AWS Direct Connect | Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

Question 1

How do I set up Direct Connect for the AWS GovCloud (US) Region?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 1

See the AWS GovCloud (US) User Guide for detailed instructions on how to set up a Direct Connect connection for the AWS GovCloud (US) region.

Question 2

What is this feature?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 2

Link Aggregation Groups (LAG) are a way for customers to order and manage multiple direct connect ports as a single larger connection instead of as separate discrete connections.

Question 3

What’s the max number of links I can have in a LAG group?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 3

The maximum number of links will be 4x in a LAG group.

Question 4

What does the LOA look like?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 4

You will receive a single LOA document with dedicated page for each connection.

Question 5

What are you using for Link Aggregation Groups?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 5

We are using the industry standard of LACP.

Question 6

Are these LAGs Static or Dynamic LACP?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 6

We are configuring Dynamic LACP bundles. Static LACP bundles are not supported.

Question 7

Are these in Active/Active or Active/Passive mode?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 7

They will be in Active/Active. That means, that AWS ports will always be sending Link Aggregation Control Protocol Data Units (LACPDUs).

Question 8

Does the MTU change at all?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 8

The MTU does not change.

Question 9

Can I have my ports configured for Active/Passive instead of Active/Active?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 9

You could configure LAG at your endpoint with LACP active or passive mode, AWS side is always configured as Active mode LACP.

Question 10

Can I mix interface types and have a few 1G ports and a few 10G ports in the same bundle?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 10

Only like interface types (ie. No mixing 1G and 10G in a bundle)

Question 11

What ports types will this be available on?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 11

It will be available for 1G and 10G ports.

Question 12

Can I LAG hosted connections as well?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 12

It will only be available for dedicated 1G and 10G connections. It will not be available for hosted connections on partner NNIs.

Question 13

Can I create a LAG out of my existing ports?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 13

Yes, if your ports are on the same chassis. Please note this will cause your ports to go down for a moment while they are reconfigured as a LAG. They will not come back up until LAG is configured on your side as well.

Question 14

Can I have a LAG that spans multiple AWS routers?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 14

LAG will only include ports on the same AWS device. We don’t support multi- chassis LAG.

Question 15

How do I add links to my LAG once it’s set up?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 15

You can request another port for your LAG, but if we do not have ports available in the same chassis you will need to order a new LAG and migrate your connections. For example, if you have 3x 1G links, and would like to add a fourth but we do not have a port available on that chassis, you will need to order a new LAG of 4x 1G ports.

Question 16

What does the new LOA look like when I order additional connection to add to the LAG?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 16

You will receive a separate LOA for each the new members of the LAG group.

Question 17

You’re out of ports and I have to order a new LAG, but I have VIFs configured! How do I move those?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 17

You can have multiple VIFs attached to a VGW at once, and you can configure VIFs on a connection even when it’s down. We suggest you create the new VIFs on your new bundle, and then move the connections over to the new bundle once you’ve created all of your VIFS. Remember to delete the old connections so we stop billing you for them.

Question 18

Can I delete a single port from my LAG?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 18

Yes, but only if your min links is set to lower than the ports you’ll have left. Ex: You have 4 ports and Min links set to 4 – you won’t be able to delete a port from the bundle. If min links is set to 3, you can then delete a port from the bundle. We will return a notification with the specific panel/port you’ve deleted and a reminder to disconnect the cross connect and circuit from Amazon.

Question 19

Can I delete my LAG bundle all at once?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 19

Yes, but just like a regular connection you won’t be able to delete it if you have VIFs configured.

Question 20

If I have only 2 ports in my LAG can I still delete one?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 20

Yes, you can have a single port in a LAG.

Question 21

Can I order a LAG with only one port?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 21

Yes you can. Please note we can’t guarantee there will be more ports available on the same

chassis in the future if you wish to add more ports.

Question 22

Can I convert a bundle back to individual ports?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 22

Yes. This can be done with the DisassociateConnectionWithLag API call. See the API section.

Question 23

Can you just create a tool to move my VIFs for me?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 23

You can use AssociateVirtualInterface API or console to do this operation.

Question 24

Does the LAG show as a single connection or a collection of connections?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 24

It will show as a single dxlag and we’ll list the connection id’s under it.

Question 25

What does Min Links mean, and why do I have a check box for it when I order my bundle?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 25

Min links is a feature in LACP where you can set the minimum number of links needed to be active in a bundle for that bundle to be active and pass traffic. If, for example, you have 4 ports, your min links is set to 3, and you only have 2 active ports, your bundle will not be active. If you have 3 or more then the bundle is active and will pass traffic if you have a VIF configured.

Question 26

What’s the behavior if I don’t click the Min Links?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 26

We’ll set Min Links to 0 by default.

Question 27

Can I change the Min Links after I’ve set up my bundle?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 27

Yes. You can change the min links value after you’ve set up the bundle, either via console or via API.

Question 28

When I associate my existing DirectConnect connection with a LAG what happens with existing Virtual Interfaces already created with DirectConnect connection?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 28

When a DirectConnect connection with existing Virtual Interfaces (VIFs) is associated to a LAG, Virtual Interfaces are migrated to the LAG. Please note that certain parameters associated with VIFs needs to be unique like VLAN numbers to be moved to LAG.

Question 29

If I have multiple LAGs, can I still use BFD to improve fail over time between paths?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 29

BFD is still supported.

Question 30

Can I set link priority on a specific link?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 30

We’ll treat all links as equal, so we won’t set “link priority” on any specific link

Question 31

Does having a LAG make my connection more resilient?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 31

LAG will let you protect against single path failures between your data center and AWS. It won’t protect against a single device failure at AWS.

Question 32

Can I have VIFs on two different LAG connected to the same VGW?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 32

Yes. This behavior is exactly like creating VIFs on single ports.

Question 33

Can I have a 40GE interface on my side that connects to 4x 10GE on the AWS side?

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support in Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect | Networking & Content Delivery

Answer 33

You will need 4x 10GE interfaces on your router to connect to AWS. A single 40GE interface connecting to a 4x 10GE LACP is not supported.