Skip to main content

Fabric Reseller Account Model

With the Reseller/Sub-account model resellers can enable some or all their end customers for self-service on Equinix Fabric. Resellers must follow steps in the Portal User Guide section for sub-account setup, assign ports and set up user access for their customers to be able to manage their own connections on Equinix Fabric. Sub-accounts can self-serve and contact the Equinix NOC on their own. This model is good for resellers or accounts that want to wholly separate their customers and/or lines of business into separate entities in Equinix systems.

Note:

Equinix Fabric users participating in Equinix Platform (IAM) can use the Context Switcher to set or change the project they work with in Fabric. Only assets within the selected project are shown.

For more information, see Switching Projects.

Becoming a Reseller​

Once your account is designated as a reseller account, you will be able to set up sub-accounts. However, current accounts can't become sub-accounts. No Reseller Partner agreement is required to take advantage of the basic Equinix Fabric reseller capabilities.

Adding sub-accounts​

Resellers must follow steps on sub-account setup in the Equinix Customer Portal (ECP) User Guide to designate their end customers as sub-accounts, assign ports and set up user access for sub-accounts to be able to manage their own connections with Equinix Fabric.

Once an account becomes a reseller, a Reseller Primary Administrator will be assigned. The Reseller Primary Admin is responsible for creating sub-accounts and assigning users and user types in ECP. This must be done in ECP before sub-account users can create, view, and delete connections in the Equinix Customer portal.

Eligible sub-account user types are:

  • User
  • IBX Admin
  • Primary Admin

IBX Admin is not applicable to Equinix Fabric functionality

These user types affect which ports and connections a sub-account can view.

If a sub-account is represented by more than one reseller, they must maintain fully separate accounts with each reseller, no overlap in visibility or permissions is permitted.

Creating, Viewing, And Deleting Equinix Fabric Ports And Connections​

Equinix Fabric ports are assigned to a sub-account, who can then assign users to create, view, and delete connections on the port. Multiple sub-accounts can be assigned to a single port or each sub-account can have a dedicated port. Port-level permissions enable all resellers to manage access to port viewing and connection ordering.

Resellers, but not sub-accounts, can set port threshold notification preferences that will trigger a notification to the reseller if the sold port capacity reaches a specified percentage (ex. 80%). Similarly, resellers receive outage notification but they are responsible for communicating this information to the sub-account.

Using Equinix Platform (IAM)​

Equinix Fabric users in Equinix Platform (IAM) assigned the role Fabric Partner Resource Manager can use the Resources page to select the port and assign the port to selected end customers (sub customers).

Viewing and Creating Connections​

What is a Service Profile?​

A service profile defines how others can connect to a port or set of ports. Service profiles can be:

  • Public – Available for anyone on the Equinix Fabric platform to connect to (for example, AWS Direct Connect or Azure Express Route), or
  • Private – In this case, the service profile owner must give permissions for other accounts to connect (such as, Joe's Physician’s Network)

Creating Connections To Public Or Private Service Profiles​

Any user type (User or Primary Admin) can be assigned to view some or all the ports assigned to the sub-account. Any user can be assigned to create connections from a port to which they have been granted visibility. The reseller will need to grant permission for the sub-account to create a connection to a private profile, but anyone can create a connection to a public profile.

The ability to create connections within a sub-account can be assigned to sub-account users, however, at the reseller level, only a reseller admin can create and delete connections inside a sub-account.

Creating A Connection To Self As A sub-account​

Customers often use the Equinix Fabric to connect their assets together, particularly where these assets reside in different metros. To do this, the Z-Side port of the self-connection needs a service profile created so that port will be visible to the A-Side for connection creation.

sub-accounts can't create service profiles, only the reseller can create service profiles. Therefore, any sub-account who wishes to create a connection between two of their ports in different metros will need to work with the reseller to create a private service profile for their Z-Side port. The reseller will then need to grant permission for the sub-account to create a connection to a private profile.

In either case, connections will not be provisioned unless they have been approved by the service profile owner(s).

Remote (Inter-Metro Or Inter-Region) Connections​

Equinix Fabric resellers and sub-accounts can create local connections in a metro and remote connections to any public or private service profile that has remote connections enabled. Remote connections span metros (ex. Seattle to Ashburn) and even regions (ex. Los Angeles to London). Remote connections always incur an additional charge, even if the sub-account has unlimited connections ports. Pricing for inter-region connections varies by region but is static within the same region.

Pricing and Billing for Resellers and sub-accounts​

The capability to see associated pricing during connection creation has been added to the Equinix Customer portal. However, sub-accounts of resellers can't see pricing in the portal since the reseller is responsible for billing the sub-account and might alter the price points presented to their customers. sub-account status is determined by ECP at the time of Equinix Fabric login.

note

A sub-account is a non-billable customer. Therefore, all connections created by a sub-account are billed to the reseller.

Using the sub-account Persona​

In the Equinix Customer portal, the Reseller Primary Admin can view the connections created by the reseller using the persona switch. In addition, a reseller can view, order and manage the connections using the sub-account persona. Admin and reseller users can view the Inventory and My Company pages of users under their preview. This feature is called Impersonation: Sub account and Organization.

When a reseller views as a sub-account, he or she sees only those ports assigned to the sub-account. However, viewing as self will result in viewing all ports, but not the connections belonging to other sub-account users.

How Personas Work in the Equinix Customer Portal​

Located just below the main navigation, you can use the View As field to select the customer or organization you want to impersonate. This field lets you view Equinix Fabric from the same lens and perspective as the user or organization who you are impersonating. it's even possible to create a connection as the user being impersonated.

You can find the impersonation feature option on these pages:

  • Inventory page
  • My Company page
  • Create Connection
info

Sub-account impersonation is only possible for the user’s own organization. When selecting an external organization, the sub-account drop-down is deselected, and that organization’s sub-accounts are not visible.

When a user or organization is being impersonated, their view is maintained as the reseller navigates through the different pages. To remove the current impersonation view, click the x on the View As search field.

User Types with Impersonation Features​

There are three types of users who have access to these impersonation features:

  • Reseller and Reseller Primary Admin – Resellers who are not specifically Equinix users, but instead offer Equinix services to their own customers.

    • Standard Reseller accounts can view and create, but only for the ports assigned to them. Other ports that have not been assigned can't be viewed.
    • Reseller Primary Admin accounts can view, edit, approve, delete, and create for users assigned to their reseller account.
    • Reseller and Reseller Primary Admin users can use the sub-account Impersonation feature. In the View As field, click on Search for Customer to display a list of sub accounts. You can also type the first letters of the name to narrow the search results. Sub accounts with no ports assigned appear in the list but can't be selected.
    tip

    While impersonating a sub account, when you create a connection, the connection is made for the account you are impersonating.

  • Equinix Admin and Reseller – These users have Equinix accounts and are also resellers.

    • Equinix admin and Reseller accounts have permission to view, edit, approve, delete, and create for users that are under their reseller account.
    • This user type combines the functionality of the previous two. Equinix Admin & Reseller users can use both the Sub account and Organization Impersonation features. This feature lets you view as different organizations or accounts of their own organization.

  • Equinix Admin – These users are not resellers, but Equinix employees who have accounts.