Oracle Fast Connect within OCI is their cloud on-ramp allowing organizations to establish routing from their WAN (Wide Area Network) or other public cloud providers into their regions.  Many companies are taking advantage of moving their Oracle Database out of the data center into OCI for a myriad of positive reasons.  However, often the last step, and one overlooked is how to route their corporate WAN to OCI.

 

What is Oracle FastConnect

Oracle FastConnect or (FC for short) enables customers to connect their environment directly to OCI virtually such as dedicated, private, or virtual connection options.  Port speeds vary however Oracle keeps the costs very low and predictable monthly vs. other public cloud providers.  Think of FastConnect as the exit off the highway from your network to their infrastructure.

 

MPLS into FastConnect

Depending on the MPLS provider, many core carriers have apre-built partner options established into Oracle FastConnect. However, there are a few considerations you must understand first.

  1.  Will MPLS be your preferred WAN technology over the next 3 Years?  If you are looking to migrate to SDWAN, that’s not an issue but you do not want to install a new MPLS link if you plan to exit that strategy.  The carrier may lock you in for another term on that node.  If you need a refresh on the entire network or at least to see what benchmark pricing would look like without having to contact multiple carriers, we can provide a WAN Template in a RFP format for your organization.
  2. Can your carrier provide a X-connect at the Oracle Datacenter to OCI Cloud?
  3. Timing:  Depending on the size of the circuit, will depend on how long you must plan to deploy.  If you are over a 1G connection to FastConnect, plan on at least a 90-day interval to install.  This is NOT an OCI delay, it’s the carrier.

 

Steps to connect your MPLS network into FastConnect

 

  1. Identify which OCI regions you will need your private VRF to connect to.  This is important for both latency and governance.  There is an opportunity to route to multiple on-ramps as well if you prefer an HA design.

 

  1. Is your telecom carrier an approved FastConnect partner with OCI?  If you are unsure, please contact on of our OCI-focused Network Architects and they can send you the most updated list and provide any background on how they deliver the connection into OCI.

 

  1. Timing – Typical provisioning of a FastConnect is minutes, however, most carriers will take 30+ days for the MPLS node to be operational.  Why?  The ordering process is more in-depth due to the physical installation.
  1. Do you have a redundant network to MPLS which must be considered?  Some clients we work with have dual WAN environments for backup and with OCI there are advantages to reduce complexity and cost on the secondary WAN.

 

  1. Do you have other Public Cloud providers such as AWS, GCP, or Azure that connect to your WAN?  If so, this can still work with OCI and there are lower latency options between OCI and other public cloud providers we can discuss.

 

  1. Carrier Discussions:  You must absolutely engage your Solution Architect from the MPLS vendor with Oracle to discuss how your environment will extend into FastConnect.  Macronet often helps bridge the organizations together based on our hundreds of FastConnect deployments.  Many MPLS vendor teams do have repeated weekly migrations into FastConnect as Macronet does, so please lean on our experience to ensure all parties work in a cohesive manner!
  1. Don’t design alone.  Macronet Services has a private relationship with Oracle to discuss your environment confidentially and with precision on the best to use FastConnect.  Contact us to have an Architect review your WAN and Hybrid routing into OCI.

Checkout our Blog on 5 Ways to Connect to Oracle FastConnect

 

SDWAN Replacement of MPLS and will it work with Oracle Cloud? 

The answer is yes, SDWAN can extend into OCI FastConnect similar to MPLS.  However, as SDWAN gains deeper in popularity, it’s important to understand what solution a customer is using.

  1. Is it carrier-based support and with whom?
  2. If you are using SDWAN over public internet

MPLS replacement option, check out Teridion who can deploy in OCI

How much does the OCI FastConnect cost:

This is a moving number answer and not because of Oracle, it’s due to how you plan on establishing your WAN environment which is not on them.

 

  1. Connection Method – Direct private circuit (will require a cross-connect into OCI and possibly handoff verifications)

 

  1. Ingress/Egress Charges – The good news, unlike other public cloud providers there isn’t an ingress/egress complicated calculation.  Here’s a real-time breakout of FastConnect Pricing.

 

Big providers have jumped on board to support FastConnect

ATT first announced back in 2017 that they would extend their Netbond VPN option into Oracle FastConnect which is important for many enterprises.  Most likely, if you are using a tier one carrier MPLS, they are built into FastConnect and your implantation (fingers crossed) should be rather easy.  Contact Us for the latest vendor environments supported into FastConnect and we can equally provide a free review of your design.

 

Happy connecting!