This topic provides answers to frequently asked questions about the billing of Database Backup (DBS).
What are the billable items of a DBS backup schedule?
Specifications: You must pay for the specifications when you purchase a subscription backup schedule. The backup and restoration performance, free quota for data backup, and unit price vary based on backup schedule specifications. For more information, see Backup fees.
Storage: optional. If you set the storage type to DBS Storage for a subscription backup schedule, you are charged storage fees based on the storage space that you use and the storage duration. For more information, see Storage fees.
Backup: optional. If the amount of data that is backed up by using a backup schedule exceeds the free quota for data backup in the current specifications, the excess backup data is charged. For more information about the free quota for data backup and the billing of excess backup data for each type of backup schedule, see Backup fees.
DBS sandbox: optional. DBS allows you to create sandbox instances for the disaster recovery of self-managed MySQL databases.
After you enable the sandbox feature, DBS charges you sandbox storage fees based on the volume of the data stored in the sandbox storage.
After you create a sandbox instance, DBS charges you sandbox instance fees based on the specifications and usage duration of the sandbox instance. For more information, see DBS sandbox fees.
You cannot create a pay-as-you-go backup schedule in the DBS console.
Which fees for billable items can be offset by DBS storage plans and DBS network plans?
For more information about the offset rules, offset factors, offset examples, and purchase methods for resource plans, see Storage fees and Network traffic fees.
Am I still charged for a pay-as-you-go or subscription backup schedule that is not used?
Even if a pay-as-you-go or subscription backup schedule is not used to generate backup sets, historical backup sets still occupy storage resources. Therefore, you are still charged storage fees.
Pay-as-you-go: If you do not use a pay-as-you-go backup schedule for an extended period of time, we recommend that you release the backup schedule after you save relevant data and download historical backup sets. After the backup schedule is released, no backup or storage fees are charged. For more information, see Release or unsubscribe from a backup schedule.
Subscription: If you do not use a subscription backup schedule for an extended period of time but want to retain historical backup sets, we recommend that you pause the backup schedule. For more information, see Pause or start a backup schedule. After the backup schedule is paused, no backup fees are charged. However, you are still charged storage fees if the storage type of the backup schedule is DBS Storage.
After you pause a subscription backup schedule in the Running state, the subscription duration of the backup schedule does not change.
You are charged storage fees only for backup schedules whose storage type is DBS Storage.
Am I able to change the billing method of a backup schedule from pay-as-you-go to subscription or from subscription to pay-as-you-go?
No, you cannot change the billing method of a backup schedule from pay-as-you-go to subscription or from subscription to pay-as-you-go.
Am I able to release a pay-as-you-go backup schedule?
Yes, you can release a pay-as-you-go backup schedule. For more information, see Release or unsubscribe from a backup schedule.
Am I able to unsubscribe from a subscription backup schedule?
No, you cannot unsubscribe from a subscription backup schedule.
What is the impact if a DBS storage plan expires?
A storage plan is a subscription-based resource plan provided by DBS. Storage plans become invalid after they expire. Expired storage plans cannot be used to offset storage fees. This does not affect your backup schedules or existing backup data.
What are the impacts if a backup schedule expires or the payment is overdue?
For more information, see Expiration and overdue payments.
How do I reduce the costs of a subscription DBS backup schedule?
You can purchase DBS storage plans to offset the built-in storage fees for backup schedules within the same Alibaba Cloud account. For more information, see Built-in storage and OSS.
What are the DBS billable items in a bill if I have not used the backup feature in the DBS console?
DBS provides the backup and restoration features for ApsaraDB RDS, PolarDB, ApsaraDB for MongoDB, ApsaraDB for Redis, Tair, and AnalyticDB for PostgreSQL. You can check whether you are charged fees for the DBS billable items because you use the backup and restoration features for these services. For more information, see Billing overview.