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Provisioning a bare metal server network

Use Lumen® Edge Service Manager to provision Lumen® Edge Bare Metal server networks using Lumen public IPv4 and IPv4/IPv6 dual stack network blocks. Each network size selection provides a specific number of IP addresses contained in that block. You must provision a network before you provision a bare metal server. After you configure a network, the Edge Service Manager can take up to 10 minutes to provision the network.

Provisioned networks are available for use and you can select them when provisioning a bare metal server. You can also provision a network while provisioning a bare metal server. Provisioned networks can be added to an existing bare metal server. You can view and download the activity on the networks. You can also view network details, edit network name, or delete a network you no longer need.

You cannot edit network configurations. If you need to make changes to a network, you must delete the network and provision a replacement network. Delete all bare metal servers from a network before deleting the network.

Important: You must provision a bare metal server in the same location (e.g., Denver, CO) as the the provisioned network.

To provision a bare metal server network:

  1. Click the Networks tab.

    The Edge Service Manager shows the networks created for your organization.
Edge Service Manager network summary view
  1. Click ADD NETWORK.

    The Select Location section appears.
Edge Service Manager add network select location view
  1. Select a physical location for the network, then click CONTINUE. Bare metal servers must be in the same location as the assigned network.

    The Configure Network section appears.
Edge Service Manager add network configure network view
  1. Complete the following fields in the Configure Network section to select your network configuration, then click CONTINUE.
     
    1. Network Type—Select one of the following options:

      • INTERNET—Creates an IPv4 network block.

      • DUAL STACK INTERNET—Creates a dual stack IPv4/IPv6 network block. If you choose this option, the Edge Service Manager reserves an IPv6 address for the server and assigns an IPv4 address to the server. You must manually assign all IPv6 addresses within the server's configuration file.

    2. Network Name—Type a name for the network.

    3. Network Size—Select a network size in CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing) length based on the IP address. The size of the network determines the number of IP addresses available for server use. By default, we include a /29 subnet at no charge. You can select a larger CIDR block for an additional charge.

      Here are some things you should know when choosing a network size:

      • Each network is assigned its own IPv4 subnet (/29-/26) where /29 has fewer networks and hosts than /26.

      • Lumen uses the first four addresses and the last IP address for infrastructure configuration. The remaining IP addresses are free for you to use.

        • For example, if you choose a /29 subnet there are eight IP addresses. The first four IP addresses will be used for network address, router default gateway, and routers. The last IP address will be used for the network broadcast address. That leaves the 5-7th IP addresses free for you to use.
           
      • If you choose a Dual Stack Internet network, the IPv6 subnet will always be /64 regardless of the size of the IPv4 subnet you select. This means that the first 64 bits of the 128-bit IPv6 address are fixed. The remaining bits are flexible and free for you to use.

      • Apart from the five addresses that Lumen uses to set up the network, we do not track the use of the additional IP addresses. You are responsible for managing any IPs assigned to servers outside of the Edge Service Manager. 


The Review & Provision section shows.

Edge Service Manager add network review and provision view
  1. Review your selections, then click PROVISION NOW. The Edge Service Manager starts to provision the network. This process can take up to 10 minutes to complete. Track the progress of the provisioning and view the estimated time to completion on the Networks tab. When provisioning is complete, a success message shows on the Networks tab.

Edge Bare Metal networks are constantly monitored, highly redundant, and resilient. Maintenance windows are scheduled for required maintenance and upgrades. When scheduled maintenance impacts your service, we will notify you by email in advance.


Learn more about maintenance windows and SLAs (service level agreement)

If you have a performance issue or an outage, contact our Edge Customer Care team and provide the tenant (account) name.