What is a VSlice?
VSlices are used to segregate your estate of devices into logical networks. Each VSlice is isolated from all others and so serves as a security boundary which you can control. If you are familiar with public cloud environments, this is similar to a VPC (AWS) or a VNet (Azure). It is a slice through the network which allows the end user to configure, to meet the needs of their specific application/use case.
As a Stacuity customer, you can create as many VSlices as you need for your use cases. For example you might create a VSlice for each site, for each project, team or environment – whatever makes sense for your application. Users can then modify or delete them as required.
Is a VSlice the same as a private APN? No – It’s better.
There are some similarities between a private APN and a VSlice, however VSlices are much more practical and efficient. Everything that can be achieved with a private APN can be achieved with a VSlice, but a lot more too.
Creating and managing a private APN is complex – it needs to be configured by each mobile operator, and then also configured on each device. This takes time, is technically complex and as a result is often expensive. It is therefore only practical to have a small number of private APNs – to plan well in advance – and even then, it is only feasible for larger customers with broad requirements which rarely change.
VSlices, on the other hand, are quick and easy to create, and moving devices between VSlices does not require a configuration change on each device. The mapping of a device to a VSlice is managed within the network, it does not require special SIM designs, provisioning processes, or manual configuration.
A private APN typically provides a connection to a single network, with either no inherent security or only very basic controls. A VSlice, in conjunction with a Routing Policy, allows different traffic to be routed to different networks – and with powerful, fine-grained control over security.
How does a VSlice work?
VSlices are straight forward to create within the Stacuity portal, by simply providing a name and a moniker. The next step beyond VSlice is creating endpoint groups.
A VSlice is created for a particular site, such as a camp site, you can then create endpoint groups for each type of device that is going to be within that site. For example, you may create the following endpoint groups;
- One for EPOS machines
- One for ticket machines
- One for environment monitors
As you set up each endgroup, users are able to select policies for each individual endgroup, which configures how the endpoints will behave. This includes regional policy, operator policy, routing policy and event maps.
These policies are what unlocks unique and advanced network capabilities.
Stacuity VSlice – Powerful Capabilities
Customer definable routing policies: Complete setup and control of data flow between your devices, the internet and your enterprise network.
Setup your mobile data environment without needing to worry about the telco side of APN configurations.
Have multiple overlapping address ranges for your customers with the same APN setup on device.
Connect to specific servers or services (remote systems) using customer definable routing targets (such as VPN, Wireguard, Internet Breakout or various cloud direct connects).
Route traffic to specific data regions to comply with local regulations.
Complete control of traffic routing to your chosen destinations with the ability to avoid traffic traversing the public internet completely.
Mirror and extend your current security and access policies to groups or individual SIMs in remote devices – often a security weak-point.
