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IBM Direct Link Setup

IZO™+ Multi Cloud Connect delivers IBM as a Direct Link gateway that Tata Communications creates from your IBM account details and that you accept in your own IBM Cloud account. The ordering journey is the standard IZO™+ Multi Cloud Connect flow, documented in full under Provisioning & Configuration.  This page shows how that flow applies to IBM, and the IBM-side hand-off is the same whether you ordered IZO™+ Multi Cloud Connect Direct or IZO™+ Multi Cloud Connect Flex.

This page sits alongside the ordering journey rather than repeating it. The TCx Portal steps that place and provision the connection are common to every IZO™+ Multi Cloud Connect order and live under Provisioning & Configuration. Here we focus on how the flow applies to IBM: sharing your IBM account details and accepting the Direct Link gateway in your IBM Cloud account. 

[Prerequisites: IBM side] : Before placing the order: hold a legal IBM Cloud account; have your IBM Customer account ID; and decide the bandwidth, the peering location, and whether you need Layer 3, Layer 2, or both (Layer 2 and Layer 3 use separate Gateway IDs). IBM Direct Link through IZO™+ Multi Cloud Connect currently offers Private peering. For a redundant pair, two Gateway IDs (primary and secondary) are created – for both Layer 2 and Layer 3. 

How IBM setup fits together

The end-to-end flow is the standard IZO™+ Multi Cloud Connect order, with the IBM-side hand-off around it:

  1. Share your IBM account ID, peering location and bandwidth in the TCx Portal when you place your IZO™+ Multi Cloud Connect order (Direct or Flex), along with the service type (Layer 3 or Layer 2) and – for Layer 2 – the IP subnet, ASN and MD5 key you will use.

  2. Tata Communications creates the Direct Link Gateway ID for the chosen bandwidth and location (two Gateway IDs for a redundant pair).

  3. Tata Communications shares the Gateway Name and Service ID with you.

  4. You accept the gateway in your IBM Cloud console.

  5. Routing comes up.

The TCx ordering steps are covered end to end  under Provisioning & Configuration. See the IZO™+ Multi Cloud Connect Direct and IZO™+ Multi Cloud Connect Flex order pages for IBM. This page covers the IBM-side steps around them.

Addressing: provider-managed on Layer 3, customer-managed on Layer 2

On Layer 3 this is provider-managed: Tata Communications (or IBM) allocates the /30 private transit subnet and configures the BGP with IBM, so there is nothing for you to key in and no CPE-to-IBM BGP session to configure. On Layer 2 you own the addressing: you configure the IP subnet, ASN and MD5 key and run BGP to IBM yourself over the EoMPLS transport.

Where the connection is delivered over the partner-routed path, two options apply: Managed – Tata Communications provides the WAN IP addresses from the IBM-reserved ranges; Unmanaged – you provide the WAN IP addresses from the IBM-reserved ranges.

On the IBM side

Because IBM is delivered as a Direct Link gateway in your own IBM Cloud account, the IBM-side hand-off is the same whether you ordered IZO™+ Multi Cloud Connect Direct or IZO™+ Multi Cloud Connect Flex. In your IBM Cloud console you:

  • Wait for the gateway - After you share your IBM account ID and requirements, Tata Communications creates the gateway; while it is being created it shows as create in progress.

  • Accept the gateway - Tata Communications shares the Gateway Name and Service ID; review the gateway connection and accept it (or reject it) with the appropriate consent. Acceptance is required before the connection becomes active.

  • Let routing come up - On Layer 3, Tata Communications runs the BGP to IBM (ASN 4755 to IBM's ASN 13884) and you reach your VPC across the L3VPN, so there is no CPE session to configure. On Layer 2, bring up BGP from your CPE to IBM using the IP, ASN and MD5 you set.

The click-by-click walkthrough is under Provisioning & Configuration. For the IBM-specific detail on this side, see IBM Routing and BGP Configuration for the routing, and IBM L2VPN Services for the Layer 2 delivery.

Bandwidth changes

Tata Communications changes bandwidth on your behalf, subject to availability on the circuit; IBM does not support over-provisioning. Standard tiers are 50, 100, 200, 500 Mbps and 1, 2, 5, 10 Gbps, with 25/40/50/100 Gbps on 100G NNIs only.

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