This topic describes how to purchase a subscription cluster in the PolarDB console.

Prerequisites

An Alibaba Cloud account is registered and is used to log on to the PolarDB console. For more information, see Register and log on to an Alibaba Cloud account.

Precautions

supports 64-bit DATE types that are compatible with Oracle. You must use the latest version of the PolarDB JDBC driver together with this feature. The JDBC driver must be 42.2.9.1.2 or later. Otherwise, loss of precision may occur. For more information, see 64-bit DATE types.

Background information

A cluster consists of one primary node and a maximum of 15 read-only nodes. To ensure high availability, at least one read-only node is required to implement the active-active architecture. A node is a virtual database server. You can create and manage multiple databases on a node.

Note
  • PolarDB for PostgreSQL supports only Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). Each VPC is an isolated network on Alibaba Cloud and is more secure than the classic network.
  • To fully leverage the performance capacity of PolarDB, your PolarDB cluster needs to be deployed in the same internal network with other Alibaba Cloud services. We recommend that you deploy PolarDB clusters and Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances in the same VPC to make full use of the capabilities provided by PolarDB. If your ECS instance is deployed in the classic network, you must migrate the ECS instance to a VPC..

Procedure

  1. Log on to the PolarDB console.
  2. In the upper-left corner of the page, click Create Cluster.
  3. Set the Product Type parameter to Subscription.
  4. Specify the parameters described in the following table.
    ParameterDescription
    Creation MethodThe method that is used to create a PolarDB cluster.
    • Create Primary Cluster: creates a PolarDB cluster.
    • Restore from Recycle Bin: creates a cluster by restoring a backup file of a deleted cluster from the recycle bin.
      • Source Version: the version of the cluster that is deleted.
      • Deleted Clusters: the name of the cluster that is deleted.
      • Backup History: the backup file that you want to restore.
    Note You can select other options to create databases of other engines.
    Region and ZoneThe region in which you want to create a cluster. After the cluster is created, the region cannot be changed.
    Note Make sure that the PolarDB cluster and the ECS instance to which you want to connect are deployed in the same region. Otherwise, the PolarDB cluster and the ECS instance can communicate only over the Internet, which degrades cluster performance.
    Primary ZoneThe primary zone in which the cluster is deployed.
    • A zone is an independent geographical location in a region. All zones in a region provide the same level of service performance.
    • You can deploy your PolarDB cluster and ECS instance in the same zone or in different zones.
    • You need to specify only the primary zone. The system automatically selects a secondary zone.
    Network TypeThe value of this parameter is fixed to VPC. You do not need to change this value.
    VPC

    vSwitch

    Make sure that the PolarDB cluster and the ECS instance to which you want to connect are deployed in the same VPC. Otherwise, the cluster and the ECS instance cannot communicate over a VPC, which degrades cluster performance.
    • If an existing VPC meets your network requirements, select the VPC. For example, if you have created an ECS instance and the VPC to which the ECS instance is connected meets your network requirements, select this VPC.
    • Otherwise, use the default VPC and the default vSwitch.
      • Default VPC:
        • Only one VPC is specified as the default VPC in the region that you select.
        • The default VPC uses a 16-bit subnet mask. For example, the CIDR block 172.31.0.0/16 provides up to 65,534 private IP addresses.
        • The default VPC does not consume the quota of the VPCs that you can create on Alibaba Cloud.
      • Default vSwitch:
        • Only one vSwitch is specified as the default vSwitch in the zone that you select.
        • The default VPC uses a 20-bit subnet mask. For example, the CIDR block 172.16.0.0/20 provides up to 4,094 private IP addresses.
        • The default vSwitch does not consume the quota of the vSwitches that you can create in a VPC.
    • If the default VPC and vSwitch cannot meet your business requirements, you can create your own VPC and vSwitch. For more information, see Create and manage a VPC.
    Compatibility
    • MySQL 8.0: fully compatible with MySQL 8.0. MySQL 8.0 supports the parallel query feature, which can improve the database performance by 10 times in specific scenarios. For more information, see Overview.
    • MySQL 5.7: fully compatible with MySQL 5.7.
    • MySQL 5.6: fully compatible with MySQL 5.6.
    • PostgreSQL 11: fully compatible with PostgreSQL 11.
    • PostgreSQL 14: fully compatible with PostgreSQL 14.
    • Compatible with Oracle: highly compatible with Oracle. For more information, see Oracle compatibility.
    Note PostgreSQL 11, PostgreSQL 14, and Compatible with Oracle are not supported in the following regions: China (Qingdao), US (Virginia), UK (London), Philippines (Manila), and Australia (Sydney).
    EditionBy default, this parameter is set to Cluster Edition (2 to 16 Nodes) (Recommended).
    Resource TypeBy default, this parameter is set to Dedicated Specification.
    Node SpecificationSelect the specifications based on your business requirements. All nodes in the PolarDB cluster are dedicated nodes with stable and reliable performance.

    For more information about specifications of compute nodes, see Specifications and pricing.

