You can use the RDS console or APIs to create an RDS instance. For more information about instance pricing, see Billing methods and billing items. This document describes how to use the RDS console to create an instance. For more information about how to use APIs to create an instance, see CreateDBInstance.

Prerequisites

You have registered an Alibaba Cloud account.

Precautions

  • Subscription instances cannot be converted to Pay-As-You-Go instances.
  • Pay-As-You-Go instances can be converted to Subscription instances. For operation instructions, see Change the billing method.
  • An Alibaba Cloud account can create up to 30 Pay-As-You-Go instances. You can submit a ticket to apply for increasing the limit.

Procedure

  1. Log on to the RDS console.
  2. On the Instances page, click Create Instance.
  3. Select a billing method:
    • Pay-As-You-Go: indicates post payment (billed by hour). For short-term requirements, create Pay-As-You-Go instances, because they can be released at any time to save costs.
    • Subscription: indicates prepayment. You need to pay when creating an instance. For long-term requirements, create Subscription instances because they are more cost-effective. Furthermore, the longer the subscription, the higher the discount.
  4. Set the following parameters.
    Parameter Description
    Region Indicates the location of the RDS instance you want to purchase. The region cannot be changed after the purchase.
    • Select the region closest to your users for high access speed.
    • Make sure to select the region where your ECS instance is deployed so that the ECS instance can access the RDS instance through the intranet; otherwise, they intercommunicate through the Internet and the access speed is affected.
    DB Engine

    The supported database engines are MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, PPAS, and MariaDB TX.

    In this example, select MySQL.

    Note Different engines support different database engines.
    Version

    For RDS for MySQL, the supported versions are MySQL 5.5, 5.6, and 5.7.

    Note Different regions support differen database versions.
    Edition RDS for MySQL instances support the Basic Edition and High-availability Edition.
    • Basic Edition: It provides a single node and separates computing from storage, and is extremely cost-effective.
    • High-availability Edition: It adopts the high-availability architecture with one master node and one slave node. It is applicable to over 80% of scenarios.
    Note Different database versions support different series (editions). For more information on the product series, see Product series overview.
    Zone

    A zone is a physical area within a region. Different zones in the same region are basically the same.

    For a High-availability Edition instance, you can choose multiple zones (such as Zone F + Zone G), which means the master and slave nodes of the instance will be in differen zones. This inceases availability and does not require extra fees. For more information, see Disaster tolerance.
    Note Not all regions support multiple zones.
    Network Type
    • Classic Network: indicates the traditional network type.
    • VPC (recommended): short for Virtual Private Cloud). A VPC provides higher security and performance than the classic network.
      Note Make sure the network type is the same as that of your ECS instance so that the ECS instance can access the RDS instance through the intranet.
    Type

    Indicates instance specifications. For specific resources (CPU cores, memory, maximum number of connections, and IOPS) provided by each instance type, see Instance type list.

    RDS supports the following instance type families:

    • Common instance: has its dedicated memory and I/O resources, but shares CPU and storage resources with other common instances on the same server.
    • Dedicated instance: has it dedicated CPU, memory, storage, and I/O resources.

    For example, 8 Cores, 32 GB indicates a common instance; 8 Cores, 32 GB (Dedicated) is a dedicated instance;

    Capacity

    The capacity is used for storing data, system files, binlog, and transaction files.
  5. Set the duration (only for Subscription instances) and quantity, and click Buy Now.
    Note For Subscription instances, you can also click Add to Cart and then click the cart to place the order.
  6. On the Order Confirmation page, review order information, select Product Terms of Service and Service Level Notice and Terms of Use, click Pay Now, and complete the payment.

Next Steps

  1. Find the instance as folows:
    At the upper left corner of the RDS console, select the region where the instance is located.
    选择地域
  2. Set the whitelist.
  3. Create a databse account.
  4. Apply for an Internet address (if you want to access RDS through the Internet).
  5. Connect to the RDS instance.

FAQs

How do I authorize a RAM user to manage RDS instances?

Answer: See Manage RDS permissions by using RAM.

Related API

API Description
Create an RDS instance Create an RDS instance..