How do I cancel a Direct Connect maintenance event?

Short description

Amazon Web Services (AWS) regularly performs maintenance on a fleet of hardware devices that Direct Connect supports. The hardware devices are non-redundant by design.

Note: AWS doesn't configure redundant connections for you. You must configure your own redundant connections. You can choose to be non-redundant. However, it's a best practice to configure redundant connections so that you avoid network availability risks.

There are two types of Direct Connect maintenance: planned and emergency. During maintenance events, Direct Connect is interrupted for all your connections on the device. If your network setup is non-redundant, then you lose connection between your on-premises network and resources. For planned maintenance, AWS notifies you in advance so that you can configure your redundancy connections before the maintenance begins.

Resolution

Planned maintenance

Planned maintenance is scheduled in advance and for a longer duration. This maintenance addresses known network availability risks that are identified for the Direct Connect hardware fleet either in a specific AWS Region or globally for all Regions. This type of maintenance requires updates for multiple devices.

You receive the first planned maintenance email notification 14 calendar days before the maintenance occurs. You receive another notification 7 calendar days before, and then a final notification one calendar day before maintenance.

If you meet the defined criteria, then you can request a planned maintenance cancellation.

Emergency maintenance

Emergency maintenance is initiated on an emergency basis because of failures on the hardware device. This type of maintenance isn't planned in advance and usually requires an update for only a single defective device. Emergency maintenance has a shorter completion time and requires direct action from AWS to restore availability.

You receive the first notice about an emergency maintenance up to 60 minutes before the maintenance occurs. You can't request an emergency maintenance cancellation because AWS must act immediately to restore service.

Initiate a maintenance cancellation request

Before you submit a maintenance cancellation request, consider the following guidelines:

• Expect periodic scheduled maintenance.
• It's a best practice to test the Direct Connect redundancy model to make sure that it works. Redundancy connections that work help maintain service availability when an endpoint is undergoing maintenance.

AWS can make an exception to reschedule a planned maintenance. To initiate a maintenance cancellation request, contact AWS Support.

Use the following criteria to determine your eligibility. If you don't meet the criteria, then AWS might deny your request. However, you can request further review.

Note: If you don't meet the criteria but AWS Support is reviewing your request, then expect a response service level agreement (SLA) of 24 hours. The 24-hour response SLA begins when the cancellation request is transferred to the appropriate internal team for review.

Criteria	Not approved	Further review needed
A customer under Infrastructure Event Management (IEM)		X
No DX Redundancy	X
No DX Redundancy + VPN Redundancy	X
No DX Redundancy + No VPN Redundancy	X
DX Device Redundant	X
DX Location Redundant	X
DX Location Redundant	X
A customer is device or location redundant but there is an operational failure on their redundancy model		X
A customer is device or location redundant but a parallel maintenance will impact the primary and the redundant connectivity		X
Customer Change Freeze	X
Customer Change Freeze + No DX Redundancy	X
Customer Change Freeze + DX Redundancy	X
Customer Change Freeze + No VPN Redundancy	X
Global or country wide events (example: Olympics)		X
Delay maintenance start time		X