Create the Order
This self-service user guide is aimed for LINX members only. If you are a Reseller and you are ordering on behalf of a sub-customer, please see the relevant documentation.
LINX members can add a new Closed User Group (CUG) service anytime on demand. This self-service request is visible via the Orders page with a full order log on Portal. For any error conditions, LINX NOC will immediately be notified to take over manual control of the request.
On LINX Portal navigate to Orders.
Click on request a new service
Select Port based services
Select LINX CUG service
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On the order details page, slide the toggle to select the desired bandwidth for the CUG.
After selecting the bandwidth, select whether the CUG service should be deployed:
on a new port access (scenario one)
on an existing port access (scenario two)
1. new port access (scenario one)
Select the “New port access” and the desired fabric and building.
Once selected you will be able to check the monthly cost and set up charges for both CUG service and port accesses on the top right corner. These prices are calculated on demand accordingly to your selection.
Once selected, scroll to the bottom to add service details.
At this point please complete the New Port access request section.
Location:
Optional fields:
Floor/Building: Please provide which building you are located in, and which floor within the data centre
Room/Row: Please provide which room within the data centre you are in, and which row within the room
Rack: Please provide your position within the rack so we can locate the port
If you do not know already any of the optional fields you will be able to provide that information to LINX NOC at a later stage.
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Port Details
Select the encapsulation of the port. Please bear in mind that we do not offer any form of encapsulation on bundled ports.
You can choose between Dot1Q and QinQ. Any form of encapsulation other than None allows you to host multiple logical services on the ordered port access. If you plan to utilise Cloud Connect or Microsoft Azure Private Peering, we recommend you select QinQ as it would allow you to utilise the full functionality of such services if required. Please note that the encapsulation of your port can be changed at a later date, please see the related article.Presentation type: Please select the presentation type that is appropriate for your demarcation point:
Please select Other if none of the available options qualify or if unsure and it will be handled
Select the connection type. The connection type allows LINX NOC to determine the right process for provisioning including which person to contact and who will be issuing a LoA.
The available options are:Layer 2 Provider: Please select this option if you are using a layer 2 provider to reach your demarcation point.
Own Rack Space: Please select this option if your demarcation point is located on your own equipment.
Third-Party Rack Space: Please select this option if your demarcation point is located on a third-party supplier rented equipment.
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Click add service details to proceed.
2. Existing port access (scenario two)
You can filter or search the existing port accesses
Port accesses without encapsulation are grayed-out and you need to change their encapsulation before being able to select them. Please follow the relevant article on how to change a port access encapsulation via self-service. Please bear in mind that LINX does not offer encapsulation on port access bundles and those bundles can exclusively be used for peering services.
Port accesses with encapsulation but not sufficient free bandwidth can still be selected if downgrading an existing peering service would result in freeing up enough capacity to deploy the selected CUG service bandwidth.
E.g.: Downgrading peering service from 10G to 5G on existing 10G port access, freeing up capacity for the selected CUG service
If confirmed the peering service downgrade will be saved
and added to the order items located on the right side of the page.
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In that case, the peering service price would reflect the new price after the downgrade is performed.
Locate the port you wish to add the Peering service to. Once selected, scroll to the bottom to add the service details
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At this point, the rest of the order will be identical for both scenarios one and two.
Enter the CUG service name and VLAN ID. If you would like to protect the MAC access control list (ACL), check the box provided.
Click Add Service Details to proceed to the order summary.
Review the order summary page and any additional details if required. If you are happy with the details provided, select Submit Order.
Review the MoU pop-up and click confirm to proceed with the order or select cancel to return to the order page.
Track the Order
After selecting Confirm, click back to the orders button on the order summary page where you can view recent orders. The status will show the progress of your order.
Click “View order” to see additional information. On the left side, you can see the steps that your order will need to pass through. On the right side, you can view a summary of your order items.
At the bottom of the summary, click the + symbol to expand the progress log for a live status update of the order progress.
The order will now pass through the required four stages:
Inventory - the details of the order are added to our inventory and ticketing systems.
Quality assurance - after the services are created they are verified to guarantee that all the data is correct.
Provisioning - The services are deployed on the fabric.
Completed - The order was successfully provisioned.
Completing the Order
The provisioning stage will be composed by two subsequent provisioning phases:
The provisioning of the port access (only if you selected the service to be deployed to new port access)
The provisioning of the CUG service
In both phases, you will be required to intervene and be able to orchestrate via portal the progress of those steps.
Provisioning of the port access (only for scenario one)
When the order reaches the Provisioning state it will pause to allow the set up of the cross-connect. Depending on the data centre the cross-connect initiation could be performed by LINX NOC or your company. In any case, NOC will contact you to organise this step and exchange demarcation points and LoA (if needed).
Once the cross-connect is set up, the order will update to provisioning (awaiting member) and pause again. A banner will appear at the top of the order details page explaining the cross-connect has been completed and instructing you to complete your patching. Once completed, click on Continue to perform connectivity testing and resume automation.
Whilst still in Provisioning, LINX NOC will manually monitor the port for any incrementing errors and check light levels to ensure there is no deviation from accepted thresholds. Once the port test is complete, the new port access service provisioning is completed and billing for the service will start from that day.
Provisioning of the CUG service
The order will then continue to the provisioning of the CUG service. If you selected a peering service downgrade as part of the order that will be performed before the provisioning of the new service (only valid for scenario two).
Two scenarios can now occur:
The order will fail because of an issue with our systems and a ticket to LINX NOC will be automatically opened.
The order will be completed successfully.
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