Troubleshooting VXC Connectivity
If you are experiencing connectivity issues, we recommend that you start by troubleshooting your VXCA VXC is a direct Layer 2 Ethernet circuit providing private, flexible, and on-demand connections between any of the locations on the Megaport network, offering capacities ranging from 1 Mbps to 10 Gbps. In many locations, connections of up to 25 Gbps are supported, while select regions in the US can benefit from connections up to 100 Gbps.
to isolate the issue. While the VXC will often display different symptoms, the root cause might be attributed to another area of the network.
Tip
You can verify VXC status from the Megaport Portal. On the Services page in the Portal, find the VXC and mouse over its icon. A message displays the status. (The color of the icon also indicates the service status.)
Troubleshooting actions
Action | Steps |
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Check for CRCCyclic redundancy check. A type of error detection code used to detect transmission errors in data. errors, packet drops, and device logs |
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 SFPA small form pluggable (SFP) is 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 | Check the transmitted (Tx) and received (Rx) light levels. This health check enables you to validate physical connectivity. Some considerations:
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Verify physical connections with the data center | Open a ticket with the data center to perform the following tests:
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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:
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Compare latencies | ![]() |
Perform tracerouteA diagnostic tool that examines how data moves through the internet to determine if a destination is reachable. or other test to locate the symptom |
Traceroute is a network diagnostic tool that tracks in real-time the pathway taken by a packet on an IP network from source to destination, reporting the IP addresses of all the routers along the path. Traceroute also records the time taken for each hop the packet makes during its route to the destination. Perform end-to-end traceroute testing
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Perform throughput tests | iPerf is a cross-platform tool used to create standardized performance measurements and tune your network. iPerf has both client and server functionality and can create data streams to measure the throughput between two ends, in one or both directions. Perform testing Megaport recommends performing a 15 minute test on each side (the A-End client and B-End server, then the B-End client and A-End server) for a total of 30 minutes of testing and approximately 10 to 15 minutes between each test. This test must be run using UDPThe User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a transport layer communications protocol that works on top of Internet Protocol (IP). UDP is one of the core communication protocols of the IP suite used to send messages to other hosts on an IP network. Within an IP network, UDP does not require prior communication to set up communication channels or data paths. UDP speeds up communications by not formally establishing a connection before data is transferred. . Here is an example of the command to run on the A-End or B-End: iperf3 -c <ip address> -b1000m -t 900 -u Note: UDP streams must be used to measure throughput between the two ends of the connection without the overhead of TCP negotiation, congestion avoidance, and windowing. Analyze the results
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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.
- Port status and Tx/Rx optical levels on the device – Use the Megaport Portal to review your Port status. See a 1-minute video on how to view service status.
- Data center ticket reference (optional) – Once the cross connect is installed the data center will send a completion notice. The notice will include the data center cross connect order number, which Megaport requires to provide to the data center technician. Also provide any existing ticket reference numbers that you have opened directly with the data center.
- Source IP address and destination IP address – The source IP address is the IP address of the host that sent the packet. The destination IP address is the IP address of the host that should receive the packet.
- 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 each device’s involved IP addresses and VLANs.
- 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, VXC, or MCR).
- 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.
- iPerf (throughput) test results – Provide all data based on the steps above and any relevant information related to the questions below:
- Are you using traffic shaping on your network?
If you are shaping, policing, or filtering traffic before it reaches Megaport, it can cause us to see only the shaped ingress traffic in the Megaport network. Customers and resellers must ensure that the equipment used outside of Megaport’s network can support the desired speeds. - Have you contacted the B-End of the connection to ensure that there aren’t any problems on that side of the path?
Provide the case number if applicable. Once traffic is sent out from Megaport’s network interface to the provider interface, we no longer control that flow. - Are there any other providers involved, such as telco carriers? If a carrier is involved in the network, has a case been opened with them to investigate potential routing issues?
Provide the case number if applicable. It is important to verify whether you are using a telco carrier to route traffic flow to/from your network to Megaport, as we can only troubleshoot flow through our devices. For example, we cannot account for any loss or other issue before it reaches our network. - If this is an Azure connection, are you using the Q-in-Q option on the Megaport Portal as described in Configuring Q-in-Q?
Azure with Q-in-Q can be tricky, and must be configured correctly to send the traffic properly to Megaport and then on to Azure.
- Are you using traffic shaping on your network?
- Packet capture logs (optional) – Packet capture (or PCAP) logs help collect network traffic, monitor bandwidth, detect malware, and assist in incident response. If relevant to the issue, provide packet capture logs for a greater understanding of your network.
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MVE/SD-WAN configurations (if applicable) – Confirm the following:
- Login credentials are accurate
- The correct license and template/workflow are attached
- The instance size and software versions
- The MVE interface status, such as configured IP addresses and VLAN
- For gateway and interconnect connectivity, check BFDBidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) is a network fault detection protocol that detects any path failures between directly connected BGP neighbors. It provides fast failure detection times, which facilitates faster re-convergence time for dynamic BGP routing protocols. It is independent of media, routing protocol, and data.
sessions, bandwidth, and BGPBorder Gateway Protocol (BGP) is a standardized routing protocol designed to exchange route and reachability information among autonomous systems (AS) on the internet.
status - Verify the MVE IP address in the Megaport Portal
- Verify the configured bandwidth, VLAN, IP address and subnet masks, and ASNs
- Validate connectivity details such as the interface status and BGP neighbor status
For more information, see MVE Overview.
Note
For more information on when a field service technician is needed onsite at the data center, see Customer Field Services.