Service Upgrade

Snapshot service upgrade and addition of a new billable item on December 30, 2020

Dear Alibaba Cloud users,

The Alibaba Cloud snapshot service will be upgraded on December 30, 2020.During this upgrade, the local snapshot feature will be upgraded to the instant access feature. Furthermore, the number of requests made to enable the instant access feature is added as a billable item. The new feature and billable item take effect on December 30, 2020. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by these changes. Submit a ticket or call 95187 if you encounter any problems.
Changes

After the snapshot service is upgraded, the local snapshot feature is upgraded to the instant access feature, and local snapshots are no longer provided as a separate category of snapshots. You can choose whether to enable instant access when you create snapshots for enhanced SSDs (ESSDs). Normal napshots with instant access enabled have the same capabilities as local snapshots.

The number of requests made to enable instant access is added as a billable item. After the upgrade, you are charged for the use of instant access based on the number of times that you enable this feature. For example, if you enable instant access when you create a snapshot, you are charged for this one request. You are not charged for disabling instant access.

Upgrade rules for existing users:

Description:

The following rules apply only to users who have used the local snapshot feature before December 30, 2020.

Changes to API operations:

1.New parameters added to relevant API operations: The InstantAccess and InstantAccessRetentionDays parameters are added to the CreateSnapshot, DescribeSnapshots, and DescribeSnapshotLinks operations. The DisableInstantAccess parameter is added as a request parameter to the ModifySnapShotAttribute operation.

2.Availability of original parameters in relevant API operations: For example, you can continue to use the Category parameter of the CreateSnapshot operation or use the new parameters. We recommend that you use the API operations of the latest version.

Changes to the ECS console:

1.Existing local snapshots: The local snapshots created by calling API operations, by using SDKs, or by using the ECS console before the upgrade continue to be available in the ECS console and can be used to create or roll back disks after the upgrade.

2.New local snapshots: You cannot create local snapshots in the ECS console after the upgrade. You can enable instant access only when you are creating normal snapshots.

Upgrade rules for new users:

Description:

The following rules apply only to users who have never used the local snapshot feature before December 30, 2020.

Rules for API operations:

You cannot use the original parameters in relevant API operations. You can use only the new parameters.

Effective time of the upgraded snapshot service and new billable item:

December 30, 2020