After an Express Connect circuit is enabled, you must create a virtual border router (VBR) for the Express Connect circuit. The VBR is used to route traffic between the virtual private cloud (VPC) and the data center that are connected through the Express Connect circuit.

Background information

A VBR is a router deployed between a VPC and customer-premises equipment (CPE) in a data center. Each VBR is associated with a route table. You can add routes to the route table of a VBR to control network traffic forwarding. A VBR provides the following features:
  • Exchanges data between a VPC and a data center.
  • Determines the type of virtual interface of an Express Connect circuit: Layer 3 router interface or Layer 3 Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) subinterface.

    Adds or identifies VLAN tags if a Layer 3 VLAN subinterface is used.

  • Supports Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing.

Create a VBR

  1. Log on to the Express Connect console.
  2. In the top navigation bar, select the region and click Virtual Border Routers (VBRs) in the left-side navigation pane.
  3. On the Virtual Border Routers (VBRs) page, click Create VBR.
  4. In the Create VBR panel, set the following parameters and click OK.
    Parameter Description
    Account Specify whether to create a VBR for the current or another Alibaba Cloud account. By default, Current account is selected. If you use the default setting, the VBR that you create belongs to the account with which you are logged on.
    Name

    Enter a name for the VBR. The name must be 2 to 128 characters in length, and can contain letters, digits, underscores (_), and hyphens (-). The name must start with a letter and cannot start with http:// or https://.
    Physical Connection Interface Select the type of Express Connect circuit to be associated with the VBR. Then, select an Express Connect circuit is installed and enabled from the drop-down list.

    Valid types:

    • Dedicated Physical Connection: a dedicated Express Connect circuit
    • Shared Physical Connection: a shared Express Connect circuit
    VLAN ID Enter the VLAN ID of the VBR. Valid values: 0 to 2999.

    Description of VLAN IDs:

    • If the VLAN ID is set to 0, the switch port of the VBR is a Layer 3 router interface instead of a VLAN interface. When a Layer 3 router interface is used, each Express Connect circuit corresponds to a VBR.
    • If the VLAN ID is set to a value from 1 to 2999, the switch port of the VBR is a Layer 3 VLAN subinterface. When a Layer 3 VLAN subinterface is used, each VLAN ID corresponds to a VBR. In this case, the Express Connect circuit with which the VBR is associated can be used to connect to VPCs that belong to different Alibaba Cloud accounts. VBRs in different VLANs are isolated from each other at Layer 2.

    Before you set this parameter, take note of the following rules:

    • To set a VLAN ID for a dedicated connection over an Express Connect circuit, make sure that the Layer 2 or Layer 3 devices that are used to connect the Express Connect circuit, VBR, and gateway device in the data center have trunking enabled. This way, data can be transmitted from and to the VLAN based on the specified ID. The VLAN ID that you specify is preserved in the packets sent to the destination VLAN and not modified during data transmission. If trunking is disabled, the connection may fail. We recommend that you set VLAN ID to 0 unless your connectivity provider has specific rules or limits on the VLAN ID configuration.
    • You do not need to specify a VLAN ID when you create a VBR for a hosted connection. The VLAN ID is already configured. Therefore, ignore the VLAN ID parameter.
    Set VBR Bandwidth Value Set the maximum bandwidth of the VBR.

    You do not need to set this parameter when you create a VBR for a hosted connection. The bandwidth is already configured when the hosted connection is created.

    Peer IPv4 Address of Gateway at Alibaba Cloud Side Specify an IPv4 address for the VBR to route network traffic between the VPC and data center. Peer IPv4 Address of Gateway at Alibaba Cloud Side and Peer IPv4 Address of Gateway at Customer Side must belong to the same CIDR block.
    Peer IPv4 Address of Gateway at Customer Side Specify an IPv4 address for the gateway device in the data center to route network traffic between the VPC and data center.
    Note To allow services in the VPC to access a specified gateway IP address, you must add a route to the route table of the VBR. Set the destination CIDR block to the CIDR block to which the specified gateway IP address belongs and the next hop to the Express Connect circuit. For more information about how to add a route, see Add a custom route.
    Subnet Mask (IPv4 Address) Enter the subnet mask of the specified IPv4 addresses. You can enter a longer subnet mask because only two IP addresses are required.
    Support IPv6 Specify whether to enable IPv6. IPv6 is disabled by default. To use this feature, Submit a ticket.
    • Disable: disables IPv6. This is the default setting.
    • Enable: enables IPv6. After you enable IPv6, you cannot disable this feature. Set the following parameters of the VBR:
      • Peer IPv6 Address of Gateway at Alibaba Cloud Side: Specify an IPv6 address for the VBR to route network traffic between the VPC and data center. Peer IPv6 Address of Gateway at Alibaba Cloud Side and Peer IPv6 Address of Gateway at Customer Side must belong to the same CIDR block.
      • Peer IPv6 Address of Gateway at Customer Side: Enter an IPv6 address for the gateway device in the data center to route network traffic between the VPC and data center.
      • Subnet Mask (IPv6 Address): Enter the subnet mask of the specified IPv6 addresses.

Purchase VBRs after the free VBR quota is exhausted

When your free VBR quota is exhausted, you can choose to purchase VBRs.

