Direct Connect
Use dedicated physical cross-connects or virtual connections via our on-ramp partners
Direct Connect (DX) is a high-performance networking product that enables customers to connect their Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) on the CoreWeave platform to their on-premises or hyperscaler networks. Unlike standard internet connections, Direct Connect bypasses the public internet, allowing for guaranteed port speeds, secure data transfer, lower latency, and the ability to place workloads where they best fit.
Connectivity Options
CoreWeave offers two connectivity options: Dedicated DX and Virtual DX.
Dedicated DX
Dedicated DX is a dedicated physical cross-connect (XC) with guaranteed port speeds in CoreWeave's facilities throughout North America and Europe. Dedicated DX is the most performant and reliable interconnection option, allowing customers to bypass the public internet when transferring data and resources securely between clouds and on-premises networks. See our Dedicated DX locations below.
Dedicated DX uses physical and dedicated cross-connects (XCs) to connect directly to CoreWeave's edge networks. It supports high-speed connections of 10G, 100G, or 400G, and supports MACsec encryption for secure data transmission. Jumbo frames can be enabled upon request to support larger MTU sizes.
Virtual DX
Virtual DX is a virtual connection (VC) through our on-ramp partners, Equinix Fabric and Megaport. Customers can use their existing Equinix or Megaport ports without adding dedicated physical ports or establishing a network presence in our regions. See our Virtual DX locations and supported Cloud On-Ramps below. This allows customers to interconnect in hundreds of colocations around the world for rapid provisioning while still bypassing the public internet for secure data transfer between clouds and on-premises networks.
Virtual DX supports speeds of 10G or 100G, which are suitable for many workloads that do not require the high throughput of Dedicated DX. It does not support MACsec encryption or jumbo frames. Customers should consider their security and performance requirements when choosing this option.
Common features
The following features apply to both Dedicated and Virtual DX.
- Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) is enabled by default. This allows customers with multiple DXs to bond them into a single Link Aggregation Group (LAG) to aggregate bandwidth and improve resilience. For example, if you need 100G DX now but plan to scale to 400G later, you can add 3x 100G ports when you need the capacity and use LAG to bond all 4 links together.
- Customers with multiple VPCs that need to be isolated over their DXs can enable 802.1Q VLAN tagging. This ensures traffic ingressing the Direct Connect Router from one VPC cannot reach others, regardless if the VPCs are in the same or different Regions or Availability Zones (AZs).
- BGP with MD5 or TCP-AO authentication can be enabled upon request to support secure data transmission.
- Data transfer is free of charge.
Dedicated and Virtual DX comparison summary
| Dedicated DX | Virtual DX | |
|---|---|---|
| Description | The most performant and reliable interconnection option | Available in hundreds of Equinix or Megaport colocations and can reuse customers' existing ports |
| Connectivity Medium | Physical and dedicated Cross Connects (XCs) | Virtual Connection via Equinix Fabric or Megaport |
| DX Speed | 10G, 100G, or 400G | 10G or 100G |
| MACsec | Yes | No |
| Jumbo Frames | Yes | No |
| Link Aggregation | Yes | Yes |
| VLAN Tagging | Yes | Yes |
| BGP Authentication | Yes | Yes |
| Free Data Transfer | Yes | Yes |
CoreWeave DX locations
CoreWeave has established Direct Connect (DX) locations across North America and Europe. These locations are designed to provide low-latency connections to our cloud infrastructure, ensuring optimal performance for your workloads. Dedicated DX connections are available in the facilities listed below, while Virtual DX can be established through them from any supported Cloud On-Ramp location. When choosing a DX facility, consider the proximity to your on-premises data center.
The North American facilities specify a Low Latency Region, which is the CoreWeave region with the lowest latency to that facility. For example, CoreSite DE1 and Equinix DE2 have the lowest latency to CoreWeave US-WEST-07.
