Introduction
Cloud Exchange Fabric (formerly known as Equinix Cloud Exchange (ECX)) is a cloud-based platform that provides direct and private connectivity between two participants in the ecosystem. Traditionally, this is between a buyer (an enterprise colocated in Equinix facilities, a network service provider or others) and a seller (a cloud provider, a software application or other services). However, the use cases, options and activities are not limited to this transaction.
ECX provides an alternative interconnection strategy to the public internet. The platform allows users of all kinds to provision connectivity between a source and destination in near real-time, including on-demand flexible options.
Intended Audience
The ECX deployment guide is intended for those who fill a variety of roles:
- Network engineers of sellers (CSPs, NSPs, MSPs) who need network architecture and standard procedures to implement the solutions with ECX
- Network engineers or system administrators of an enterprise who are implementing a cloud strategy for the company
- Provisioning agents from an aggregator acting on behalf of a customer
- Project managers who create statements of work for ECX implementations
Accessing The Platform
ECX can be accessed with either the Cloud Exchange Portal (CXP) or an API to automate end-to-end service orchestration between sources and destinations. Provisioning of a connection is completed in near real-time (less than 5 minutes) from the time of order submission on CXP or via API.
For more information about the APIs, developer documentation, toolkit, sample code and developer environments, please visit http://developer.equinix.com – or contact your Equinix Account Manager and Equinix Solution Architect for details on how to participate in the Equinix Developer Program.