Partner guide - Express Connect - Alibaba Cloud Documentation Center

After obtaining the permissions to create shared ports, you can provide shared port access to tenants. Each shared port can be allocated to a virtual border router (VBR).

Requirements for Express Connect partners

Before you help tenants connect to Alibaba Cloud over pre-provisioned Express Connect circuits, ensure you meet the following requirements:

Use two or more compliant carrier Express Connect circuits to establish redundant connections to different Alibaba Cloud access points. Each access point must be connected to at least two circuits. You must also have the required permissions for related Alibaba Cloud network products. To apply for networking product permissions for express connect partners, contact your account manager.
When you connect to Alibaba Cloud, you must comply with the network limitations.
Use switches that support bandwidth management and traffic monitoring to interconnect with tenants. Enable traffic monitoring on the switches to monitor traffic between you and your tenants. Monitoring data must include the transmission rate in bps, packet forwarding rate in pps, and byte count for both normal and dropped traffic.
Configure bandwidth Quality of Service (QoS) throttling and address resolution protocol (ARP) packet rate limiting on the access device closest to the tenant. The ARP packet rate is typically set to 1 pps per user.
If the partner network rate-limits the internet control message protocol (ICMP), ensure that the rate limit is greater than 500 ICMP ECHO REQUEST packets per second.
Plan tenant bandwidth carefully. Ensure that the total bandwidth allocated to all hosted connections does not exceed the bandwidth of the Express Connect circuit.
Plan VLAN IDs for tenants. Ensure that the VLAN ID for each shared port is unique on the same Express Connect circuit.
For tenants with high-availability requirements, configure their shared ports for redundancy across different Express Connect circuits to connect to Alibaba Cloud.

Prerequisites

You have applied for the permissions to create shared ports in Quota Center. For more information, see Apply for permissions to create shared ports.
You have completed the Express Connect circuit deployment and created a physical connection. For more information, see Apply for an Express Connect circuit.
When creating a shared port for a new tenant, ensure you have the tenant's Alibaba Cloud account ID.
When you transform a connection for an existing tenant:
- Inform the tenant about the service upgrade in advance and ensure the tenant has enabled billing for outbound data transfer.
- Ensure the tenant's VBR instance supports bandwidth configuration.
- By default, the tenant's account is used for payment. If you need to pay with the currently logged-in account, contact your business manager to apply for the permission.

Apply for permissions to create shared ports

Important

Only China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, CITIC Telecom, and China Broadcasting Network can apply for permissions to create shared ports.

Log on to the Quota Center console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose Products > Privilege.
On the Products with Privileges page, click Express Connect.
Find the privilege quota for shared ports (Quota Name: can_buy_1G_vpconn, Quota ID: ec/can_buy_1G_vpconn), and then click Actions in the Apply column.

In the Apply for Privileges dialog box, set the following parameters and click OK.

Parameter	Description
Quota ID	The quota ID is automatically displayed.
Description	The description of the quota ID is automatically displayed.
Applied Quotas	Select a value for the quota. Valid Invalid In this example, select Valid.
Time	Set the effective and expiration times for the quota value. Note This parameter is required only when Applied Quotas is set to Valid. The permission is valid for one day from the application date.
Reason	Enter the reason for the application. You can use the following example as a reference: Customer of partner XX: YYYY (customer name + Alibaba Cloud account ID). The customer requires a XX Mbit/s connection to Alibaba Cloud and needs permissions to create shared ports.
Notify Result	Select whether you want to be notified of the result. Yes No

Create a shared port for a new tenant

When a tenant connects to Alibaba Cloud over a shared Express Connect circuit for the first time, you must create a shared port that meets the tenant's requirements.

Log on to the Express Connect console.
In the top navigation bar, select the target region.
Use one of the following methods to open the Create Shared Port panel:
- On the Physical Connection page, find the target physical connection ID, and then click Create Shared Port in the Actions column.
- On the Physical Connection page, click the target physical connection ID. On the Hosted tab, click Create Shared Port.

In the Create Shared Port panel, configure the parameters for the shared port, and then click OK.

Parameter	Description
Account ID	Enter the tenant's Alibaba Cloud account ID. By default, Pay by Other Account (The specified account must pay the required fees such as the resource usage fee. If this option is not set, the current account must pay the fees.) is selected. This means the tenant pays the port resource usage fee.
VLAN ID	Assign a VLAN ID to the VBR instance to isolate resources. The VLAN ID can be an integer from 0 to 2999. If VLAN ID is set to 0, the physical switch port of the VBR uses Layer 3 routed interface mode instead of VLAN mode. In Layer 3 routed interface mode, each Express Connect circuit corresponds to one VBR. If VLAN ID is set to an integer from 1 to 2999, the physical switch port of the VBR uses VLAN-based Layer 3 subinterfaces. In this mode, each VLAN ID corresponds to one VBR. The Express Connect circuit of the VBR can connect to VPCs that belong to multiple accounts. VBRs in different VLANs are isolated at Layer 2 and cannot communicate with each other. Note After the tenant accepts the shared port, the resulting VBR instance inherits the VLAN ID that you specified. The tenant cannot modify this VLAN ID.
Shared Physical Connection Bandwidth Limit	Select a bandwidth specification that meets the tenant's requirements.
Resource Group	Select the resource group to which the instance belongs from the drop-down list. You can click Manage Resource Group to go to the Resource Management console to create or modify a resource group. For more information, see Create a resource group.
Tags	Select existing tag keys and values, or enter new ones. You can use tags to classify and manage shared port instances. Note You can tag a shared port only when the other party is not the payer.

