Create a Backbone Virtual Circuit

Select Source Interface

Select your source interface.

Click Toggle Details to view information about any virtual circuits already associated with that port.

Select Destination Interface

Select your destination interface.

Unlike when creating a dedicated point-to-point connection, the speed and optic do not have to match the source interface.

Select Pricing Plan

Select a billing account and then one of the following options:

Long-haul Dedicated

You are billed a set amount each month, regardless of how much data you transfer.

If you select this option, you are also asked to specify the speed and contract length.

IMPORTANT: At this time, we only limit the speeds you can select to the lowest speed between your source and destination interfaces. For example, if you are building a virtual circuit between a 1 Gbps port and a 10 Gbps port, you cannot select more than 1 Gbps as your speed.

However, you are ultimately responsible for not overburdening your ports (for example, creating three 10 Gbps virtual circuits between two 10 Gbps ports). Keep that in mind as you select a speed.

If you select a low speed and later decide you want more capacity, you can upgrade your virtual circuit. If you allocate too much capacity, you can later set or edit rate limits for the circuit.

You can view the speeds for each virtual circuit associated with a port from the port details page.

Long-haul Usage-based

You are billed based on how much data you transfer. This is a month-to-month plan.

VC Confirmation

VC Description

Provide a meaningful name for the virtual circuit.

VC Parameters

Specify a VLAN ID for both your source and destination interfaces or disable VLAN tagging. At least one end must have a VLAN tag.

You can manually enter the ID or click Next Available. If you click Next Available, we find the highest in-use VLAN ID and increment by one. For example, if the highest in-use ID is 15, this field autopopulates with 16. By default, these fields are already populated with the next available VLAN ID. You can always change VLAN IDs by editing the virtual circuit.

TIP: Expand Advanced Configuration Options below to review prior VLAN ID allocations.

IMPORTANT: Ports that are on EFR devices cannot have a mix of tagged and untagged VLANs. If you are planning to provision multiple virtual circuits on an EFR port, you must keep VLAN tagging enabled for both ends. You can check whether a port is on an EFR device from its details page.

Advanced Configuration Options

From here you have the option to make your virtual circuit an Ethernet Private Line (EPL). EPL connections have extended functionality, but are single-point connections. This means you cannot land an EPL on a port that has any other connections (virtual circuits, cloud connections, etc.).

For more information about the differences between EPL and EVPL, see Virtual Circuit Ethernet Features and Ethernet Service Specifications.