Introduction
Static IP Anywhere (SIPA) is Big Network’s innovative solution for delivering a Static IP address via multiple resilient ISP connections without the cost and complexity of BGP routing, expensive enterprise dedicated internet access. SIPA allows network builders to deliver “Unbreakable Internet Access” to a customer’s premise via multiple and diverse commodity Internet connections.
The SIPA solution requires a few components, including an Edge Device (Lite, Pro, or IRG) as the on-premise gateway, a Cloud Network to enable massive multipath tunneling, and a SIPA Headend to act as the source of Static IPs and to provide egress to the Internet for the Cloud Network.
Vultr Hosting provides a robust VPS environment that can be used to deploy a SIPA Headend.
Getting Started Requirements
- Deploy an Edge Lite, Edge Pro, or IRG as the on-premise gateway. Your on-premise gateway should have at least one live WAN connection and it should be on-boarded to Big Network. Detailed on-boading instructions are available in the Knowledge Base.
- An available Edge Virtual License in your Big Network Account.
- An account at Vultr Hosting.
Design Diagram / Application Concept
Upload the Edge Virtual ISO to Vultr
- Go to Orchestration; then to "ISOs", click “Add ISO”
- Obtain the path to the ISO from the Big Network Portal Download Center, under Edge Virtual.
- Name your ISO image and click “Upload”. Vultr will connect to Big Network servers, download the ISO, and store it in your Vultr account.
Purchase a Regular Cloud Compute VPS at Vultr
- Login to https://my.vultr.com/ and navigate to “Deploy” and select “Cloud Compute - Shared CPU”
- Select your preferred location for the for a system with 4x vCPUs and 8GB of RAM.
- Choose the image to boot - use Upload ISO, My ISOs, and use the ISO uploaded previously.
- Select any additional features required.
- You may with to edit the server settings to set a hostname.
- Checkout and deploy the Cloud VPS. The VPS will be booted with the Big Network installer.
Install Big Network Edge Virtual
Once your Cloud VPS has been provisioned, it is time to load Big Network’s Edge Virtual OS onto it.
- Select the new server and open the Console.
- Run the installer in VGA mode.
- When prompted, select the Vultr VPS device model.
- Type “y” to acknowledge the OS drive will be wiped ad Big Network NodeOS will be installed.
- Type “prod” to select the production environment.
- When successfully installed, power off the VPS, detach the ISO, and power on the VPS.
- Wait 10 seconds and open the Console.
- Note your device ID # and PIN.
- Note: After a few moments, the Console will display device status including onboarding state. You should see “READY TO ONBOARD”.
Onboard your SIPA Headend at Big Network
Next, onboard your newly created SIPA Headend to Big Network:
- Navigate to https://portal.bignetwork.com -> Edge Devices -> Onboard Device
- Enter the Device ID and PIN from the Vultr Console; click Onboard.
- Set a device name and maintenance window.
- Set device location and address.
- Click Finish
With your Edge Virtual SIPA Headend built at Vultr, now you can finish up the plumbing of the Cloud Network.
- First, create a new cloud network:
- Navigate to Cloud Networks -> Create Network.
- Give the network a name and click Next
- Create an IP range for the network. This will be RFC1918 private IP space for any clients sitting behind the SIPA Headend. Click Next.
- Click Create to create the Cloud Network.
- Second, deploy the Cloud Network and Local Services to your SIPA Headend.
- Navigate to Edge Devices and click Configure for your Vultr SIPA Headend.
- Navigate to Networks and click Edit to enter editing mode.
- Click Create Local Network
- An editor appears; simply select your new Cloud Network from the prior step to inherit its properties. Click Confirm.
- With a new local network created, now add DHCPv4 and Local Breakout Services.
- Optionally, an Edge Dashboard can be deployed, and we suggest turning on READ-ONLY mode.
- Use the gear at the top right to deploy your configuration.
- Third, deploy the Cloud Network to your on-premise gateway:
- Navigate to Edge Devices and click Configure for your Vultr SIPA Headend.
- Navigate to Networks and click Edit to enter editing mode.
- Click Create Local Network
- An editor appears; simply select your new Cloud Network from the prior step to inherit its properties. Click Confirm.
- With a new local network created, now select one or more Ethernet ports to deliver SIPA services.
- Optionally, an Edge Dashboard can be deployed, and we suggest turning on READ-ONLY mode. Please make sure to set a unique IP address for your Edge Dashboard.
- Use the gear at the top right to deploy your configuration.
Connect Clients and Enjoy Unbreakable Internet with Static IP Anywhere
With this configuration in place, you can now connect client devices behind the configured port(s) on the on-premise gateway. Client devices should be enabled as DHCP clients. Client devices will receive a DHCP lease from the DHCP service running on the SIPA headend, including a default gateway. In turn, this default gateway runs on the SIPA headend, providing NAT services to the Vultr VPS’ Static IP address.
Meanwhile, on-premise clients enjoy automatic massive mulitpath resilience enabled by delivering 2x or more WAN connections to the on-premise gateway. Cloud Networks automatically assign and re-assign traffic to WAN connections depending on underlying network conditions. If a WAN connection goes offline, no outage is experiences as traffic is automatically balanced onto remaining connections.
Voila! Unbreakable Internet with Static IP Anywhere!