After the shared port is created, its status is displayed as Hosted in the Status column on the Pending for Acceptance tab.

In the dialog box that appears, click OK.
Notify the tenant to accept the shared port and complete the payment. For more information, see Guide for tenants.

Transform a connection for an existing tenant

You can use the resource transformation feature to change how a tenant uses a hosted connection, from a model that pushes a cross-account VBR instance to one that pushes a cross-account shared port. The transformation process does not affect the tenant's services. After the transformation is complete, a new shared port appears in the tenant's account. After the tenant accepts the shared port and you confirm the transformation, the system automatically associates the tenant's VBR instance with the hosted connection.

After the transformation is complete, the system no longer charges fees for the VBR instance. If you have prepaid for the VBR instance, you can apply for a refund. For more information, see Rules for unsubscription of Alibaba Cloud services.

Log on to the Express Connect console.
In the top navigation bar, select the target region.
On the Physical Connection page, click the target physical connection ID.
On the VBR tab, find the tenant's VBR instance.
If the tenant has not set a bandwidth value for the VBR instance, you must set one first. In the Actions column, choose > Bandwidth Settings. In the Bandwidth Settings panel, set the Bandwidth Cap, and then click OK.
Note
You cannot set the Bandwidth Cap for a VBR instance to Speed Unlimited.
On the VBR tab, in the Actions column for the VBR instance, choose > Transform to Shared Port, and click OK in the dialog box that appears.
By default, the Pay by Other Account (The specified account must pay the required fees such as the resource usage fee. If this option is not set, the current account must pay the fees.) option is selected. This means the tenant pays the port resource usage fee.
Notify the tenant to accept the shared port and complete the payment. For more information about how a tenant accepts a shared port, see Guide for tenants.
On the VBR tab, find the tenant's VBR instance ID, choose > Confirm, and then click OK in the dialog box that appears.

Modify the VLAN ID of a shared port

VLAN IDs isolate VBR instances. You can modify VLAN IDs based on your plans, but you must ensure that each shared port on the same Express Connect circuit has a unique VLAN ID.

Log on to the Express Connect console.
In the top navigation bar, select the target region.
On the Physical Connection page, click the target physical connection ID.
Click the Hosted tab, find the target shared port ID, and then click Modify in the Actions column.
In the Modify Shared Port dialog box, modify the VLAN ID, and then click OK.

More operations

If you are the payer for a shared port, you can perform the following operations on the shared port and its associated VBR instance.

Terminate an instance connection

You can use the terminate connection feature to disable a shared port and its associated VBR instance. A terminated instance is not released and can be restored to its normal status as needed.

Important

A terminated instance continues to be billed. For billing details, see Port resource usage fee and Renewal management. If you determine that you no longer need the instance, you can unsubscribe from it and release its resources. For more information, see Unsubscription and refund instructions.

Log on to the Express Connect console.
In the top navigation bar, select the target region.
You can terminate the connection of a shared port and its associated VBR instance.
- Terminate a VBR instance connection
  1. On the Physical Connection page, click the target physical connection ID.
  2. On the VBR tab, find the tenant's VBR instance ID, and then click Terminate Connection in the Actions column.
  3. In the Terminating the VBR dialog box, click OK.
- Terminate a shared port connection
  1. On the Physical Connection page, click the target physical connection ID.
  2. Click the Hosted tab, find the target shared port ID, and then click Terminate Connection in the Actions column.
  3. In the Terminate Physical Connection dialog box, click OK.
After you terminate the connection, the instance status changes to Disabled. You can click Actions in the Recover column of the instance to restore it to normal use.

Delete a VBR instance

You can delete a VBR instance that belongs to a tenant (another account). You must first terminate the VBR instance connection. For more information, see Terminate an instance connection.

Note

This section describes how to delete a VBR instance that belongs to a tenant (another account). To delete a VBR instance that belongs to your own account, see Delete a VBR instance.

Log on to the Express Connect console.
In the top navigation bar, select the target region.
On the Physical Connection page, click the target physical connection ID.
On the VBR tab, find the tenant's VBR instance ID, and in the Actions column, select > Delete.
In the Delete VBR dialog box, click OK.

Delete a shared port

Before you delete a shared port, you must delete its associated VBR instance. For more information, see Delete a VBR instance.

Log on to the Express Connect console.
In the top navigation bar, select the target region.
On the Physical Connection page, click the target physical connection ID.
Click the Hosted tab, find the target shared port instance ID, and in the Actions column, select > Delete.
- If the instance has expired, click Confirm Deletion in the OK dialog box.
- If the instance is still within its billing cycle, click Confirm Deletion in the OK dialog box. The system initiates a refund for the remaining balance and guides you to the unsubscription center. For more information about unsubscription, see Unsubscription and refund instructions.

FAQ

"Cross-site pushing of shared ports is not allowed" error

This error occurs because the express connect partner account and the tenant account are on different sites. Express Connect hosted connections do not support cross-site connections. For example:

The partner account is on the international site, and the tenant account is on the China site.
The partner account is a Unicom Wocloud virtual business account, and the tenant account is on the China site.

"Insufficient bandwidth resources" error during scaling

The total bandwidth of all hosted connections on the current Express Connect circuit has reached its bandwidth limit. To proceed with the configuration, you must first release unused hosted connections.

"Invalid Bandwidth parameter" error during modification

The hosted connection-related permissions for the express connect partner account have expired. You must apply for permissions to create shared ports.

"The specified bandwidth value is incorrect" error