North America
| Facility Name | Location | Supported Cloud On-Ramps | Low Latency Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| CoreSite DE1 | Denver, CO, USA | Megaport | US-WEST-07 |
| CoreSite LA1 | Los Angeles, CA, USA | Megaport | US-WEST-01 |
| Digital Realty SEA10 | Seattle, WA, USA | Megaport | US-WEST-09 |
| Equinix AT1 | Atlanta, GA, USA | Equinix Fabric, Megaport | US-EAST-04 |
| Equinix CH2 | Chicago, IL, USA | Equinix Fabric, Megaport | US-EAST-04 |
| Equinix DA11 | Dallas, TX, USA | Equinix Fabric, Megaport | US-EAST-06 |
| Equinix DC2 | Ashburn, VA, USA | Equinix Fabric, Megaport | US-EAST-04 |
| Equinix DE2 | Denver, CO, USA | Equinix Fabric, Megaport | US-WEST-07 |
| Equinix NY6 | Secaucus, NJ, USA | Equinix Fabric, Megaport | US-EAST-02 |
| Equinix PH1 | Philadelphia, PA, USA | Equinix Fabric, Megaport | US-EAST-02 |
| Equinix SE2 | Seattle, WA, USA | Equinix Fabric, Megaport | US-WEST-09 |
| Equinix SV1 | San Jose, CA, USA | Equinix Fabric, Megaport | US-WEST-01 |
| Equinix TR2 | Toronto, ON, Canada | Equinix Fabric, Megaport | CA-EAST-01 |
| Switch Las Vegas | Las Vegas, NV, USA | Megaport | US-WEST-01 |
Europe
| Facility Name | Location | Supported Cloud On-Ramps |
|---|---|---|
| Digital Realty AMS17 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Megaport |
| Equinix BA1 | Barcelona, Spain | Equinix Fabric, Megaport |
| Equinix FR5 | Frankfurt, Germany | Equinix Fabric, Megaport |
| Equinix LD5 | Slough, England | Equinix Fabric, Megaport |
| Equinix SK1 | Stockholm, Sweden | Equinix Fabric, Megaport |
| Stock OSL01A | Oslo, Norway | Megaport |
On-Demand provisioning
To provide the most flexibility and cost-effective service, CoreWeave provisions virtual connection ports on-demand. This means you may not immediately see CoreWeave listed as an available service provider in the Equinix Fabric or Megaport portals for a specific location. Once you request a connection, we provision the necessary port, and it becomes visible in the partner portal. After the first customer connects in a given location, the port remains visible for all subsequent customers.
We continually expand our network to meet customer needs. If you wish to connect through a provider not listed here, please contact your Account Manager to discuss your requirements.
Network requirements
To successfully deploy Direct Connect, customer networks must meet the following requirements.
| Requirement Type | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Colocation | Customers must be colocated in a CoreWeave Interconnection Location or reachable via Equinix Fabric/Megaport |
| Hardware - 10G DX | - Dedicated DX: Single-mode fiber with 10G-LR transceiver - Virtual DX: See Equinix Fabric/Megaport documentation for supported hardware |
| Hardware - 100G DX | - Dedicated DX: 100G-LR1 (preferred) or 100G-LR4 - Virtual DX: See Equinix Fabric/Megaport documentation for supported hardware |
| Hardware - 400G DX | - Dedicated DX: 400G-LR4 - Virtual DX: Not available |
| Protocols | Equipment must support LACP (unless requested disabled), and BGP with MD5/TCP-AO if authentication is desired |
| Prefix Limits | Customer network equipment should not advertise more than 200 prefixes. |
BGP configuration
To establish a BGP session, CoreWeave needs a list of the BGP configurations and the specific prefixes you intend to advertise. See our BGP configuration section for more details. We support MD5/TCP-AO authentication, and LACP. You can request these protocols when you request a DX connection.
BGP prefix requirements
Customer network equipment should not advertise more than 200 prefixes. This is a soft limit. If your network advertises more than 200 prefixes, the BGP session will be torn down to protect the network.
You must inform the Backbone Engineering team of your prefixes via Slack or email when exchanging BGP configurations. CoreWeave uses exact-match import policies. If you advertise a prefix that has not been pre-approved, the BGP session will be torn down.
You can advertise the same prefixes at all your DXs. We will always route traffic from our data centers to the closest operational DX location based on our internal IGP metrics.
