Manage the configuration and operations for your globally distributed sites.
1. Feature overview
The Global Distributed Sites feature is for multinational enterprises or organizations with offices in multiple locations. It lets administrators centrally manage mail architectures across different geographic regions to ensure data residency, manage compliance, and optimize access speeds for global users.
Key capabilities include:
Global visibility: Monitor the real-time status of all regional sites.
Flexible scheduling: Migrate member accounts between sites in different regions (site affiliation change).
2. Site overview
To access this feature, navigate to Organization and Users > Global Distributed Sites in the Alibaba Mail Admin Console.
On this page, you can view the activation status of all configured sites. By default, the system supports the following core site types:
Site name | Site code | Description |
China Site |
| Standard service node for the Chinese mainland. |
China (Hong Kong) |
| Standard service node for the China (Hong Kong) region. |
Xinchuang Site |
| A dedicated node that meets the Xinchuang (Information Technology Application Innovation) compliance requirements in the Chinese mainland. |
Singapore Site |
| Service center for Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. |
US Site |
| Service center for North America. |
Germany Site |
| Service center for Europe. |
Field descriptions:
Site name: The display name of the site.
Site type: The type of site (for example, Alibaba Mail).
Site status: The current status of the site (for example, Enabled).
You can only view cross-site data. To edit data, you must switch to the corresponding site in the Admin Console.
3. Site migration
Administrators can migrate a user's mailbox from one site to another to accommodate employee relocations or meet data compliance requirements.
3.1 Create a change task
Go to the Global Distributed Sites page.
Click the Create change task button.
In the configuration window, do the following:
Step 1: Select account
In the Account to be changed field, enter the member's name or email address.
You can also select one or more members from the Add from contacts list on the right.
Step 2: Select target site
From the Target site drop-down menu, select the destination site.
Available sites:
China Site (cn)
China (Hong Kong) (cn-hk)
Xinchuang Site (cn-xc)
Singapore Site (sg)
US Site (us)
Germany Site (de)
Note: Ensure the target site is in the "Normal" state and complies with your organization's data compliance policies.
Confirm the details and click OK to submit the task.
3.2 View and manage change tasks
After you submit a task, you can track its progress in real time in the task list below.
Field descriptions:
Field | Description |
User | The user's email address. |
Target site | The name of the target site. |
Operator | The administrator account that initiated the change task. |
Status | The current status of the task (for example, operation successful). |
Creation time | The timestamp when the task was initiated. |
Progress | The completion percentage of the data migration. |
Example record:
User | Target site | Operator | Status | Creation time | Progress |
user@example.com | Xinchuang Site | admin_zhang | operation successful | 2026-04-13 13:59:17 | 100% |
4. FAQ
Q1: Can users send and receive emails normally during a site change?
A: Users can typically log in and use their mailboxes without interruption during the data migration process. However, there might be a brief synchronization delay when the switch completes. We recommend performing this operation during off-peak business hours.
Q2: What is the difference between the Xinchuang Site and other sites?
A: The Xinchuang Site (cn-xc) is specifically designed to meet the requirements of China's Information Technology Application Innovation (Xinchuang) industry. It is suitable for government agencies or enterprises with strict compliance requirements for sovereign and controllable hardware and software.
5. Notes
Compliance review: Before you migrate data across countries (for example, from China to the US or Germany), ensure compliance with applicable data privacy laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and China's Personal Information Protection Law.