Active Geo-Replication enables continuous copy of your Premium database across geographic regions worldwide or within the same region. This is akin to setting up an availability group for SQL Server 2012 and above. For this you will need the following:

At least two Azure SQL Database Servers will available Premium database quota. The quota available is visible under the SERVERS tab in the Azure Management Portal for SQL Databases. You can alternatively retrieve the available quota by querying the server_quotas view (also in PREVIEW).
One or more Azure SQL Database configured on the Premium tier.

When downgrading from a Premium service tier, you must first terminate all Active-Geo Replication relationships. You can follow the steps described in the Terminate a Continuous Copy Relationship topic to stop the replication process between the primary and the active secondary databases.

The performance level of the secondary replica should be the same or higher than the primary replica.

Setting it up

In screenshot 1, you will see that the GEO-REPLICATION tab shown for the database optimus (Yes, another transformer character!) This will be available only if you have signed up for the PREVIEW feature for the new database tiers offered for Azure SQL Database. And if you have a Premium database configured, then you can setup a replica using the ADD REPLICA button which will be available at the bottom of the page.

On clicking the ADD REPLICA button, you will be provided with an ADD ACTIVE GEO-REPLICA screen. This allows you to pick another target server which will host the replica copy of your Azure SQL Database. See Screenshot 2.

Select the target server where you want your active geo-replica created. Only servers enabled for geo-replication in the same subscription as the source with available Premium database quota are shown. Additionally, only servers enabled for the current reservation size of the source database are shown. Replicas are created with the same database name, edition, maximum size, and reservation size as the source.

In the above screenshot, you can see that I have asked Azure to create a replica of optimus in the North Central US region and I have the primary copy hosted in the South Central US region. Once you proceed with your selection, you will be asked to accept terms and conditions as Premium database hosting attracts a cost!

Once the replication is configured, the Geo Replication tab will show you the status and the configured replicas as shown in Screenshot 3.