Deployment topologies
We classify DX deployments into the following topologies:
- Single-Location Non-Redundant: Single connectivity in one location. This is not recommended for production.
- Single-Location Redundant: Two or more sets of connectivity in a single location to protects against equipment failure but not location failure.
- Multi-Location Redundant: Connectivity across two or more locations to protect against router, cross-connect, and full location failures.
For production workloads, we recommend either Single-Location Redundant or Multi-Location Redundant deployments.
Routing and VPCs
Customers with multiple VPCs can access all of them using one or multiple DXs over CoreWeave's backbone network. Traffic routing is determined by the following rules.
- If you announce specific prefixes at each DX location, traffic routes based on those prefixes.
- If you announce the same prefixes at all DX locations, traffic routes from CoreWeave data centers to the closest DX location based on internal IGP metrics.
- If a DX location goes down, traffic automatically routes to the next available location.
If you have one DX, and multiple VPCs in one AZ, you can reach all of them. Likewise, if you have one DX, and multiple VPCs in multiple AZs, you can reach all of them. You can also choose to enable 802.1Q VLAN tagging to isolate traffic so that ingress from one VPC cannot reach another.
Provisioning workflow
CoreWeave offers a white-glove provisioning experience where our Solutions Architects, Technical Solution Managers, and Engineers work directly with you. These are the steps to provision a Direct Connect connection.
Step 1: Layer 2 connectivity
For Dedicated DX
Before requesting a dedicated DX connection, you must have an established production Org ID and a running CKS cluster.
Please contact your Account Manager to initiate the process. They will coordinate with you and our networking team to provision your connection and provide a Letter of Authorization (LOA). Using the CoreWeave LOA, you order Cross Connects (XCs) from the colocation provider to connect your equipment to CoreWeave.
If connecting to a hyperscaler, you will need to provide the hyperscaler's LOA to CoreWeave, and we will order the XCs.
For Virtual DX
Creating a virtual connection is a manual process coordinated with our support team. Please contact your Account Manager before initiating a connection in your provider's portal. Provide them with your desired connection location, required bandwidth, and timeline. They will coordinate with you and our networking team to provision your connection and provide a token or service key.
When those steps are complete, you can use the token or service key to order Virtual Connections (VCs) via the Equinix or Megaport portal. For detailed connection instructions, please refer to the provider's documentation:
- Equinix Fabric: Connect to a Service Provider
- Megaport: Creating a Connection using a Service Key
Step 2: Layer 3 (BGP) configuration
Once Layer 2 connectivity is established, CoreWeave will establish Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) sessions. You must have a CKS cluster built and associated with a production Org ID before BGP sessions can be established.
We establish one BGP session per circuit by default. You must provide a list of prefixes and exact prefix lengths you intend to advertise. We implement exact-match import policies. If you advertise prefixes not on this list, or exceed the provided list, the BGP session will be torn down.
| Configuration Parameter | Value details |
|---|---|
| Autonomous System Number (ASN) | Our BGP ASN is 33425. Customers will need to inform us of their ASN. |
| IP Addressing | By default, we use 169.254.0.0/30, with our DCR on .1 and the customer's network equipment on .2. We support /31 or /30 CIDR ranges. |
| Pre-shared Key | Customers can choose to use a pre-shared key to authenticate BGP sessions. This is optional. |
| LACP | Customers can choose to create LAG. This is optional. |
| 802.1Q Tagging | Customers can choose to enable 802.1Q VLAN tagging. By default, we start at 101 for each of the customer VPCs, but this can be customized. |
| MACSec | If using Dedicated DX, Customers can choose to enable MACsec between our DCRs and their network equipment over XCs |
| MTU Size | If using Dedicated DX, Customers can choose an MTU size such as 1500 or 9000 for jumbo frames |
Billing
Monthly recurring billing begins when the DX is established or 30 days after the LOA or token/service key is issued, whichever is sooner. Billing is based on the following:
- DX Speed: Billed based on the subscribed speed (10G, 100G, or 400G).
- Cross Connects (Dedicated): CoreWeave passes through costs for any XCs we are required to order (such as hyperscaler connections). If you order the XC with the facility, no XC fee is billed by CoreWeave.
- Data Transfer: Free of charge.