Meet your new favorite tool for rapid business growth and network expansion
Today’s organizations face mounting network demands as digital transformation continues to accelerate across the world. Recognizing that smooth and efficient daily operations depend on flexible, effective management of ever-expanding network infrastructure and resources, we’re excited to introduce our new port-based model designed to simplify network expansion and management for IT leaders everywhere.
Empower your business with a one-stop shop for all network needs, all accessible through a single port. When you provision a port with Zenlayer, you’ll be able to streamline operations, accelerate expansions, and get complete control over your network resources leveraging a massively distributed global backbone and the most hyperconnected network fabric in emerging markets.
What is a port and where does it fit into the Zenlayer ecosystem?
A port is a numbered, physical or virtual endpoint between computers or network devices that is used to differentiate between types of network traffic. It enables communication by directing data to a specific application or service.
Purchasing a port within the Zenlayer Cloud Networking product ecosystem gives you direct access to our global network fabric, thereby unlocking our entire catalogue of cloud and networking services including IP transit; data center and public cloud interconnections; edge compute through bare metal and VMs; our layer 2 and layer 3 networking services; and much more.
How does this differ from the old way of purchasing from Zenlayer?
Previously, when you came to Zenlayer with a request, our experts would put together a solution for your specific scenario. While this is the industry standard, we felt that the process often took longer, particularly when customers encounter a new, unexpected need. This resulted in extra time to rebuild the solution, and required customers to purchase additional ports and circuits as their needs grew with their business.
You still have the option to purchase solutions, but our new port-based, self-service purchasing model lets you skip the line to make changes to your network configuration and scale on demand, giving your business the extra agility it needs to stay competitive in diverse market conditions.
And all it takes to start is a single port that unlocks the door to infinite possibilities.
How does opening a port with Zenlayer benefit my business?
Zenlayer’s full-service integrated ports go beyond being an ordinary port – it’s a powerful tool that can help accelerate your business growth. Easy to use, efficient, and flexible, our ports are your answer to a diverse range of network expansion and management needs, offering:
- Greater efficiency & scalability
Each port can be multiplexed to support delivery of multiple different services, simplifying your network architecture, ensuring more efficient bandwidth utilization, and helping to futureproof your network infrastructure by making scaling quicker and easier. - Simplified network expansion & management
Instantly gain access to all Zenlayer products and service ecosystem through a single port provisioned via our self-service zenConsole with a few clicks. Quickly and easily connect to your most-used public clouds to build inter-cloud, hybrid cloud, and multi-cloud environments.
- Enhanced reach
Leveraging our 300+ edge nodes across six continents, a single port lets you seamlessly interconnect on-prem equipment, global data centers, and remote resources to enhance your network coverage at the edge, helping you explore new markets with confidence. - Faster provisioning and improved retention
Keep users happy and returning by expanding your network according to their real-time needs. Rather than waiting weeks or months for traditional network service deployments, expanding your network via a port in Zenlayer’s product ecosystem significantly reduces provisioning times to days or depending on the service, even minutes. - Flexible billing options
We offer a daily flat rate pricing model that lets you pay as you go. You can also opt for monthly flat rate or 95th percentile billing models upon request.
Which businesses benefit most from Zenlayer’s new port-based model?
If your organization has complex infrastructure needs that necessitate frequent scaling or configuration, you’ll love our ports for their fast provisioning, flexibility, and ease of management. Companies seeking resources in emerging markets around the world, especially throughout Asia, would also greatly benefit from the ability to access our host of networking and compute services through a single port for improved resource utilization and streamlined operations.
In addition, our port-based product model is great for:
- Managed service providers (MSPs)
Extend existing networks to remote locations or public clouds to offer services to users who operate in these environments
- Cloud service providers (CSPs)
Enable end users to seamlessly connect to other clouds for hybrid, inter-, or multi-cloud interconnections.
- Enterprises
Reach a global audience for market expansion, brand-building, talent acquisition, partnerships, and more.
How do I provision a port with Zenlayer?
Opening a port on zenConsole only takes a few clicks. To begin, log into zenConsole and navigate to Port either under Resource Overview on your home dashboard or via the Products dropdown menu from anywhere within the console.
On the Port product page, click on Create Port
Alternatively, you can also initiate port creation directly from the +Create dropdown found on the top-right corner of zenConsole, near your user profile.
Here in the Port Creation module, select the city and data center where you want the port to be created, select your desired port speed, give it a label, and enter your business entity name as instructed.
Double check to make sure the data center provider, location, and address are verified. Note that the business entity name provided here will be included on the Letter of Authorization (LOA) provided by Zenlayer to order cross-connects with the data center. Please allow 24-48 hours for the LOA to be completed and made available to you.
When you’re finished, agree to our policies and click on Confirm Order.
And that’s it! You’ve successfully opened a port with Zenlayer and are ready to start taking advantage of our entire suite of integrated products and services.
How do I connect my new port to services?
Connecting your services to your newly created port is quick and easy. Simply navigate to your list of ports by navigating to the Port product page as detailed above. If you’ve created any ports, they will be listed here along with their associated details.
Click on the port you wish to connect to a service to bring up its configuration module.
In this Port configuration module, click on +Connection near the top-right corner, where you can choose to either create a Private Connect for a layer 2 point-to-point connection, or Cloud Router for a layer 3 full mesh network.
If you’re not sure how to create a layer 2 or layer 3 connection on zenConsole, be sure to check out these handy guides in our documentation center.
Simplify your network with Zenlayer Cloud Networking
Instantly provision a private full mesh layer 3 network with Zenlayer Cloud Router or use Zenlayer Private Connect to establish a secure layer 2 point-to-point network that interconnects your data centers and clouds. Either way, you’ll experience ultra-low latency and enhanced reliability across the world.
Bring content and applications closer to users for drastically improved experiences with Zenlayer Bare Metal and Zenlayer Virtual Machine, and create your ideal enterprise cloud environment with Cloud Connect.
Can’t wait to streamline your business infrastructure and elevate service delivery? Reach out to our friendly solution experts or for the fastest service, check out zenConsole yourself today!
