This topic describes how to change the specifications of an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance. These specifications include your RDS edition, instance type, storage capacity, storage type, and zone.

Prerequisites

Your Alibaba Cloud account does not have overdue renewal orders.

Note You cannot directly upgrade an RDS instance from a shared instance type to a general-purpose or dedicated instance type. However, this feature is in development. You can create an RDS instance that is designed to use a specific general-purpose or dedicated instance type. Then, you can use Alibaba Cloud Data Transmission Service (DTS) to migrate data to the new RDS instance. For more information, see Data migration solutions.

Change items

You can create read-only RDS instances to scale the read capability of your database system. These instances can offload queries from the primary RDS instance. For more information, see Overview of read-only ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instances and Create a read-only ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.
Change item Description
Database engine version Some versions can be upgraded to later versions. For more information, see the following topics:
RDS edition You can upgrade an RDS instance from RDS Basic Edition to RDS High-availability Edition. For more information, see Upgrade from Basic Edition to High-availability Edition.
Instance type You can change the instance types of all RDS instances.
Storage type
  • You can upgrade the storage type of an RDS instance from standard SSD to enhanced SSD. This applies when your RDS instance runs SQL Server 2012 or 2016 on RDS High-availability Edition. However, you cannot downgrade the storage type from enhanced SSD to standard SSD.
  • You can change the performance levels (PLs) of all RDS instances that use enhanced SSDs.
Storage capacity You can increase the storage capacity of all RDS instances.
Note
  • You cannot decrease the storage capacity.
  • The new storage capacity that you specify must be within the storage capacity range allowed for the instance type that you use. For more information, see Primary instance types.
  • The storage capacity of a primary RDS instance must be greater than or equal to that of its read-only RDS instance. If a primary RDS instance has a read-only RDS instance, you must increase the storage capacity of the read-only RDS instance before you can increase the storage capacity of the primary RDS instance.
  • If the storage capacity range allowed for the instance type that you use does not meet your business requirements, we recommend that you select another instance type.
Note Changes to the preceding specifications of an RDS instance do not incur changes to the endpoints of the RDS instance.

Prerequisites

  • Your Alibaba Cloud account does not have overdue renewal orders.
  • Your RDS instance is in the Running state.

Precautions

  • Data may be migrated after you change the specifications of an RDS instance. After the migration is complete, the RDS instance switches over services during the scheduled time period. The switchover does not interrupt the synchronization of incremental data. During a switchover, a 30-second brief disconnection may occur. In addition, operations related to databases, accounts, and networks cannot be performed. We recommend that you change the specifications during off-peak hours or make sure that your application is configured to automatically reconnect to your RDS instance.
  • After you change the specifications of an RDS instance, you do not need to manually restart the RDS instance.
  • In the RDS Basic Edition, the database system consists of only one primary RDS instance, and no secondary RDS instances are provided as hot backups. If the primary RDS instance breaks down, is undergoing specification changes, or is upgrading, it becomes unavailable until the operations are done. If you require high database availability, we recommend that you use the RDS High-availability, Cluster, or Enterprise Edition.

Procedure

  1. Go to the Basic Information page.
    1. Log on to the ApsaraDB for RDS console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances. In the top navigation bar, select the region where your RDS instance resides.
      选择地域
    2. Find your RDS instance and click its ID. In the left-side navigation pane.
  2. Click Change Specifications.
  3. In the dialog box that appears, select a change method and click Next. This step is required only for subscription instances.
    Note You can select Upgrade or Downgrade for both subscription and pay-as-you-go instances. The new specifications immediately take effect.
  4. Change the specifications of your RDS instance. For more information, see Change items.
  5. Specify the Switching Time parameter.
    • Switch Immediately After Data Migration: The specification changes trigger a data migration. If you select this option, ApsaraDB RDS immediately switches over your workloads after the data migration is complete.
    • Switch Within Maintenance Window: When the specification changes are being applied, a transient connection error of about 30 seconds may occur. This error interrupts most of the operations that are related to databases, accounts, and network settings. If you select this option, ApsaraDB RDS applies the specification changes during the specified maintenance window. For more information, see Set the maintenance window of an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.
  6. On the Change Specifications page, read and select Terms of Service, and click Pay Now.

FAQ

  1. Can I change the zone and database engine version of my RDS instance?

    Only SQL Server 2008 R2 that is used with local SSDs allows you to change the zone and database engine version. You can separately change the zone or when you upgrade the database engine version. For more information, see Migrate an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance across zones in the same region and Upgrade an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance with local SSDs from SQL Server 2008 R2 to SQL Server 2012 or 2016.

  2. If I only want to increase the storage capacity of my RDS instance, do I need to migrate the data of the instance to a new instance?

    No, you need only to increase the storage capacity of your RDS instance. You do not need to manually migrate the data. When you increase the storage capacity, ApsaraDB RDS checks whether the host where the instance resides can provide sufficient storage capacity. If yes, ApsaraDB RDS increases the storage capacity without migrating the data. If no, ApsaraDB RDS migrates the data to a new instance before increasing the storage capacity. The new instance must be created on a host that provides sufficient storage capacity.

Related operations

Operation Description
ModifyDBInstanceSpec Changes the specifications of an ApsaraDB RDS instance.