Equinix Fabric Cloud Router
Virtual routers
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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What is Equinix Fabric Cloud Router
Equinix Fabric Cloud Router is a virtual routing service delivered within Equinix Fabric that provides Layer 3 connectivity between private networks and cloud on-ramps available in the Equinix ecosystem. It targets network and cloud teams that need to interconnect multiple clouds, regions, and colocation environments without deploying and managing their own virtual router appliances. The service is designed to be provisioned and operated as part of Equinix Fabric connections, with routing policies managed through Equinix tooling rather than customer-managed router instances.
Managed L3 routing service
The product provides routing as a service, reducing the need to deploy, patch, and operate customer-managed virtual router images. This can simplify operations for teams that primarily want connectivity outcomes rather than router lifecycle management. It also centralizes routing functions within the same environment used to order and manage Fabric connections.
Native to Equinix Fabric
Fabric Cloud Router is integrated with Equinix Fabric, so it aligns with the way organizations provision private connectivity to cloud providers and partners in Equinix locations. This can reduce integration work compared with stitching together separate virtual router instances and external connectivity constructs. It is particularly relevant for architectures that already standardize on Equinix Fabric for interconnection.
Supports multi-cloud interconnect use
The service is positioned for connecting multiple cloud environments and private networks through a consistent routing layer. This can help standardize routing policy and segmentation across several cloud on-ramps reachable via Fabric. It is useful when the primary requirement is interconnecting clouds and sites rather than deploying edge routing features on customer infrastructure.
Equinix ecosystem dependency
The service is tied to Equinix Fabric, so its value depends on using Equinix locations and Fabric connectivity. Organizations that need a portable virtual router that runs in any hypervisor or public cloud environment may find it less applicable. This can increase switching costs if the network strategy changes away from Equinix-based interconnection.
Less appliance-level control
Because it is a managed service, customers typically have less low-level control than with self-managed virtual router software (for example, OS-level access, custom packages, or deep feature tuning). Teams with strict requirements for specific routing stacks, advanced packet processing, or bespoke automation hooks may encounter constraints. Feature availability and change cadence are governed by the service roadmap.
Best fit for interconnect, not edge
The product is optimized for interconnection routing within the Fabric context rather than acting as a general-purpose edge router replacement in all environments. If a deployment requires broad edge functions (for example, complex VPN termination, on-box security services, or specialized WAN features), additional products or architectures may be required. This can add design complexity for organizations seeking an all-in-one virtual router platform.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Lab | Varies by metro/account; typically free as a permanent Lab tier for testing (limited). Example sample API monthly charges show paid lab samples (see notes) — use Pricing Calculator/API for exact price. | Up to 10 connections; max routes IPv4/IPv6 50/50; per-VC bandwidth up to 50 Mbps; limit of three Lab Tier Cloud Routers per organization; intended for testing. |
| Basic | Varies by metro/account; price not listed as a single public SKU — obtain via Pricing Calculator/API or portal. | Recommended up to 15 connections; max routes 250/50; per-VC bandwidth up to 1 Gbps. |
| Standard | Varies by metro/account; price not listed as a single public SKU — obtain via Pricing Calculator/API or portal. | Recommended up to 25 connections; max routes 1,000/100; per-VC bandwidth up to 10 Gbps. |
| Advanced | Varies by metro/account; price not listed as a single public SKU — obtain via Pricing Calculator/API or portal. | Recommended up to 35 connections; max routes 4,000/250; per-VC bandwidth up to 100 Gbps. |
Notes:
- Official Equinix documentation states Fabric Cloud Router monthly charges "vary by package: Lab, Basic, Standard, or Advanced" and that exact monthly charges depend on metro/location and contract term; customers should use the Fabric Pricing Calculator in the Equinix Customer Portal or the Fabric Pricing API (/fabric/v4/prices/search) to retrieve exact monthly recurring charges for their account and metro.
- Example (official API sample response): monthly recurring sample prices in the docs for metro code "WA" include values such as $597.18, $2,651.42, $3,582.82, and $4,777.18 (USD) for different package responses; these are example outputs tied to a specific account/metro and not listed as universal public prices.
Seller details
Equinix, Inc.
Redwood City, California, USA
1998
Public
https://www.equinix.com/
https://x.com/Equinix
https://www.linkedin.com/company/equinix/
