This topic describes how to create an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance by using the ApsaraDB RDS console. This topic also describes the parameters that you must configure in the ApsaraDB RDS console.

Background information

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. Go to the ApsaraDB RDS buy page.
  2. Configure the following parameters.
    Parameter Description
    Billing Method
    • Subscription: A subscription instance is an instance that you can subscribe to for a specified period and pay for up front. For long-term use, the subscription billing method is more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go billing method. You can receive larger discounts for longer subscription periods.
    • Pay-As-You-Go: A pay-as-you-go instance is charged per hour based on your actual resource usage. The pay-as-you-go billing method is suitable for short-term use. If you no longer need your pay-as-you-go instance, you can release it to reduce costs.
    Note A maximum of 30 pay-as-you-go RDS instances are allowed per Alibaba Cloud account. To increase this quota, you must click here to submit a ticket.
    Region The region to which the RDS instance belongs.
    • After you confirm the 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 allows you to increase 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, these instances cannot communicate over an internal network. In this case, these instances must communicate over the Internet 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 vary based on the selected region.
    Edition
    • Basic: The database system consists of only one primary RDS instance. Computing is separated from storage to increase cost-effectiveness.
    • High-availability: This is the recommended edition. In this edition, the database system consists of one primary RDS instance and one secondary RDS instance. These instances work in the high availability architecture.
    • Enterprise: The database system consists of one primary RDS instance and two secondary RDS instances. These instances can reside in the same zone or in different zones of the same region. This edition delivers finance-grade reliability
    • PolarDB MySQL: The database system is a PolarDB cluster that consists of multiple nodes. This edition supports faster scaling, larger storage capacity, and lower data replication latency between the primary and secondary nodes. For more information, see Overview.
    Note The available RDS editions vary based on the selected region and the selected 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 type of storage media reduces one-way latency and delivers up to 1 million random input/output operations per second (IOPS). Three enhanced SSD options are provided in the ApsaraDB RDS console. Each option represents a specific performance level (PL).
      • Enhanced SSD: This option represents an enhanced SSD of PL1.
      • ESSD PL2: An enhanced SSD of PL2 delivers IOPS and throughput that are twice higher than those delivered by an enhanced SSD of PL1.
      • ESSD PL3: An enhanced SSD of PL3 delivers IOPS that is 20 times higher than the IOPS delivered by an enhanced SSD of PL1. It also delivers throughput that is 11 times higher than the throughput delivered by an enhanced SSD of PL1. Enhanced SSDs of PL3 are suitable for workloads that require high I/O performance to process concurrent requests. Enhanced SSDs of PL3 are also suitable for workloads that require 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 the Disk Encryption option to maximize the protection for your data. For more information, see Configure disk encryption for an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.
    Zone

    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: If you select this deployment method, the Zone of Primary Node and the Zone of Secondary Node are the same.
    • Multi-zone Development: This is the recommended deployment method. If you select this deployment method, the Zone of Primary Node and the Zone of Secondary Node are different. This allows you to provide zone-level disaster recovery. You must manually specify the Zone of Primary Node and the Zone of Secondary Node.
    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 primary RDS instance and supports only the single-zone deployment method.
    Instance Type
    • General-purpose (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.
    • Dedicated Instance (Enterprise-level): belongs to the dedicated instance family or the dedicated host instance family. A dedicated instance exclusively occupies the allocated CPU, memory, storage, and I/O resources. The dedicated host instance family is the top configuration of the dedicated instance family. A dedicated host instance exclusively occupies all the CPU, memory, storage, and I/O resources on the server where it is deployed.
    • Dedicated: A dedicated cluster exclusively occupies all the resources on a VM or physical host. The permissions to manage hosts in a dedicated cluster can be authorized to you. This allows you to create multiple database instances on a host. For more information, see Add hosts.
    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 the local SSD storage type, the storage capacity of the RDS instance may vary based on the instance type. If you select the standard or enhanced SSD storage type, this limit does not apply. For more information, see Primary instance types.
    • If you select the RDS High-availability Edition and the standard or enhanced SSD storage type, Automatic Storage Expansion is selected by default. You can specify the trigger conditions and upper limit for automatic storage expansion. If the trigger conditions are met, ApsaraDB RDS automatically adds 5 GB of storage or 15% of the purchased storage capacity depending one whichever is larger. This prevents the created RDS instance from being locked due to insufficient storage space.
  3. Click Next: Instance Configuration.
  4. Configure the following parameters.
    Parameter Description
    Network Type
    • Classic Network: the traditional type of network.
    • VPC: the recommended type of network. A virtual private cloud (VPC) is an isolated virtual 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 parameter and the vSwitch of Primary Node parameter. If you select the Multi-zone Deployment method in the Basic Configurations step, you must specify both the VSwitch of Primary Node and VSwitch of Secondary Node parameters.
    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, these instances must also reside in the same VPC. Otherwise, these 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. X-Engine 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 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 parameter and the Duration parameter, read and select Terms of Service, and then click Pay Now to complete the payment. You must specify the Duration parameter only when the RDS instance uses the subscription billing method.
    Note When you create a subscription RDS instance, we recommend that you select Auto-Renew Enabled. This relieves the need to manually renew the RDS instance on a regular basis. This also allows you to avoid interruptions to your workloads due to overdue payments.

On the ApsaraDB RDS homepage, click Instances in the left-side navigation pane, select the region where the RDS instance resides in the top navigation bar, and then find the RDS instance based on the Creation Time.

What to do next

After the RDS instance is created, you must specify whitelist settings 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 RDS console not respond and why am I unable to find the created RDS instance?

    This issue may occur due to the following reasons:

    • The RDS instance 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.

    • The selected zone cannot provide the required number of resources.

      Resources in zones are dynamically allocated. After you submit the purchase order, the selected zone may be unable to provide the required number of 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 fee.

  • 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 the instance occupy?

    The number of private IP addresses that your RDS instance occupies varies based on the selected database engine and the selected 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 an instance Creates an ApsaraDB RDS instance.