RackConnect Global FAQ

RackConnect® Global is a software-defined, multi-cloud interconnection platform that links Rackspace Technology customers with other Rackspace data centers, third-party data centers, and third-party clouds through direct, private, low-latency, virtual connections. All traffic flowing between every endpoint avoids the public Internet and instead rides the Rackspace private backbone.

The average enterprise uses at least five different multi-cloud platforms. A typical mix includes the following offerings:

• On-premises private clouds
• Colocation
• Hosted private cloud
• Public cloud
• Multiple Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

Data stored and processed in each must flow from one to the other rapidly and securely. Over two-thirds of data traffic travels east-west between clouds rather than north-south to the end-user. This flow of information is susceptible to intrusion. If an adversary can make their way into the east-west traffic, there's a good chance they could make their way quickly across the network and into your platforms.

RackConnect Global is an *ecosystem of ecosystems*. Rackspace has linked the leading interconnection exchanges and cloud providers to our proprietary backbone. After you connect with the Rackspace backbone through a Rackspace data center or edge location (backbone routers in third-party connectivity-rich colocation sites), you can spin up virtual connections across the Rackspace footprint as well as Megaport and the Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric. These virtual connections enable Rackspace to provide multiple paths for connecting with all your cloud and colocation providers wherever they are across the globe for an integrated hybrid cloud experience.

For more details, see https://www.rackspace.com/cloud/hybrid/rackconnect/global.

Any company that uses a Rackspace service (such as colocation, dedicated hosting, server virtualization, private cloud, managed public cloud, or application services) and at least one other IT service provider should find RackConnect Global of tremendous value. The private, secure, low-latency solution saves traffic flowing between all connected environments—Rackspace and third-party—from riding the insecure and bogged down public Internet. In addition, compared to procuring long-term individual point-to-point connections from a telecommunications carrier between each of your clouds, RackConnect Global Any-to-Any connectivity is significantly more cost-effective, more flexible, and easier to implement.

RackConnect Global is the primary mechanism for linking multiple Rackspace services across different locations. It also enables customers to link services deployed in Rackspace data centers with third-party cloud environments regardless of whether Rackspace manages them. Customers also frequently use RackConnect Global to tether Rackspace services with third-party colocation facilities and network carriers.

RackConnect Global is of particular value for facilitating multi-cloud strategies. Because the public cloud scalability and elasticity make it incrementally more expensive, it’s prudent to deploy as much of the workload as possible within a static private cloud environment and only *burst* into the dynamic public cloud when you require additional resources. RackConnect Global is ideal for ensuring private clouds and borrowed public cloud resources across any number of providers all function together as a seamless and secure environment from an end-user standpoint.

We have RackConnect Global-enabled data centers and edge locations located across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, as shown in the following table:

Users can connect external environments by using the following methods:

• Physically cross-connect with Rackspace edge location routers within same colocation environment
• Become a participant on the Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric or Megaport cloud
  exchange
• Procure a local loop from a telecommunications carrier to the most proximate RackConnect Global-enabled Rackspace data center or edge location

RackConnect Global supports connectivity speeds of 50 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 200 Mbps, 500 Mbps, 1 Gbps, 2 Gbps, 5 Gbps, and 10 Gbps.

Yes. Use RackConnect Global to transfer data securely without going over the Internet, by using a private circuit that others don't share—for an additional layer of protection for your business data and apps. The service does not provide encryption of any sort. It's purely an MPLS VPN connection. The traffic rides through the Rackspace backbone (the network that interconnects Rackspace regions and provides connectivity outside of Rackspace) without hitting the Internet path and is inherently secure.

Yes. RackConnect Global includes a 99.99% Connectivity Uptime Guarantee, industry-leading SLAs, and the commitment to 24x7x365 service and support that’s at the core of what we do. Rackspace guarantees that the termination endpoint for the RackConnect Global Service virtual circuit can accept connections 99.99% of the time in any calendar month, provided that there are two or more virtual circuit termination endpoints at the Rackspace data center location. You can read the agreement at https://www.rackspace.com/information/legal/rackconnect-global-regionlink.