This topic describes the concept of Alibaba Cloud regions and zones, the relationship between regions and zones, and the regions and zones that are supported by Alibaba Cloud. This topic also provides guidelines on how to select regions and zones for your use cases.
Regions
Concept
Regions are geographical locations where Alibaba Cloud data centers are deployed. Regions are typically named after the cities where the data centers are deployed. For example, data centers that are deployed in Sydney all belong to the Australia (Sydney) region.
Select a region
When you create or purchase an Alibaba Cloud resource, you can select the region in which to deploy the resource. The resource is region-specific, and you cannot change the region of the resource.
When you select a region, take note of the following items.
Item | Description |
Geographic location | Services deployed in a region that is geographically closer to your users are more responsive when your users access your services. We recommend that you select a region based on your requirements on network latency. |
Communication between cloud services over an internal network | Important If you have purchased a cloud networking service to connect your cloud services, ignore this item.
|
Resource price | You can select a region based on your budget. The prices of resources may vary based on regions. For more information, see the product page or resource buy page. |
Zones
Concept
The zone in which you want to deploy your resources. Each region has multiple isolated locations known as zones, which have their own independent power supply and network. For example, the China (Qingdao) region has two zones, which are Qingdao Zone B and Qingdao Zone C. Resources that are deployed within the same zone share the same network, and therefore have minimal latency between each other. This means that services deployed within the same zone have faster communication speeds, which translates into more efficient business operations.
Select a zone
When you create or purchase an Alibaba Cloud resource, you can select the zone in which to deploy the resource. The resource is zone-specific, and you cannot change the zone of the resource.
Zones within the same region are interconnected over an internal network. Each zone is independent of each other, providing effective fault isolation. If you distribute your services across multiple zones and one zone fails, services in other zones can continue to serve requests. We recommend that you appropriately distribute your services across multiple zones based on your requirements on disaster recovery and network latency.
If your application requires high disaster recovery capabilities, we recommend that you deploy instances in different zones within the same region.
If your application requires low latency, we recommend that you deploy instances within the same zone.
Relationship between regions and zones
A region consists of multiple zones. Zones in the same region are interconnected over a low-latency internal network. Zones in each region are completely isolated from zones in other regions.
The following figure shows the relationships between regions and zones.
In the figure, Region 1 has three zones and Region 2 has three zones.
Regions and zones
This section lists all the regions and zones of Alibaba Cloud. For more information, see Global Infrastructure of Alibaba Cloud.
The availability of some cloud services may vary with regions and zones. To find out if the cloud service you want to use is available in a particular zone, see the documentation of the cloud service.
Alibaba Cloud public cloud
The following table lists all the regions and zones of Alibaba Cloud public cloud.
Regions and zones in China
Region name
Region ID
Number of zones
Zone name
