Bring Your Own ASN with IP Prefix to Cherry Servers

Cherry Servers understands that flexibility and control over your server and its operations is crucial to smooth operations. That’s why we empower our clients to integrate their own autonomous system Number (ASN) with IP prefixes to Cherry Server deployments.

We permit you to bring IP subnets ranging from /24 (256 IP addresses) to /20 (4,096 IP addresses) for use with your servers at Cherry Servers, giving you the flexibility to manage your own IP addressing and routing requirements.

Customers may bring up to six prefixes per request, so we strongly recommend aggregating your IP space whenever possible by using larger prefix sizes, such as /23, /22, /21, or /20, rather than multiple smaller subnets. If your deployment requires more than six prefixes, please contact Cherry Servers support to discuss the available options.

#Fees

To enable our network administrators to perform manual verification and configuration, each BYOIP request submitted to Cherry Servers requires a one-time setup fee of €200/ $229. The process may take up to 24 hours for worldwide ISPs to recognize the newly added IP range.

The fee is charged on a per request basis, not per subnet. Therefore, we recommend including all subnets you may require in a single request to avoid additional setup fees.

Custom requests regarding setup process may add additional fees according to the complexity of the request, as determined by Cherry Servers engineers. This includes changing configured subnets, or asking for a custom routing solution.

#Anycast Announcements

Cherry Servers allows Anycast deployments to be used in conjunction with our servers, however we cannot guarantee that traffic will always follow your desired routing path or produce the expected results. If you intend to announce your subnet from multiple locations (Anycast) or announce the same subnet from a different ASN (commonly referred to as a Multi-Origin AS announcement), there are several important considerations.

Anycast routing can be unpredictable because Internet routing decisions are made independently by upstream networks and transit providers.

A common example of this is when a customer announces the same ASN from multiple locations and attempts to communicate between those locations using IP addresses belonging to that ASN. This is because Many BGP implementations reject routes that contain the same ASN multiple times within the AS path to prevent routing loops.

For example: AS65001 → AS65010 → AS65030 → AS65001

In this case, AS65001 appears at both the beginning and end of the AS path. Some routers may interpret this as an AS-path loop and reject the route.

Customers planning Anycast or Multi-Origin ASN deployments should ensure they fully understand the routing implications and limitations associated with these configurations.

#Custom Routing Requirements

Cherry Servers will announce your subnets to the Internet and make the IP addresses routable to your servers using one of the supported configuration methods, such as Static Route or Gateway mode.

If you experience routing issues, please contact our technical support team and provide detailed diagnostic information, including:

• Source and destination IP addresses,
• Ping results,
• Traceroute results from both sides,
• MTR reports from both sides,
• A clear description of the observed behavior.

Our network administrators will review the provided information and investigate whether improvements can be made within the Cherry Servers network. If our investigation determines that no improvement can be made from the Cherry Servers network side, Cherry Servers cannot guarantee resolution of routing behavior caused by external networks, transit providers, Internet routing policies, or third-party infrastructure.

By proceeding with the BYOIP process, the customer acknowledges and accepts these limitations.

For larger deployments involving multiple servers, we strongly recommend testing with a small subset of servers before expanding to production-scale deployment. This allows you to validate routing behavior in advance and ensure that the solution meets your requirements.

#Processing Time

Please be aware that the BYOIP provisioning process can take several business days to complete, depending on the complexity of the request and the information provided.

While our network administrators monitor and maintain the Cherry Servers network infrastructure 24/7 to ensure service availability and network quality, customer service requests such as those regarding BYOIP provisioning, configuration changes, and similar administrative tasks are only processed during Lithuania's regular business hours of 08:00 - 17:00 EET.

Please be aware that communications sent outside these hours may not be reviewed until the following business day.

For example:

• Requests submitted near the end of the business day may not be reviewed until the following business day;
• Requests submitted close to or after business hours on Friday will generally begin to be processed on the next business day, typically Monday.

#Gateway Subnet Limitations

If you plan to use your BYOIP allocation as a gateway subnet for virtual machines, there are several important limitations to consider.