Note Before you purchase VBRs for your account, you must Submit a ticket to acquire the permissions.
  1. Log on to the Express Connect console.
  2. In the top navigation bar, select the region and click Virtual Border Routers (VBRs) in the left-side navigation pane.
  3. On the Virtual Border Routers (VBRs) page, click Create VBR.
  4. In the Create VBR panel, set the following parameters and click OK.
  5. In the Warn message, click buy.
  6. On the buy page, set the parameters of the VBR, click Buy Now, and then complete the payment.
    • Region: Use the default value for this parameter.
    • Bandwidth: Specify the maximum bandwidth of the VBR.
    • Quantity: Specify the number of VBRs that you want to purchase.
    • Duration: Specify the subscription duration. To prevent service interruptions caused by overdue payments, we recommend that you enable Auto-renewal.

      You can also renew VBRs on the details page of the associated Express Connect circuit. For more information, see Manage renewal.

    After you complete the payment, you can choose Expenses > Orders in the top navigation bar to view the order details. VBR names are displayed in the pconn-${vbrId} format. vbrId indicates the VBR ID. For example, if the name is pconn-vbr-uf6ql2vm2avp****, the ID of the VBR is vbr-uf6ql2vm2avp****.

Modify the maximum bandwidth of a VBR

You can modify the maximum bandwidth of a free VBR.

  1. Log on to the Express Connect console.
  2. In the top navigation bar, select the region and click Exclusive Physical Connection in the left-side navigation pane.
  3. On the Exclusive Physical Connection page, click the ID of the Express Connect circuit.
  4. On the details page of the Express Connect circuit that you want to manage, choose More > Bandwidth Settings in the Actions column.
  5. In the Bandwidth Settings panel, specify Bandwidth Cap and click OK.

Modify the configuration of a VBR

  1. Log on to the Express Connect console.
  2. In the top navigation bar, select the region and click Virtual Border Routers (VBRs) in the left-side navigation pane.
  3. On the Virtual Border Routers (VBRs) page, find the VBR that you want to manage and click Modify in the Actions column.
  4. To modify the VBR, set the following parameters and click OK.
    Parameter Description
    VLAN ID Enter the VLAN ID of the VBR. Valid values: 0 to 2999.
    • If the VLAN ID is set to 0, the switch port of the VBR is a Layer 3 router interface instead of a VLAN interface. When a Layer 3 router interface is used, each Express Connect circuit corresponds to a VBR.
    • If the VLAN ID is set to a value from 1 to 2999, the switch port of the VBR is a Layer 3 VLAN subinterface. When a Layer 3 VLAN subinterface is used, each VLAN ID corresponds to a VBR. In this case, the Express Connect circuit with which the VBR is associated can be used to connect to VPCs that belong to different Alibaba Cloud accounts. VBRs in different VLANs are isolated from each other at Layer 2.

    For example, a company has multiple subdivisions or subsidiaries. Each subdivision or subsidiary has a separate Alibaba Cloud account. Each Alibaba Cloud account has a separate VPC. If the company applies for an Express Connect circuit, the company must assign a VLAN ID to the connection of each subdivision or subsidiary. When the company creates router interfaces, the VLAN IDs are used to identify the subsidiaries or subdivisions that use the Express Connect circuit. In this case, the VBRs of each subsidiary or subdivision are isolated at Layer 2.

    Peer IPv4 Address of Gateway at Alibaba Cloud Side Specify an IPv4 address for the VBR to route network traffic between the VPC and data center.
    Peer IPv4 Address of Gateway at Customer Side Specify an IPv4 address for the gateway device in the data center to route network traffic between the VPC and data center.
    Subnet Mask (IPv4 Address) Enter the subnet mask of the specified IPv4 addresses. You can enter a long subnet mask because only two IP addresses are required.
    Support IPv6 Specify whether to enable IPv6. IPv6 is disabled by default. To use this feature, Submit a ticket.
    • Disable: disables IPv6. This is the default setting.
    • Enable: enables IPv6. After you enable IPv6, you cannot disable this feature. Set the following parameters of the VBR:
      • Peer IPv6 Address of Gateway at Alibaba Cloud Side: Specify an IPv6 address for the VBR to route network traffic between the VPC and data center. Peer IPv6 Address of Gateway at Alibaba Cloud Side and Peer IPv6 Address of Gateway at Customer Side must belong to the same CIDR block.
      • Peer IPv6 Address of Gateway at Customer Side: Enter an IPv6 address for the gateway device in the data center to route network traffic between the VPC and data center.
      • Subnet Mask (IPv6 Address): Enter the subnet mask of the specified IPv6 addresses.
    BFD Parameter After you enable this feature, the system establishes a Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) session between the VBR and the gateway device in the data center. This way, the VBR and the gateway device can exchange BFD packets at a specified interval to verify network connectivity. If no packets are returned, the peer is considered unreachable.
    Note The BFD parameters take effect only if BFD is enabled. For more information about how to enable BFD, see Configure BGP.
    • Submission Interval: Specify the interval at which BFD packets are sent. Valid values: 200 to 1000. Unit: milliseconds.
    • Reception Interval: Specify the interval at which BFD packets are received. Valid values: 200 to 1000. Unit: milliseconds.
    • Detection Time Multiple: The detection time multiplier. Valid values: 3 to 10.

Delete a VBR

You can delete VBRs that you no longer need.

  1. Log on to the Express Connect console.
  2. In the top navigation bar, select the region and click Virtual Border Routers (VBRs) in the left-side navigation pane.
  3. On the Virtual Border Routers (VBRs) page, find the VBR that you want to delete and click Delete in the Actions column.
  4. In the Delete VBR message, click OK.

References