China (Qingdao)
cn-qingdao
2
Qingdao Zone B
Qingdao Zone C
China (Beijing)
cn-beijing
12
Beijing Zone A
Beijing Zone B
Beijing Zone C
Beijing Zone D
Beijing Zone E
Beijing Zone F
Beijing Zone G
Beijing Zone H
Beijing Zone I
Beijing Zone J
Beijing Zone K
Beijing Zone L
China (Zhangjiakou)
cn-zhangjiakou
3
Zhangjiakou Zone A
Zhangjiakou Zone B
Zhangjiakou Zone C
China (Hohhot)
cn-huhehaote
2
Hohhot Zone A
Hohhot Zone B
China (Ulanqab)
cn-wulanchabu
3
Ulanqab Zone A
Ulanqab Zone B
Ulanqab Zone C
China (Hangzhou)
cn-hangzhou
8
Hangzhou Zone B
Hangzhou Zone E
Hangzhou Zone F
Hangzhou Zone G
Hanzhou Zone H
Hangzhou Zone I
Hangzhou Zone J
Hangzhou Zone K
China (Shanghai)
cn-shanghai
11
Shanghai Zone A
Shanghai Zone B
Shanghai Zone C
Shanghai Zone D
Shanghai Zone E
Shanghai Zone F
Shanghai Zone G
Shanghai Zone K
Shanghai Zone L
Shanghai Zone L
Shanghai Zone N
China (Nanjing - Local Region)
cn-nanjing
1
Nanjing - Local Region Zone A
China (Fuzhou - Local Region)
cn-fuzhou
1
Fuzhou - Local Region Zone A
China (Shenzhen)
cn-shenzhen
6
Shenzhen Zone A
Shenzhen Zone B
Shenzhen Zone C
Shenzhen Zone D
Shenzhen Zone E
Shenzhen Zone F
China (Heyuan)
cn-heyuan
2
Heyuan Zone A
Heyuan Zone B
China (Guangzhou)
cn-guangzhou
2
Guangzhou Zone A
Hangzhou Zone B
China (Chengdu)
cn-chengdu
2
Chengdu Zone A
Chengdu Zone B
China (Hong Kong)
cn-hongkong
3
Hong Kong Zone B
Hong Kong Zone C
Hong Kong Zone D
Regions and zones outside China
Region Name
Region ID
Number of zones
Zone name
Singapore
ap-southeast-1
3
Singapore Zone A
Singapore Zone B
Singapore Zone C
Australia (Sydney)
ap-southeast-2
2
Sydney Zone A
Sydney Zone B
Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)
ap-southeast-3
2
Kuala Lumpur Zone A
Kuala Lumpur Zone B
Indonesia (Jakarta)
ap-southeast-5
3
Jakarta Zone A
Jakarta Zone B
Jakarta Zone C
Philippines (Manila)
ap-southeast-6
1
Manila Zone A
Thailand (Bangkok)
ap-southeast-7
1
Bangkok Zone A
India (Mumbai)
ap-south-1
2
Mumbai Zone A
Mumbai Zone B
Japan (Tokyo)
ap-northeast-1
3
Tokyo Zone A
Tokyo Zone B
Tokyo Zone C
South Korea (Seoul)
ap-northeast-2
1
Seoul Zone A
US (Silicon Valley)
us-west-1
2
Silicon Valley Zone A
Silicon Valley Zone B
US (Virginia)
us-east-1
2
Virginia Zone A
Virginia Zone B
Germany (Frankfurt)
eu-central-1
3
Frankfurt Zone A
Frankfurt Zone B
Frankfurt Zone C
UK (London)
eu-west-1
2
London Zone A
London Zone B
UAE (Dubai)
me-east-1
1
Dubai Zone A
Alibaba Finance Cloud
The following table lists all regions and zones of Alibaba Finance Cloud.
Regions and zones in China
Region name
Region ID
City
Number of zones
Zone name
China East 1 Finance
cn-hangzhou
Hangzhou
7
China East 1 Finance Zone B
China East 1 Finance Zone C
China East 1 Finance Zone D
China East 1 Finance Zone H
China East 1 Finance Zone I
China East 1 Finance Zone J
China East 1 Finance Zone K
China East 2 Finance
cn-shanghai-finance-1
Shanghai
6
China East 2 Finance Zone A
China East 2 Finance Zone B
China East 2 Finance Zone F
China East 2 Finance Zone G
China East 2 Finance Zone K
China East 2 Finance Zone Z
China South 1 Finance
cn-shenzhen-finance-1
Shenzhen
4
China South 1 Finance Zone A
China South 1 Finance Zone B
China South 1 Finance Zone D
China South 1 Finance Zone E
China North 2 Finance Cloud
cn-beijing-finance-1
Beijing
3
China North 2 Finance Zone K
China North 2 Finance Zone L
China North 2 Finance Zone Z
Regions and zones outside China
None.
Alibaba Gov Cloud
The following table lists all regions and zones of Alibaba Gov Cloud.
Regions and zones in China
Region name
Region ID
City
Number of zones
Zone name
China North 2 Ali Gov 1
cn-north-2-gov-1
Beijing
5
China North 2 Ali Gov Zone A
China North 2 Ali Gov Zone B
China North 2 Ali Gov Zone C
China North 2 Ali Gov Zone D
China North 2 Ali Gov Zone E
Regions and zones outside China
None.