By default, BYOIP ranges are configured using the Static Route method. This provides maximum flexibility and is suitable when the subnet will be used directly on the host server. However, when the subnet is intended for use by virtual machines, network segmentation within the Cherry Servers data center may introduce limitations.

Servers located in different network segments may not be able to participate in the same Layer 2 broadcast domain (VLAN) required for Gateway-mode operation. As a result, virtual machines hosted on different network segments may be unable to share the same gateway subnet.

To mitigate these limitations, you may consider the following options:

• Ask your sales representative to place all required servers within the same network segment whenever possible;
• Request that your BYOIP allocation be divided into smaller subnet blocks (for example, four /26 subnets) that can be assigned across different network segments.

While the servers may not share the same broadcast domain (VLAN), this approach allows IP addresses from your BYOIP allocation to be distributed across multiple network segments while maintaining address availability where needed.

#Instructions to Bring Your ASN with IP Prefix to Cherry Servers

To get started with bringing your own IP range to Cherry Servers, there are a number of prerequisites that must first be completed:

• Import and export remarks must be added to your ASN object;
• IP prefixes must have valid ROA records to guarantee route authenticity and prevent prefix highjacking or misconfiguration issues. LOA documentation is also recommended;
• Ensure that your IP prefixes are not blocked in public IP databases for suspected botnets or spamming. Blocked prefixes may be filtered by ISPs, leading to reachability problems.

Please contact our dedicated support engineer team to inform them that you intend to bring your own ASN and IP range, so they can assist you in expediently completing the process.

#1. Select a Cherry Servers Location

Choose the Cherry Servers data center you would like to use your ASN and IP prefixes with, based on where your servers are deployed. You will need this to update your ASN routing as each Cherry Servers data center operates under a distinct ASN. Cherry Servers region ASN are listed in the table below.

#2. Update Your ASN Object

To establish routing with Cherry Servers, update your ASN object through the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) or Internet Routing Registry (IRR) where your ASN is registered. Update your import/export remarks with the Cherry Servers ASN selected in the previous step.

An example using Cherry Servers Lithuania region ASN is shown below. Simply replace “AS16125” with the Cherry Servers ASN of your selected region.

import:         from AS16125 accept ANY

export:         to AS16125 announce <your ASN>

#3. Submit Your ASN and IP Prefix for Validation

Cherry Servers will need to verify the validity of your ASN and IP prefix to ensure compliance with security policies and network integrity. Please provide our dedicated support engineer team with the following information:

• Your ASN,
• The IP prefixes you wish to bring,
• ROA records.

We further recommend that you provide LOA documentation.

Our verification process may take up to 24 hours to complete.

#4. Configure BGP on Your Cherry Servers Project.

After validation has been completed, your ASN will be assigned to your Cherry Servers project. You will then be able to configure local BGP using your ASN and IP address range.

For information on how to perform initial local BGP setup, please visit our dedicated Local BGP Service Guide.

In order to announce the IP prefix, your server must establish a BGP session with Cherry Servers. Configuration depends on your server’s OS and routing software. Most Linux server configurations use BIRD, while Windows-based systems may require a third party BGP client.

To add your custom IP prefix using BIRD v1.6, add the following BGP configuration, where < your prefix > is replaced with your IP prefix, and "< your server main IP >" is replaced with the primary IP assigned to your server.

protocol static stat_my_pfx {
        table master;
        route <your prefix> via <your server main IP>;
 }

#5. Wait for Global Propagation

After submitting information to our engineer support team, please allow up to 24 hours for your IP range to become available. ISPs worldwide may take up to 24 hours to recognize the new subnet.

You can monitor the propagation of your announced prefix using tools such as:

• Hurricane Electric's BGP Toolkit – Provides visibility into your BGP routes across the internet;
• RIPEstat – Analyzes routing and ASN details for your prefix;

Once complete, your IP prefix will be fully operational and available for use under the server announcing it.

If you have any further questions, issues, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to email our support team at: support@cherryservers.com