This topic provides answers to some frequently asked questions about the billing of ApsaraVideo VOD.

Can I use the resource plans in the ApsaraVideo VOD package that I purchased to offset bills for Alibaba Cloud CDN and OSS?

No. ApsaraVideo VOD is an independent service. When you use ApsaraVideo VOD, you are charged for storage, transcoding, traffic, or bandwidth resources consumed. An ApsaraVideo VOD package contains resource plans such as data transfer plans, storage plans, and transcoding plans. You can use the resource plans to pay only for the resources that are consumed in ApsaraVideo VOD.

What do I do if I cannot renew the ApsaraVideo VOD package that I purchased before March 2017?

If you purchased an ApsaraVideo VOD package of an earlier version before March 2017, the package contains the following items: a CDN data transfer plan, an OSS storage plan, an OSS request plan, and an ApsaraVideo Media Processing voucher. After the VOD package expires, you can separately purchase the CDN data transfer plan and OSS resource plan.
Note The ApsaraVideo VOD console of the earlier version is integrated into the ApsaraVideo Media Processing console. You can retrieve your ApsaraVideo VOD data from the ApsaraVideo Media Processing console.

In March 2017, a new version of ApsaraVideo VOD that includes major updates to features and usage was released, and ApsaraVideo VOD became an independent service. Subscription plans for the new version of ApsaraVideo VOD were launched in May 2017.

What is OSS outbound traffic?

If you do not configure an accelerated domain name, OSS outbound traffic refers to the traffic that is generated when you directly download or play videos from the Object Storage Service (OSS) address in which the videos are stored.

If you configure an accelerated domain name but do not use the accelerated domain name to access your media assets in the OSS bucket, outbound traffic is still generated.

OSS outbound traffic is accumulated and you are charged for the traffic based on the OSS billing standards.

Note You cannot offset OSS outbound traffic fees by using ApsaraVideo VOD data transfer plans. To prevent additional fees, configure an accelerated domain name. For more information, see Add a domain name for CDN.

Why am I still charged on a pay-as-you-go basis even if I already have a resource plan?

You may still be charged on a pay-as-you-go basis if one of the following conditions is present:
  • A resource plan takes some time to take effect. You are still charged on a pay-as-you-go basis until the plan takes effect.
  • The resource plan that you purchased is not applicable to the resources that you consumed. For example, you cannot use a transcoding plan to offset storage fees.
  • OSS outbound traffic generated when you have not configured an accelerated domain name is not covered by the data transfer plan.

Why are traffic fees not covered by the data transfer plan that I purchased?

A purchased ApsaraVideo VOD data transfer plan takes effect only when you configure an accelerated domain name and use the pay-by-data-transfer metering method. After the data transfer plan takes effect, it can be used to offset only accelerated traffic fees. Data transfer plans cannot be used to offset OSS outbound traffic fees. If your usage exceeds the capacity of the data transfer plan, the overages are billed based on the pay-as-you-go billing method. When traffic fees are incurred, check the following items to identify the reason:
  • Check whether an accelerated domain name is configured. For more information, see Add a domain name for CDN.
  • Check whether the pay-by-peak-bandwidth or pay-by-95th-percentile-bandwidth metering method is used for the acceleration service. You can change the current metering method to pay-by-data-transfer. For more information, see Switch between metering methods.
  • If you have configured an accelerated domain name, check whether the accelerated domain name is used to access media assets in ApsaraVideo VOD. If you do not use the accelerated domain name to access your media assets, OSS outbound traffic fees are incurred.
  • Check whether your usage exceeds the capacity of the data transfer plan that you purchased. You can renew your resource plan. For more information, see Renew a resource plan.