IBM ON DEMAND

Cloud connectivity guide: On Demand

IBM DIRECT LINK

To create a new IBM Direct Link Connect service, customers need to create a Direct Link Connect service via the IBM portal and select the location (e.g. Amsterdam), provider (Colt) and a bandwidth between 50Mbps and 5Gbps. Customers will also be required to select routing details.

Once the service has been created, IBM need to approve the request – this may take several hours.

All Direct Link services are handed over on a shared NNI between Colt and IBM.

IBM Direct Link

CONNECTIONS TO IBM DIRECT LINK CONNECT PORTS

Connections to IBM Direct Link Connect ports are based on a 1:1 circuit connection to hosted port mapping. The cloud B end configuration is always based on single 802.1Q VLAN* – this is automatically configured when the default “Cloud VLAN” option is selected. &#xNAN;The Ethertype is 8100, although this is not visible to customers

The standard VLAN modes apply at the customer A end port, which are summarised in the table below:

Customer Port Mode	Application	Description
Open port	Circuit occupies whole A end port	Port based handover, all traffic on the customer port is mapped to the cloud port
Add VLAN	Customer uses single tagged VLAN to map traffic	VLAN added on egress, towards customer (in translation mode). VLAN can be S-VLAN (88a8) or C-VLAN (8100). Standard H&S config. VLAN contains three “inner” VLANs. Customer needs to map inner VLANs to “outer” tag

IBM DIRECT LINK CONNECT CONFIGURATION

The below diagram summarises the configuration:

IBM Direct Link Configuration

END-TO-END CUSTOMER JOURNEY

The customer journey to establish end to end connectivity to an IBM interconnect port is illustrated below:

IBM Direct Link Connect Customer Journey

IBM DIRECT LINK DEDICATED PORTS

Connections to 10Gbps IBM Direct Link dedicated ports can be supported via a standard DCNet On Demand port – providing a DC cross connect is requested via the On Demand portal (the IBM LOA should be attached to the cross connect request).

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ON DEMAND?

Colt On Demand supports point to point connections between data centres and enterprise offices, private connections to the public cloud and internet connectivity. Visit the On Demand solution page to discover more about On Demand and how it can help you find the right pathway for your business.

Discover On Demand: https://www.colt.net/solutions/on-demand/