Table of Contents

Order and configure your VirtualPNI between your own resources

Joseph Thorwest Updated by Joseph Thorwest

What this covers

Use this guide when both endpoints belong to your account. You order the service, then choose how the two endpoints connect:

  • Access ↔ Access: A Layer 2 link between two of your Access ports. No IP or routing setup.
  • Access ↔ Cloud ROUTER: A Layer 3 routed link from an Access port to your Cloud ROUTER, used to build hybrid cloud setups.

Ordering is identical for both; the connection type only changes the final configuration step, so both are covered here.

Connecting to another company instead? See Order and configure your VirtualPNI to a third-party provider.

Prerequisites

VirtualPNI connection type

You need

Access ↔ Access

Two Accesses — one per side. Find a guide for ordering an Access here.

Access ↔ Cloud ROUTER

One Access and one Cloud ROUTER. Find a guide for ordering an Access here and a Cloud ROUTER here.

Steps

  1. Login to our portal and click on Add Services either on the dashboard or the Service overview page.
  2. Select Add VirtualPNI Service.
  3. Under Who owns both endpoints?, select Own resources, then click Next.
  4. On the configuration screen, the following information is required:
    1. A-Side Location and B-Side Location: The metro area for each side.
    2. Service name: A name to recognise this service by.
    3. Purchase order: Your optional internal Purchase Order reference.
    4. Bandwidth: Drag the slider (10 Mbit/s up to 10 Gbit/s).
    5. Contract duration: Pick a term; the price updates to match your selection.
  5. Click Next.
  6. Review the order summary, optionally add a confirmation email address, and place the order.
  7. The portal provisions the service and shows progress. When it finishes you'll see "Your VirtualPNI has been created". Click on Next.
  8. On "How do you want to connect?", choose the connectivity model and click Next:
    1. Access ↔ Access: Continue with these steps.
    2. Access ↔ Cloud ROUTER: Continue with these steps.

Configure an Access ↔ Access connection

Configure each side (A-Side and B-Side). For each one:

  1. Select the Access Port. The list only shows ports in that side's metro area.
  1. Set the encapsulation. It's determined by the Access port you choose:
    1. A Dot1Q configured port uses Dot1Q and Untagged automatically.
    2. A QinQ configured port lets you choose Dot1Q, QinQ or Untagged.
  2. Enter the VLAN:
    1. Dot1Q: A single VLAN ID (1–4094).
    2. QinQ: An Inner VLAN ID (C-Tag) and an Outer VLAN ID (S-Tag), each 1–4094.
  3. Click Review, check the details, and confirm.
  4. Repeat for the other side.

When both sides are configured, the VirtualPNI becomes active.

Encapsulation fields are set by the selected Access port and can't be changed on their own. To use a different encapsulation, choose a different port.

Configure an Access ↔ Cloud ROUTER connection

Fill in both sides on one screen:

Access port
  1. Select the Access Port.
  2. Choose the VLAN type and enter the VLAN (Dot1Q: VLAN ID; QinQ: Outer VLAN ID (S-Tag) and Inner VLAN ID (C-Tag)).
Cloud ROUTER
  1. Select the Cloud ROUTER.
  2. Enter an External reference (a name for this connection).
  3. Enter the IP network in CIDR notation for this leg (for example, 192.168.1.0/30).
  4. Enter the BGP neighbor IP and BGP ASN. Optionally set a BGP password.
  5. Turn BFD on or off (BFD speeds up failure detection).
  6. Click Submit.

The connection provisions automatically and goes live.

Need help? Get in touch with our customer service.

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