This topic describes how to create an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.

Background information

It also provides more information about the parameters that you must configure in the ApsaraDB for RDS console.

For more information about how to create an RDS instance that runs another database engine, see the following topics:

Billing

For more information, see Pricing, billable items, and billing methods.

Prerequisites

You have an Alibaba Cloud account. For more information, see Sign up with Alibaba Cloud.

Procedure

  1. Log on to the ApsaraDB for RDS console.
    Note In the upper-right corner of the buy page, you can click Back to Old Version to switch back to the original ApsaraDB for RDS console. For more information, see Create an ApsaraDB RDS MySQL instance(old version).
  2. Configure the following parameters.
    Parameter Description
    Billing Method
    • Subscription: A subscription-billed instance is an instance that you can subscribe to for a specified period of time and pay for up front. Subscription billing is more cost-effective than pay-as-you-go billing. Therefore, we recommend that you select subscription billing with a longer commitment. You can receive larger discounts for longer subscription periods.
    • Pay-As-You-Go: A pay-as-you-go-billed instance is charged per hour based on your actual resource usage. We recommend that you select pay-as-you-go billing for short-term use. If you no longer need your pay-as-you-go-billed instance, you can release it to reduce costs.
    Note A maximum of 30 pay-as-you-go-billed instances are allowed per Alibaba Cloud account. If you want to increase this quota, submit a ticket.
    Region The region to which the RDS instance belongs.
    • After you confirm your purchase order, you cannot change the selected region.
    • We recommend that you select a region that is in close proximity to the geographic location where your users reside. This increases the access speeds of your users.
    • The RDS instance must reside in the same region as the ECS instance that you want to connect. If the RDS and ECS instances reside in different regions, they cannot communicate over an internal network and therefore cannot deliver optimal performance.
    Database Engine The database engine and version that the RDS instance runs. Select MySQL. Supported MySQL versions are 5.6, 5.7, and 8.0.
    Note The available database engines and versions can vary based on the selected region.
    Edition
    • Basic: The database system consists of only one RDS instance. Computing is separated from storage to increase cost-effectiveness.
    • High-availability: The database system consists of one primary RDS instance and one secondary RDS instance. These instances work in the classic high availability architecture.
    • Enterprise Edition: The database system consists of one primary RDS instance and two secondary RDS instances to provide finance-grade reliability. These instances can reside in the same zone. They can also reside in different zones within the same region.
    • High-performance Edition: The database system is a PolarDB cluster that consists of multiple nodes. This edition allows for faster scaling, larger storage capacity, and lower data replication latency between the primary and secondary nodes. For more information, see Overview of Apsara PolarDB.
    Note The available RDS editions can vary based on the selected region and database engine version. For more information, see Overview of ApsaraDB for RDS editions.
    Storage Type
    • Local SSD: A local SSD resides on the same server as the database engine. You can store data on local SSDs to reduce I/O latency.
    • Enhanced SSD: An enhanced SSD is an ultra-high performance disk that is developed by Alibaba Cloud based on the next-generation distributed block storage architecture. It integrates 25 Gigabit Ethernet and remote direct memory access (RDMA) technologies. This reduces one-way latency and delivers up to 1 million random input/output operations per second (IOPS). Supported enhanced SSDs are available in the following three performance levels (PLs):
      • PL1 (Enhanced SSD): An enhanced SSD of PL1 is a regular enhanced SSD.
      • PL2 (ESSD PL2): An enhanced SSD of PL2 delivers IOPS and throughput that are twice as high as those delivered by an enhanced SSD of PL1.
      • PL3 (ESSD PL3): An enhanced SSD of PL3 delivers IOPS that is 20 times as high as the IOPS delivered by an enhanced SSD of PL1. It also delivers throughput that is 11 times as high as the throughput delivered by an enhanced SSD of PL1. Enhanced SSDs of PL3 are suitable for workloads that require high I/O performance in processing concurrent requests and stable read/write latency.
    • Standard SSD: A standard SSD is an elastic block storage device that is designed based on the distributed storage architecture. You can store data on standard SSDs to separate computing from storage.

    For more information, see Storage types.

    Note When you create an RDS instance that is designed to use standard SSDs or enhanced SSDs, you can select Disk Encryption to ensure optimal protection for your data. For more information, see Configure disk encryption for an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.
    Zone of Primary Node

    The zone to which the RDS instance belongs. A zone is an independent physical location within a region. The Zone of Primary Node parameter specifies the zone to which the primary RDS instance belongs. The Zone of Secondary Node parameter specifies the zone to which the secondary RDS instance belongs.

    You can select the Single-zone Deployment or Multi-zone Development method.

    • Single-zone Deployment: The Zone of Primary Node and the Zone of Secondary Node are the same.
    • Multi-zone Deployment: The Zone of Primary Node and the Zone of Secondary Node are different. After you specify the Zone of Primary Node, the system automatically allocates the Zone of Secondary Node.

    The multi-zone deployment method provides zone-level disaster recovery. We recommend that you select the multi-zone deployment method.