    NodesIf the source cluster edition is Cluster Edition (2 to 16 Nodes) (Recommended), the system creates a primary node and a read-only node that have the same specification by default. You do not need to configure this parameter.
    Note If the primary node fails, the system uses the read-only node as the primary node and creates another read-only node. For more information about read-only nodes, see Architecture.
    PolarProxy TypeBy default, this parameter is set to Dedicated Enterprise.
    Enable Hot Standby ClusterSpecifies whether to enable the hot standby cluster feature.
    • When this feature is enabled, the primary cluster and a hot-standby cluster for the primary cluster are deployed in the specified region. The primary cluster contains compute nodes that serve as standbys for each other, and primary storage. The two clusters each have three replicas, which adds up to six replicas. This delivers higher SLA than when this feature is disabled.PolarDB
    • When this feature is disabled, only the primary cluster is deployed. The cluster has three replicas, and the storage unit price is half of that when this feature is enabled. This delivers lower SLA than when this feature is enabled.
    Storage TypePolarDB supports the PSL5 and PSL4 storage types.
    • PSL5: the storage types supported in the historical versions of PolarDB. It delivers higher performance, reliability and availability.
    • PSL4: A new storage type for PolarDB. PSL4 uses the Smart-SSD technology developed by Alibaba Cloud to compress and decompress data at the physical SSD disk level. This can minimize the storage price of data while keep a high disk performance.
    Note The storage type of existing clusters cannot be changed to Standard Edition. To use Standard Edition, we recommend that you purchase a new cluster, set the storage type to Standard Edition, and then migrate data to the new cluster.

    For more information about the two storage types, see Comparison between PSL4 and PSL5.

    Storage Billing MethodPolarDB supports the Pay-as-you-go and Subscription billing methods for the storage of your clusters.
    • Pay-as-you-go: The storage capacity is provided based on a serverless architecture. This way, you do not need to specify the storage capacity when you purchase clusters. The storage capacity of the clusters can be automatically scaled up as the volume of data increases. You are charged for the actual data volume.
    • Subscription: You must purchase a specific amount of storage capacity when you create the cluster.

    For more information about the two storage billing methods, see Billing methods for storage and .

    Note When Product Type is set to Subscription, the Storage Billing Method parameter can be set to Pay-as-you-go or Subscription. When Product Type is set to Pay-as-you-go, the Storage Billing Method parameter is unavailable, and the storage is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
    Storage CostThe storage cost. You do not need to configure this parameter. The storage usage is billed on an hourly basis. For more information, see Specifications and pricing.
    Note
    • You do not need to specify the storage capacity when you create a cluster. The system automatically scales storage resources based on data volume.
    • This parameter is available only when Storage Billing Method is set to Pay-as-you-go.
    CapacityThe amount of storage capacity that you want to purchase for your cluster. The value can range from 50 GB to 100 TB, in 5 GB increments.
    Note This parameter is available only when Storage Billing Method is set to Subscription.
    Enable TDESpecifies whether to enable Transparent Data Encryption (TDE). When TDE is enabled, PolarDB encrypts the data files of your cluster. You do not need to modify the code to allow access to your cluster. However, TDE reduces the performance of your cluster by 5% to 10%.
    Note TDE cannot be disabled after it is enabled.
    Cluster NameThe name of the cluster. The name must meet the following requirements:
    • It cannot start with http:// or https://.
    • It must be 1 to 256 characters in length.

    If you do not configure this parameter, the system automatically generates a cluster name. You can change the name after the cluster is created.

    Resource GroupSelect a resource group from the available resource groups. For more information, see Create a resource group.
    Note A resource group is a group of resources that belong to an Alibaba Cloud account. Resource groups allow you to manage these resources in a centralized manner. A resource belongs to only one resource group. For more information, see Use RAM to create and authorize resource groups.
  5. Specify the Subscription Duration and Quantity parameters, and click Buy Now.
    Note You can create a maximum of 50 clusters at a time. This allows you to create multiple clusters in specific scenarios.
  6. On the Confirm Order page, confirm your order information. Read and accept the terms of service, and then click Buy Now.
  7. On the Purchase page, confirm the information of the unpaid order and the payment method, and then click Purchase.

    The cluster is created in 10 to 15 minutes after you complete the payment. Then, the newly created cluster is displayed on the Clusters page.

    Note
    • If nodes in your cluster are in the Creating state, the cluster is being created and unavailable. The cluster is available only when it is in the Running state.
    • Make sure that you have selected the region where the cluster is deployed. Otherwise, you cannot view the cluster.
    • To store a large volume of data, we recommend that you purchase subscription storage plans for PolarDB. Storage plans are more cost-effective than pay-as-you-go storage. You are offered higher discounts for storage plans with larger storage capacities.

What to do next

Set IP address whitelists for a cluster

Related API operations

OperationDescription
CreateDBClusterCreates a PolarDB cluster.
DescribeDBClustersQueries PolarDB clusters.
DescribeDBClusterAttributeQueries the detailed information about a specified PolarDB cluster.
DescribeAutoRenewAttributeQueries the auto-renewal status of a specified subscription PolarDB cluster.
ModifyAutoRenewAttributeConfigures auto-renewal for a specified subscription PolarDB cluster.