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Megaport Documentation
Port Latency

Troubleshooting Port and VXC Latency

Latency is the time it takes for data to be transferred between its original source and its destination, measured in milliseconds. Latency generally can be attributed to changes to the path network traffic traversed and stabilizes quite quickly. To understand the expected latency for the circuits your traffic traverses, see the Megaport Network Latency page.

Tip

You can verify Port and VXC status from the Megaport Portal. On the Services page in the Portal, find the Port or VXC and mouse over its icon. A message displays the status of the service. (The color of the icon also indicates the service status.)

Troubleshooting actions

If you notice ongoing increased latency or frequent latency spikes with your Ports or VXCs, step through these troubleshooting actions before contacting Megaport Support.

Action Steps
Check for errors and packet drops on the device Interface statistics and logs can help identify which end of the cross connect is causing the fault, and the potential solution. For example, an increasing number of incoming errors on a network interface generally rules out that specific SFPSmall form pluggable.
A hot pluggable transceiver used in data communication and telecommunication networks to enable data transmission between two devices. and indicates a potential issue with other components of the cross connect.
Verify the Tx and Rx optical levels on the device Verify both the transmitted (Tx) and received (Rx) light levels. When no signal is received from the far-end (Megaport) device, it could indicate that the polarity is wrong and reversed. If no light is received from the far-end connection, verify the fiber polarity.
Verify physical connections with the data center (reseat and replace SFP, clean and replace cables, loopback test) Open a ticket with the data center to perform the following tests:
  1. Check the cross connect for damages or cleaning, if needed.
  2. Ensure that the data center is transmitting adequate light outside of the demarcation point at its end of the connection. The data center should check the light at the demarcation point with a light reading meter.
  3. SFP models should align with the interface speed and interface details in Megaport Technical Specifications.
Verify carrier circuit status (if any) Some cross connects are set through one or multiple carrier network devices before reaching the Megaport network. Verify that the device interfaces in the cross connect path are free of errors and optic light readings are operating correctly.
Validate equipment performance While troubleshooting, Megaport does not have visibility or access outside the Megaport network. To verify that the cause of an issue is within the Megaport network, Megaport Support requires customers to validate the performance of their equipment. This includes ensuring that the hardware specifications and limitations are compatible with Megaport Technical Specifications, and monitoring the network traffic and the workload on the hardware to avoid congestion or degraded performance. To ensure that hardware and your network is operating as expected, we recommend that you validate the performance of the following:
    Hardware
  • Optic (SFP type, speed, and wavelength) and fiber type
  • Port capacity
  • Switch, router, and firewall models
  • Firmware version
    Network
  • Traffic flow
  • Port utilization
  • CPU utilization
  • Configuration
  • Overall network design
If you identify any anomalies, capture the logs, graph details, or any relevant error messages.
Compare latencies Play video    Watch a 1-minute video on how to compare your latency to Megaport’s published latency.
Perform tracerouteA diagnostic tool that examines how data moves through the internet to determine if a destination is reachable. or other test to locate symptom Traceroute testing can help to determine if a destination is reachable. Traceroute sends a sequence of User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets between two points and shows you the route the packets take. Traceroute also measures the transit delays of packets across an IP network.

Next steps

If the troubleshooting actions do not resolve your issue, contact support. Before requesting assistance, collect the following information.

  • Troubleshooting results – Provide all the troubleshooting steps you have taken in detail. For example, if loops were placed, note their location and which direction they faced.
  • Source IP address and destination IP address – The source IP address IP packet field contains the IP address of the originating data host. The destination IP address IP packet field contains the IP address of the host to which it is addressed.
  • High-level network diagram – Understanding how your network design is implemented and the connection into the Megaport network helps identify additional focus areas within the troubleshooting process. Provide a network diagram that includes all devices in the path; note the involved IP addresses and VLANs for each device.
  • Ping test results – Provide the output of each ping test performed on the service. Provide all output tests if you have multiple services related to different products (for example, a Port or VXC).
  • Traceroute results – Provide traceroute results, indicating which side of the connection initiated the test and which side was the destination. We recommend that you use the A-End and B-End information from your VXC.

Note

For more information on when a field service technician is needed onsite at the data center, see Customer Field Services.

Last update: 2024-04-15