    Note
    • After the RDS instance is created, you can view information about the RDS instance and its secondary RDS instance on the Service Availability page.
    • If you select the RDS Basic Edition, the database system consists of only one RDS instance and supports only the single-zone deployment method.
    Select zones
    Instance Type
    • Entry-level: belongs to the general-purpose instance family. A general-purpose instance exclusively occupies the allocated memory and I/O resources. However, it shares CPU and storage resources with the other general-purpose instances that are deployed on the same server.
    • Enterprise-level: belongs to the dedicated instance family. A dedicated instance exclusively occupies the allocated CPU, memory, storage, and I/O resources. The top configuration of the dedicated instance family is the dedicated host instance family. A dedicated host instance exclusively occupies all the CPU, memory, storage, and I/O resources of the server where it is deployed.
    Note Each instance type supports a specific number of CPU cores, memory capacity, maximum number of connections, and maximum IOPS. For more information, see Primary instance types.
    Capacity The storage capacity that the RDS instance has available to store data files, system files, binary log files, and transaction files. You can adjust the storage capacity in increments of 5 GB.
    Note If you select local SSDs, the storage capacity of the RDS instance may vary based on the instance type. If you select standard or enhanced SSDs, this limit does not apply. For more information, see Primary instance types.
  3. Click Next: Instance Configuration.
  4. Configure the following parameters.
    Parameter Description
    Network Type
    • Classic Network: the traditional type of network.
    • VPC: A virtual private cloud (VPC) is an isolated network that provides higher security and better performance than the classic network. If you select the VPC network type, you must also specify the VPC and the VSwitch of Primary Node.
    Note The RDS instance must have the same network type as the ECS instance that you want to connect. If the RDS and ECS instances both have the VPC network type, they must also reside in the same VPC. Otherwise, the RDS and ECS instances cannot communicate over an internal network.
    Default Storage Engine The default storage engine that the RDS instance runs. This parameter appears only when the RDS instance runs MySQL 8.0 on RDS High-availability Edition with local SSDs. For more information about Alibaba Cloud-proprietary X-Engine, see X-Engine overview.
    Note X-Engine is compatible with InnoDB. It also performs better than InnoDB. We recommend that you specify X-Engine as the default storage engine.
    Parameter Template The parameter template that is used by the RDS instance. You can select a system parameter template or create a custom parameter template. For more information, see Use a parameter template to manage parameters.
    Note This parameter appears only when the RDS instance runs the RDS High-availability or Basic Edition.
    Time Zone The time zone of the RDS instance.
    Note This parameter appears only when the RDS instance runs the RDS High-availability or Basic Edition.
    Table Name Case Sensitivity Specifies whether table names on the RDS instance are case-sensitive. If table names in your on-premises databases are case-sensitive, we recommend that you select Case-sensitive. This facilitates data migration between the RDS instance and your on-premises databases.
    Note This parameter appears only when the RDS instance runs the RDS High-availability or Basic Edition.
  5. Click Next: Confirm Order.
  6. Confirm the settings in the Parameters section, specify the Purchase Plan and the Duration, read and select Terms of Service, and click Pay Now. You only need to specify the Duration when you create a subscription-billed RDS instance.
    Note When you create a subscription-billed RDS instance, we recommend that you select Auto-Renew Enabled. This allows you to avoid the need to manually renew the subscription. This also allows you to avoid interruptions to your workloads due to overdue payments.

In the top navigation bar, select the required region. Then, you can view the RDS instance that you created.

Select a region

What to do next

After the RDS instance is created, you must configure IP address whitelists or security groups and create accounts on the RDS instance. If you want to connect to the RDS instance over the Internet, you must also apply for a public endpoint. After you connect to the RDS instance, you can migrate data to the RDS instance. For more information, see the following topics:

FAQ

  • After I create an RDS instance, why does the ApsaraDB for RDS console not respond and why am I unable to find the RDS instance that I created?

    This issue may occur due to the following two reasons:

    • The RDS instance that you created does not reside in the selected region.

      In the top navigation bar, select the region where the RDS instance resides. Then, you can find the RDS instance that you created.

      Select a region
    • The selected zone cannot provide sufficient resources.

      Resources in zones are dynamically allocated. After you submit your purchase order, the selected zone may be unable to provide sufficient resources. As a result, the RDS instance cannot be created. In this case, we recommend that you select another zone and try again. If the RDS instance cannot be created, you can go to the Orders page in the Billing Management console to view the refunded fees.

  • How do I authorize a RAM user to manage my RDS instance?

    For more information, see Use RAM to manage ApsaraDB for RDS permissions.

  • If my RDS instance resides in a VPC, how many private IP addresses does it occupy?

    The number of private IP addresses that your RDS instance occupies can vary based on the selected database engine and RDS edition.

    • MySQL 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, and 8.0 on RDS High-availability Edition (with local SSDs): 1
    • MySQL 5.6, 5.7, and 8.0 on RDS Enterprise Edition (with local SSDs): 1
    • MySQL 5.7 on RDS Basic Edition (with standard SSDs): 1
    • MySQL 8.0 on RDS Basic Edition (with standard SSDs): 2
    • MySQL 5.7 and 8.0 on RDS High-availability Edition (with standard or enhanced SSDs): 3
    • MySQL 5.7 and 8.0 on RDS Enterprise Edition (with standard or enhanced SSDs): 1

Related operations

Operation Description
Create instance Creates an ApsaraDB for RDS instance.