This topic describes the billing items and billing methods of a General-purpose NAS file system. This topic also provides several billing examples.

Billing items

Billing item Description
Usage The maximum used storage space of the file system. Fees are calculated based on the maximum used storage space within each hour.
  • The used storage space is the total size of all files in a file system, excluding the size of directories. The minimum billing size of a file is 4 KB. If the size of a file is less than 4 KB, the billing size of the file is rounded up to 4 KB. For example, if the size of a file is 3 KB, the size of the file is counted as 4 KB.
  • The fees that are incurred within the last hour are calculated in the current hour. For example, if the current time is 9:30, the current hourly bill consists of the fees that are incurred from 8:00 to 9:00. If you use a NAS file system for less than one hour, you are still billed for the usage time of one hour. Due to latency, the bill that you can view at 9:30 is generated for the hour from 7:00 to 8:00.
  • You can log on to the NAS console and view the usage of storage space in the Basic Information section. The usage is updated every one hour. Due to latency, the usage displayed in the console may be different from the actual usage within the last hour.
  • File holes occupy storage space in NAS. Therefore, you are billed for the file holes in your NAS file system. A file hole consists of bytes that are not written to a file. These bytes are null characters. A file hole can be created by using the truncate, Iseek, or fallocate command.

Billing methods

  • Pay-as-you-go
    Formula: Space usage fee = Maximum usage of a NAS file system per hour × Unit price per hour
    Note
    • General-purpose NAS includes two types of file systems: Capacity NAS and Performance NAS. Their unit prices are different.
    • The unit of the space usage fee in the pricing of NAS is USD/GB/month. In the pay-as-you-go billing method, the fees are equal to the used storage space multiplied by the unit price per hour. You must convert the unit USD/GB/month to USD/GB/hour when you calculate the fee for the used storage space. For example, if the unit price of the Capacity NAS space usage in the China (Hangzhou) region is 0.06 USD/GB/month, the unit price of the space usage per hour is 0.000083 USD/GB/hour. The formula is: Unit price of space usage per hour= Unit price / (30 days × 24 hours). For more information, see Apsara File Storage NAS pricing.
  • Storage package
    You can purchase a storage package to deduct the service fees of General-purpose NAS. You can reserve resources and reduce costs by using storage packages. The following rules apply when you use a storage package:
    • A storage package does not limit the storage capacity of a file system. The maximum storage capacity of a Capacity NAS instance is 1 PB. The maximum storage capacity of a Performance NAS instance is 10 PB.
      Note For example, you purchase a 100 GB storage package for the Performance NAS file system named A. During a billing cycle, the used storage space of file system A is 180 GB. The fee of 100 GB is deducted by the storage package, and the fee of the remaining 80 GB is calculated based on the pay-as-you-go billing method.
    • Storage packages and General-purpose NAS have the following relationships:
      • A General-purpose NAS file system can be attached to only one storage package at a time. When you delete a General-purpose NAS file system, the attached storage package is detached. You can attach the detached storage package to another General-purpose NAS file system. However, the file system must belong to the same type and reside in the same region as the file system that you delete.
      • A storage package is related to the storage type of a file system. For example, if you delete a Capacity NAS file system to which a storage package is attached, the detached storage package cannot be attached to a Performance NAS file system. If you delete a Performance NAS file system to which a storage package is attached, the detached storage package cannot be attached to a Capacity NAS file system.
      • A storage package is unrelated to the protocol type that is used by a file system. For example, if you delete a file system to which a storage package is attached and the file system uses the Network File System (NFS) protocol, the detached package can be attached to a file system that uses the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol.
    • When a storage package expires or the used space exceeds the capacity of the storage package, you are charged based on the pay-as-you-go billing method. You are charged for the data stored in your NAS file systems. No fee is incurred when the space usage is 0 GB. If you no longer need NAS, we recommend that you delete your file systems or delete all your data from NAS.
    • You can manually renew a storage package within the validity period of the storage package. You can also enable the auto-renewal feature. For more information, see Renew a storage package. You can upgrade a storage package based on your business requirements. For more information, see Upgrade a storage package.

Examples

Example 1: In this example, Mr. Wang has created a Capacity NAS file system in the China (Hangzhou) region. The average space usage per hour in July of 2020 is 1,000 GB. The following table lists the monthly fees that were inccurred by the file system based on the pay-as-you-go and storage package billing methods.
Billing method Fee
Pay-as-you-go Space usage fee = 1,000 GB × 0.06 USD/GB/month = USD 60
Storage package (500 GB, 1 month) Space usage fee = USD 23 + (1000 GB - 500 GB) × 0.06 USD/GB/month = USD 53

where, USD 23 is the fee for the storage package (500 GB, 1 month).
Storage package (1 TB, 1 month) Space usage fee = USD 48

where, USD 48 is the fee for the storage package (1 TB, 1 month).
Example 2: In this example, Mr. Zhang has created a Performance NAS file system in the China (Hangzhou) region. The average space usage per hour in July of 2020 is 1,000 GB. The following table lists the monthly fees that were inccurred by the file system based on the pay-as-you-go and storage package billing methods.
Billing method Fee
Pay-as-you-go Space usage fee =1,000 GB × 0.3 USD/GB/month = USD 300
Storage Package (500 GB, 1 month) The fee of 500 GB is deducted by the storage package, and the fee of the remaining space usage is calculated based on the pay-as-you-go billing method.

Space usage fee = USD 133 + 500 GB × 0.3 USD/GB/month = USD 283

where, USD 133 is the fee for the storage package (500 GB, 1 month).
Storage Package (1 TB, 1 month) Space usage fee = USD 272

where, USD 272 is the fee for the storage package (1 TB, 1 month).