When you’re planning a global cloud deployment, one of the first questions you need to answer is: where should I put my stuff? Alibaba Cloud has built one of the most extensive global infrastructures I’ve seen, with a presence that spans from China to Europe to the Americas. Let me walk you through what’s available and how to think about using it effectively.

Where Alibaba Cloud Actually Is

Alibaba Cloud isn’t just a Chinese cloud provider anymore—they’ve expanded massively. Here’s the breakdown:

China gets the most attention (and rightfully so, since that’s where Alibaba started):

• Hangzhou (cn-hangzhou) is their flagship region—most services launch here first
• Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Qingdao, Zhangjiakou, Hohhot, Chengdu, and Urumqi round out their China presence

But they also have serious international coverage:

• Asia Pacific: Singapore, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Mumbai, Tokyo, Seoul
• Americas: Virginia and Silicon Valley in the US
• Europe: London and Frankfurt
• Middle East: Dubai

What impresses me is how they’ve thought about coverage. They didn’t just pick random cities—they chose locations that serve major markets and provide good network connectivity.

What Makes Their Infrastructure Special

Data Centers Built to Last

These aren’t your typical data centers. Alibaba Cloud has invested in Tier III+ facilities with redundant everything—power, cooling, networking. What’s really cool is their commitment to green energy and advanced cooling systems. In a world where data centers are massive energy consumers, this matters.

Network That Actually Works Globally

The backbone network connecting all these regions is impressive—high-speed fiber with optimized BGP routing. They have 2800+ CDN edge nodes worldwide, which means your content gets served quickly no matter where your users are.

Availability Zones Done Right

Each region has multiple availability zones with completely independent infrastructure. This isn’t just marketing—power, cooling, and networking are all separate. I’ve seen teams build truly resilient systems using this multi-AZ approach.

Services That Work Across Regions

ECS - Your Virtual Machines

Alibaba Cloud’s Elastic Compute Service is available everywhere, with the same instance types and pricing models. Auto-scaling works across regions, and integration with other services is seamless.

OSS - Global Object Storage

Object Storage Service has cross-region replication built-in, which is huge for disaster recovery. You can set up lifecycle policies to automatically move data between storage classes, and CDN integration makes global content delivery straightforward.

CDN - Content Delivery That Scales

With 2800+ edge nodes, their CDN handles both static and dynamic content acceleration. Video streaming optimization and built-in DDoS protection make it a complete package.

Connecting It All Together

Express Connect - For Serious Bandwidth

If you need dedicated, private connectivity, Express Connect gives you direct connections with BGP routing. Lower latency and higher bandwidth than internet connections—perfect for hybrid cloud scenarios.

Cloud Enterprise Network (CEN) - The Glue

CEN is Alibaba Cloud’s global network management service. It lets you connect VPCs across regions with centralized management. If you’re running a multi-region architecture, CEN makes it manageable.

VPN Gateway - When You Need Security

For secure connections without the complexity of dedicated circuits, VPN Gateway provides IPsec tunnels with high availability options.

Compliance and Trust

Alibaba Cloud takes certifications seriously. They have ISO 27001, SOC reports, PCI DSS, and GDPR compliance—all important if you’re in regulated industries. The physical security and data residency controls give enterprises confidence.

Smart Ways to Use Global Infrastructure

1. Think About Your Users First - Put your applications close to where your customers are. If you have users in Asia, Europe, and the US, consider multi-region deployments.

2. Build for Resilience - Use multiple availability zones within regions and cross-region replication for disaster recovery. I’ve seen too many outages from single-region architectures.

3. Leverage the CDN - Don’t serve everything from your application servers. Use CDN for static content, images, videos—anything that can be cached.

4. Optimize Network Paths - Use Express Connect or CEN for critical connections. The latency difference between internet and dedicated connections can be significant.

5. Monitor Everything - Track latency metrics across regions. What works in development might not work in production with real users.

6. Respect Data Regulations - Different countries have different data residency requirements. Make sure you understand and comply with local laws.

Conclusion

Alibaba Cloud’s global infrastructure gives you real choices for where to run your applications. Whether you’re a Chinese company expanding internationally or a global enterprise looking for Asian presence, they have the coverage and capabilities you need.

The key is understanding your requirements—user locations, compliance needs, performance requirements—and designing your architecture accordingly. With the right approach, you can build applications that feel local to users worldwide while maintaining the reliability and security enterprises demand.