About ExpressRoute Direct

ExpressRoute Direct gives you the ability to connect directly into the Azure global network at peering locations strategically distributed around the China. ExpressRoute Direct provides dual 100-Gbps or 10-Gbps connectivity, that supports Active/Active connectivity at scale. You can work with any service provider to set up ExpressRoute Direct.

Key features that ExpressRoute Direct provides include, but not limited to:

• Large data ingestion into services like Azure Storage and Azure Cosmos DB.
• Physical isolation for industries that regulates and require dedicated or isolated connectivity such as banks, government, and retail companies.
• Granular control of circuit distribution based on business unit.

Onboard to ExpressRoute Direct

Before you can set up ExpressRoute Direct, you must first enroll your subscription. Run the following commands using Azure PowerShell:

1. Sign in to Azure and select the subscription you wish to enroll.

   Connect-AzAccount -Environment AzureChinaCloud 
   
   Select-AzSubscription -Subscription "<SubscriptionID or SubscriptionName>"
   

2. Register your subscription to AllowExpressRoutePorts using the following command:

   Register-AzProviderFeature -FeatureName AllowExpressRoutePorts -ProviderNamespace Microsoft.Network
   

Once enrolled, verify that Microsoft.Network resource provider is registered to your subscription. Registering a resource provider configures your subscription to work with the resource provider.

1. Access your subscription settings as described in Azure resource providers and types.

2. In your subscription, for Resource Providers, verify Microsoft.Network provider shows a Registered status. If the Microsoft.Network resource provider isn't present in the list of registered providers, add it.

When you start using ExpressRoute Direct and notice that there aren't any available ports for your chosen peering location, submit a support request to request for more inventory.

ExpressRoute using a service provider and ExpressRoute Direct

ExpressRoute using a service provider	ExpressRoute Direct
Uses a service provider to enable fast onboarding and connectivity into existing infrastructure	Requires 100-Gbps or 10-Gbps infrastructure and full management of all layers
Integrates with hundreds of providers including Ethernet and MPLS	Direct and Dedicated capacity for regulated industries and large data ingestion
Circuits SKUs ranging from 50 Mbps to 10 Gbps	Customer may select a combination of the following circuit SKUs on 100-Gbps ExpressRoute Direct: 5 Gbps 10 Gbps 40 Gbps 100 Gbps Customer may select a combination of the following circuit SKUs on 10-Gbps ExpressRoute Direct: 1 Gbps 2 Gbps 5 Gbps 10 Gbps
Optimized for a single tenant	Optimized for single tenant with multiple business units and multiple work environments

ExpressRoute Direct circuits

Azure ExpressRoute allows you to extend your on-premises network into the Azure cloud over a private connection made possible through a connectivity provider. With ExpressRoute, you can establish connections to Microsoft cloud services, such as Azure.

Each peering location has access to the Azure global network and can access any region in a geopolitical zone by default. You can access any global regions when you set up a premium circuit.

The functionality in most scenarios is equivalent to circuits that use an ExpressRoute service provider to operate. To support further granularity and new capabilities offered using ExpressRoute Direct, there are certain key capabilities that exist only with ExpressRoute Direct circuits.

Circuit SKUs

ExpressRoute Direct supports large data ingestion scenarios into services such as Azure storage. ExpressRoute circuits with 100-Gbps ExpressRoute Direct also support 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps circuit bandwidth. The physical port pairs are 100 Gbps or 10 Gbps only and can have multiple virtual circuits.

Circuit sizes

100-Gbps ExpressRoute Direct	10-Gbps ExpressRoute Direct
Subscribed Bandwidth: 200 Gbps	Subscribed Bandwidth: 20 Gbps
5 Gbps 10 Gbps 40 Gbps 100 Gbps	1 Gbps 2 Gbps 5 Gbps 10 Gbps

Technical Requirements

• Microsoft Enterprise Edge Router (MSEE) Interfaces:

  • Dual 10 Gigabit or 100-Gigabit Ethernet ports only across router pair
  • Single Mode LR Fiber connectivity
    • MSEE supports QSFP-100G-LR-4 for 100Gbps (Use compatible optics on your devices)
  • IPv4 and IPv6
  • IP MTU 1500 bytes

• Switch/Router Layer 2/Layer three Connectivity:

  • Must support 1 802.1Q (Dot1Q) tag or two Tag 802.1Q (QinQ) tag encapsulation
  • Ethertype = 0x8100
  • Must add the outer VLAN tag (STAG) based on the VLAN ID specified by Azure - applicable only on QinQ
  • Must support multiple BGP sessions (VLANs) per port and device
  • IPv4 and IPv6 connectivity. For IPv6 no extra subinterface will be created. IPv6 address will be added to existing subinterface.
  • Optional: Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) support, which is configured by default on all Private Peerings on ExpressRoute circuits

VLAN Tagging

ExpressRoute Direct supports both QinQ and Dot1Q VLAN tagging.

• QinQ VLAN Tagging allows for isolated routing domains on a per ExpressRoute circuit basis. Azure dynamically gives an S-Tag at circuit creation and can't be changed. Each peering on the circuit (Private and Microsoft) will use a unique C-Tag as the VLAN. The C-Tag isn't required to be unique across circuits on the ExpressRoute Direct ports.

• Dot1Q VLAN Tagging allows for a single tagged VLAN on a per ExpressRoute Direct port pair basis. A C-Tag used on a peering must be unique across all circuits and peerings on the ExpressRoute Direct port pair.

Workflows

Set up ExpressRoute Direct

Delete ExpressRoute Direct

SLA

ExpressRoute Direct provides the same enterprise-grade SLA with Active/Active redundant connections into the Azure Global Network. ExpressRoute infrastructure is redundant and connectivity into the Azure Global Network is redundant and diverse and scales correctly with customer requirements. For more information, see ExpressRoute SLA.

Pricing

For details on how ExpressRoute Direct is billed, see ExpressRoute FAQ. For pricing details, see ExpressRoute pricing.

Next steps

• Learn how to configure ExpressRoute Direct.