The London Internet Exchange (LINX) recently completed an expansion of their LINX Manchester network into new Equinix data centre facility, MA5.
LINX Senior Network Engineer, Joe Jefford talks us through the process.
Planning and Implementing MA5
Bringing the new site into service was relatively simple as all the technologies used are as per the existing Manchester network. Equinix provided us with the diverse fibres back to TCW (Equinix MA1) and TCJ (Equinix MA3) making the decision on how to connect MA5 back to the network, clear.
The network design follows the “standard” MAN1 build, to cater for both 10G and 100G orders in the pipeline we had for MA5 before it was even brought live.
Due to prior planning over the last year, we also had everything we needed in stock for this build, avoiding any supply chain delays, so as soon as the rack was ready for us, we were ready to build.
Installation and Maintenance
The install was done over a couple of days at the end of January. We also used this install as a good training opportunity for our two newest members of the Network Engineering team, to learn the skills and good practices needed to install a new POP.
All went smoothly, due to prior work and planning with our data centre partners to have everything in place before we arrived for the installation.
Once the kit was in, software, licences and initial configuration applied, we tested both external and console connectivity as well as each port to confirm they were cabled correctly as per the design. The physical install was then complete.
The full configuration of the network is the next step. We create the devices and any template files required in our in-house systems, which then generate, check, and push the full configs to the devices. At this point of the build completely isolated from the rest of the network.
The maintenance to make MA5 live consisted of several steps to bring the site into the existing LINX Manchester LAN without any disruption. The new site sits between TCW (Equinix MA1) and TCJ (Equinix MA3), replacing the previous direct link between these sites.
The OSPF costs were increased to drain traffic from this ISL, we confirmed this was clear, and then provisioned the new ISLs via MA5. Once we had confirmed traffic was passing without issues via the new ISLs, we decommissioned the old link, and finally enabled BGP on the MA5 edges to complete full connectivity from the new site over the whole LAN.
The maintenance went smoothly with no impact to existing LINX Manchester members.
Deployment
We deployed our disaggregated network solution of Edgecore Networks hardware and IP Infusion software, in a leaf and spine topology. With the addition of Smartoptics DCP-M devices running the optical transport. These are currently running at 4 x100G in the core, allowing simple and flexible expansion as and when needed.
LINX Manchester was the first LINX internet exchange to be launched outside of LINX in London and it has grown significantly in the last two years, from traffic peaks of 174Gbps in November of 2020 to now regularly surpassing 300Gbps.
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