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Port Architectures

Equinix Fabric ports are available in various configurations, including standard ports, remote ports, and extended ports, depending on where customers are located in relation to the physical Equinix Fabric equipment.

Standard Ports​

In a standard port configuration, the demarcation point is your cage in an Equinix IBX.

Remote Ports​

Remote ports are delivered to a third party's demarcation in an Equinix IBX. The third party is usually a Network Service Provider (NSP).

A remote Equinix Fabric port uses this configuration:

Extended Ports​

An extended port connects to Equinix Fabric through a Building Meet-Me-Room (BMMR), which is only available in multi-tenant data centers in North America and Warsaw.

Chassis Groups​

To facilitate redundant and diverse connectivity, the Equinix Fabric platform is arranged into chassis groups, with each metro having both an "A" and "B" chassis group. Within each chassis group one or more edge routers will exist.

When ports are ordered and provisioned, it's important to understand where they will be deployed to ensure they meet your needs and preferences. During the ordering process, the portal will prompt you to choose either a Primary or Secondary router to provision the port. Selecting Primary means your port will be provisioned on the A Chassis Group and choosing Secondary will provision the port on the B Chassis Group.

It is important to understand the use of Primary and Secondary does not mean services provided by Equinix on one port can or are subordinate to those on another port. Primary and secondary ports offer the same services and are only different by name and the chassis group in which they reside.

Ports can be named to include the chassis group to which they are provisioned, A or B, or any other naming convention of your choice, within the naming limitation of the platform. One such example is the use of PRI (Primary) and SEC (Secondary) to help distinguish which Equinix Fabric chassis group a port is provisioned.

Non-Redundant Configuration​

This allows LAG with one single physical link or member with an active Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) configuration (IEEE 802.3ad), forming LAG up to 8x ports (8x 1GE or 8x 10GE).

Multi-Chassis - LAG Configuration​

Multi-chassis LAG support is limited to customer equipment when the customer chooses an EPL port.

Redundant Configuration​

This option supports dual diverse physical Equinix Fabric ports to diverse Equinix Fabric Chassis (Primary and Secondary). It connects dual diverse Equinix Fabric Virtual circuits to the service providers.

note

As per the requirement, optional LAG is provided to the customer.

Redundant LAG Configuration​

This allows LAG with one single physical link or member with an active Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) configuration (IEEE 802.3ad), forming LAG up to 8x ports.

This configuration option supports dual diverse physical Equinix Fabric ports to diverse Equinix Fabric Chassis (Primary and Secondary). In addition, this option connects dual diverse Equinix Fabric virtual circuits to the service providers.

Geo Diverse (Dual Metro) Single VC Configuration​

This configuration is provided to you with presence at the Dual Geo Diverse Equinix Metros.

Geo Diverse (Dual Metro) Dual VC Configuration​

This configuration is provided to you with presence at Dual Geo Diverse Equinix Metros.

Additionally, this option supports dual diverse physical Equinix Fabric ports to diverse Equinix Fabric Chassis (Primary and Secondary) and connects dual diverse Equinix Fabric virtual circuits to the service providers.