In the last general availability Microsoft has finally launched the Multi-Geo option for Exchange online.

So, what that means for us and our customers using Exchange online?

If we talk about Multi-Geo, that means we have a single Office 365 Tenant but our Company has Offices all around the world. As example, in the Office Los Angeles there are 2500 Users with an Exchange online Mailbox, in Tokyo another 1200 User and in the Headquarter in Zurich we have 4000 Users, all using Exchange online with from the Office 365 Tenant. So, in total our company has 7700 Mailboxes running by Exchange online. The Tenant was created in Switzerland, that means the Mailboxes are in some European Microsoft Datacentre. (For our case, soon will it will be possible to use a Microsoft Datacentre in Switzerland, more about that you can read HERE.)

To prevent connection latency Microsoft has now launched Multi-Geo. When Multi-Geo is enabled, customers can select the location of Exchange online mailbox content on a per-user basis.

The initial tenant location is determined based on the billing address. If the new feature Multi-Geo is enabled, we are able to place mailboxes in additional locations (satellite).

How to operate with the new feature? Well, there are a few ways how we can do that:

  • We can create new Mailboxes directly in a satellite location.
  • By onboarding/migrating on-premises Mailboxes to our Office 365 tenant directly into a satellite.
  • Last but not least, of course simply by moving an existing Mailbox into a branch location.

Multi-Geo locations are (at the moment) available in the following Countries and Regions:

  • European Union
  • Japan
  • Korea
  • India
  • United Kingdom
  • Asia Pacific
  • Canada
  • United States
  • Australia

 

Image courtesy of Microsoft

 

However, now we know what Multi-Geo is, how we can use it, and also where it is available. Let us talk now about prerequisite configuration…

Before we can start using Multi-Geo capabilities in Exchange online, Microsoft needs to configure our Exchange online tenant for Multi-Geo support. This one-time configuration process is triggered when we order Multi-Geo licenses. This normally takes less than 30 days to be completed.

Note: You need to have at least 5,000 eligible Office 365 subscriptions (like E3 or E5) before Microsoft will enable your tenant for multi-geo. The table stake for multi-geo is a minimum of $10,000 before you negotiate with your friendly Microsoft salesperson.

 

Administration Changes for Multi-Geo

Let us have also a short view about the admin portal. After enabling Multi-Geo, there are no changes to location and Microsoft never allow move user data automatically between the regions. We need to enable the region manually for our tenant that allows the users data to reside in and each user account is configure with the preferred data location (PDL), if there is no preferred data location specified for user account than default to the geo where we first created the tenant.

Image courtesy of Microsoft

Do you need some more information about this theme? Microsoft has created a short Video about Multi-Geo. Then video you can see below:

 

Future information direct form Microsoft you also can find by following the link HERE.