of Equinix globally you can request a User Account.

Where can I learn about user permissions and sub accounts?​

Users are created in the Equinix Customer Portal. There are specific Fabric Permissions that can be used for granular management of the resources (ports, connections, and service profiles), giving users the ability to create, view, update, and delete.

Support​

Do I need a Turn-Up Call to use my new Equinix Fabric Port?​

No, your port should be usable as soon as it’s provisioned so Turn-Up calls are optional for customers. If port testing is unsuccessful, you can complete a Turn-Up Call Request. Click Support at the top of the page and use your Order Information to complete the Turn-Up Call request.

I’m having a technical issue on Equinix Fabric. Who do I contact?​

You can Submit a Trouble Ticket in the Equinix Customer portal if you are having technical issues. Equinix Fabric Support also provides access to tools and expertise that enable the success and operational health of your Equinix Fabric solutions. The status of existing tickets can be checked in the Order & Ticket History on Equinix Customer Portal.

What are the Equinix Fabric SLAs for latency, up-time, and provisioning?​

The Equinix Fabric Product and Policy Document is a guiding contractual document explaining general Equinix definitions, policies, SLAs, and the Terms and Conditions of doing business with Equinix. The Equinix Fabric Product and Policy document is a guiding document, and not a contract.

Service Providers​

I am a Service Provider. How do I offer connectivity to my services on Equinix Fabric?​

In order to enable customers to connect to your service, onboard yourself as a Service Provider in the Equinix Customer portal.

What is a Service Profile?​

Service Profiles allow you to promote your services on Equinix Fabric. They can be either public or private. Public Service Profiles allow any Equinix Fabric user to see your Service Profile and create a connection to it. Public profiles are visible on the Equinix external website. Private Service Profiles enable you to selectively grant access to specific Equinix Fabric customers, allowing them to view and connect to your service.

How do I get my logo added to my Service Profile?​

We have to add your logo manually. Open a Support Ticket with the Type = Other to engage our Customer Reliability Engineering (CRE) team to assist in uploading your logo. See the Support page for more information.

How do I create a private profile?​

You can choose to create a Layer 2 Service Profile and then use the Profile Visibility options to make it private to grant access to specific Equinix Fabric customers. Alternatively, you can use a Service Token to create a unique, single-use access key for customers to access your interconnection assets (such as Fabric ports).

What is a Service Token?​

A service token authorizes another customer to access your ports. There are two types of service tokens available: A-side and Z-side. A-side service tokens authorize another customer to connect using your Fabric asset (such as a port) to any destination available on Fabric including service providers. Z-side service tokens authorize another customer to connect to you as a destination from their Fabric asset (such as a port).

Which Service Providers can I connect with on Equinix Fabric in what locations?​

See Equinix Fabric Provider Availability for a current list of providers and locations.

How do I make a connection to a Service Provider on Equinix Fabric?​

Detailed how-to guides for the top Service Providers are available. See the Service Providers page.

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