Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that there would be two data plans for ExpressRoute service connections. In addition to metered plans, unlimited data plans are now available – enabling clients to select a plan based on their usage and their needs.
Microsoft ExpressRoute is a private network connection from your business sites directly into Microsoft’s Cloud Services, including Azure Public Cloud and Office365. This not only eliminates the need for users to traverse the internet, it also:
- Improves privacy and reliability to Microsoft Cloud Services;
- Reduces bandwidth usage (and associated fees);
- Simplifies charging mechanisms of Microsoft Cloud Services; and
- Provides a network performance guarantee over internet-based VPNs.
The new unlimited data plan allows you to transfer an unlimited amount of data for a fixed monthly charge, and the metered plan is available for a small monthly connection fee with pay-as-you-go charges.
ExpressRoute Premium is an add-on over the unlimited and metered data plans. It provides:
- Increased route limits for public and private peering from 4,000 routes to 10,000 routes.
- Global connectivity for services. An ExpressRoute circuit created in any region (excluding China and government cloud) will have access to resources across any other region in the world. For example, a virtual network created in West Europe can be accessed through an ExpressRoute circuit provisioned in Sydney.
- Increased number of VNet links per ExpressRoute circuit from 10 to a larger limit (depending on the bandwidth of the circuit).
As one of the first service providers in Australia to offer ExpressRoute connections directly into the Microsoft Cloud Services network, blueAPACHE can deliver both unlimited and metered plans, as well as the ExpressRoute Premium add-on.
For more information on Microsoft ExpressRoute, click here. To better understand how your business will benefit from improved security, increased productivity, simplified billing and reduced network costs with ExpressRoute from blueAPACHE, contact our Network team.