LOA’s (Letters of Authority\/Authorization) are a mystery to many.\u00a0 We help many of our customers with LOA’s on a semi-regular\u00a0basis.\u00a0 If you are here you are probably wanting to find out what an LOA is and how to properly fill one out.<\/p>\n
When you or a provider orders a cross-connect within a facility, such as a data-center, you have to generate an LOA that allows someone to run a cross-connect to your space from someplace else. This cross-connect could be fiber or copper.\u00a0 The other side generates and LOA as well.<\/p>\n
An LOA is simply a piece of paper with a few\u00a0parts.\u00a0 It usually starts on your company letterhead to make it more official. It states you are giving authority to the other party to land a cross-connect to your physical space.\u00a0 Normally it reads something like this in the first paragraph.<\/p>\n
The undersigned appoints ______________________________________________________ (“___________”) authority to act as an authorized agent to order cross connects to be delivered to YOUR_COMPANY (“YOUR_COMPANY”) collocation facilities.<\/em><\/p>\n Specifically, this letter authorizes ___________ to order services on the behalf of YOUR_COMPANY in order to engineer and deliver access and transport to the collocation designated below.<\/em><\/p>\n ___________ is hereby released from any and all liabilities for making pertinent information available to necessary contractors and for following instructions provided by YOUR_COMPANY with reference to the following order:<\/em><\/p>\n The above establishes who, why, and somewhat the what and where. The meat of the LOA is usually in the next part.\u00a0 This is where you define where the LOA is specifically going.\u00a0 Most LOAs include the following information: Depending on several factors you may or may not need to include all of the above.\u00a0 Some data centers are totally hands off and just run the cable to a spot in your space and you are responsible for plugging it into your gear.\u00a0 Others will plug into the patch panel ports you designate.\u00a0 Others can do a full turnkey of actually patching it down to your equipment.\u00a0 If they do this you will need to include additional information on where the switch is, what switch port, what cable needed, etc.<\/p>\n You may ask why can’t I just tell them what I need and they do it? Part of it is because the person doing the work needs to know exactly what they are doing. The person running it into your space may never have even seen your gear and set up before they get there. Secondly, it is a check and balance.\u00a0 If you tell them to plug into ports 3\/4 on patch panel 2 and there is already something there it helps to make sure your documentation is correct, and you meant to type the correct thing.\u00a0 Thirdly, its a CYA for the data center or the contractor running the cable.\u00a0 If you specified LC and the contractor put SC on it’s the contractor’s fault.<\/p>\n Lastly, the LOA includes signature, and title of someone who has been authorized by the facility on your behalf.\u00a0 This is another check and balance.\u00a0 Some LOA’s have additional wording about a time limit this LOA is valid for or additional notes.<\/p>\n LOAs are an important part of the documentation process.\u00a0 Data centers are a place most people do not visit very often.\u00a0 Having good documentation to generate a proper LOA is essential to things running smoothly.<\/p>\n Hope this helps.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LOA’s (Letters of Authority\/Authorization) are a mystery to many.\u00a0 We help many of our customers with LOA’s on a semi-regular\u00a0basis.\u00a0 If you are here you are probably wanting to find out what an LOA is and how to properly fill one out. When you or a provider orders a cross-connect within a facility, such as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[2],"tags":[138,72,95,568],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/1432824797846.jpg?fit=378%2C239&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6VLMf-Bm","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":458,"url":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/ip-space-terms-to-know\/","url_meta":{"origin":2316,"position":0},"title":"IP space terms to know","author":"j2sw","date":"December 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"When you are talking about the type of assigned Public IP space you have there are a couple of terms that are handy to know. Provider assigned (PA) space. This is space assigned by your upstream provider. These \"belong\" to someone you are buying services from. If you wish to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BGP"","block_context":{"text":"BGP","link":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/category\/networking\/bgp\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":233,"url":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/mtin-wispa-announcement\/","url_meta":{"origin":2316,"position":1},"title":"MTIN WISPA Announcement","author":"j2sw","date":"January 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"MTIN would like to announce some exciting new services for ISPs and network operators The first is Midwest Internet Exchange ( www.midwest-ix.com ) MidWest-IX has created a peering fabric we are expanding to data centers focused on the needs of WISPs and network operators such as yourself. Peering can be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/category\/news-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1586,"url":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/the-state-of-data-centers-and-co-location-in-indianapolis\/","url_meta":{"origin":2316,"position":2},"title":"The state of Data Centers and Co-Location in Indianapolis","author":"j2sw","date":"June 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We like to refer to Indianapolis, Indiana as an \u201cNFL \u00a0City\u201d when explaining the connectivity and peering landscape.\u00a0 It is not a large network presence like Chicago or Ashburn but has enough networks to make it a place for great interconnects. At the heart of Indianapolis is the Indy Telcom\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Data Center"","block_context":{"text":"Data Center","link":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/category\/data-center\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/ethernet.jpeg?fit=1200%2C775&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/ethernet.jpeg?fit=1200%2C775&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/ethernet.jpeg?fit=1200%2C775&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/ethernet.jpeg?fit=1200%2C775&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":73,"url":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/mtin-announces-ipv6-peering-in-indianapolis-indiana\/","url_meta":{"origin":2316,"position":3},"title":"MTIN announces IPv6 peering in Indianapolis, Indiana","author":"j2sw","date":"July 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"MTIN is happy to announce free ipV6 peering in Indianapolis. \u00a0If you are a provider with a presence at 733 Henry Street Indianapolis, Indiana we will peer on the IPv6 backbone with you for free. \u00a0All you have to do is make it to us via a cross connect. \u00a0If\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Networking"","block_context":{"text":"Networking","link":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/category\/networking\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":351,"url":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/tale-from-the-data-center\/","url_meta":{"origin":2316,"position":4},"title":"Tale from the Data Center","author":"j2sw","date":"September 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"So, I have an very heartwarming story today related to the WISP industry. So this started back in March.\u00a0 A client was having issues with a circuit.\u00a0 The transport provider had so many fails in troubleshooting the issue from the start. First, the tech from the transport company did not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/category\/news-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2173,"url":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/mtin-announces-updated-indianapolis-bandwidth-pricing\/","url_meta":{"origin":2316,"position":5},"title":"MTIN announces updated Indianapolis bandwidth pricing","author":"j2sw","date":"March 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"MTIN\u00a0would like to announce updated bandwidth pricing for connectivity at the following locations in Indianapolis Indiana 733 West Henry Street 401 North Shadeland 701 West Henry * 731 West Henry* Single Carrier Bandwidth as low as $.17 per meg Blended BGP Multi-carrier\u00a0blend + CDNS + IX routes As low as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/category\/news-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/bandwidth-600x400.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2316"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2316"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2317,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2316\/revisions\/2317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n-Where your physical space is in the facility
\n-What cabinet or rack the connection is to land in
\n-What patch panel to go in, If you are not using patch panels you really should
\n<\/em>-The port designation to plug into on the patch panel
\n-The type of media (single mode, Ethernet, etc.)
\n-If fiber what ends your side should be (LC,SC,etc)
\n-Any other pertinent instructions.<\/p>\n