When you enable the sandbox feature, Data Disaster Recovery charges for two types of resources: sandbox storage and temporary sandbox instances. This page describes what gets billed, how charges are calculated, and how to estimate costs before enabling the feature.
How billing works
The sandbox feature is built on copy data management (CDM) technology. When you enable it for a database instance, Data Disaster Recovery automatically synchronizes your data to sandbox storage and creates sandbox snapshots at regular intervals. These snapshots let you spin up a temporary sandbox instance that mirrors your database at any point in time without affecting your source database.
Common use cases include:
-
Data restoration: Recover data from a specific point in time by mounting a snapshot to a temporary instance.
-
Recovery drills: Validate your disaster recovery plan against a live copy of production data.
-
R&D and testing: Run schema changes, load tests, or analytical queries in isolation.
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Disaster recovery: Fail over to a sandbox instance while your source database is unavailable.
Charges apply as follows:
| Database type | What gets billed |
|---|---|
| MySQL | Sandbox storage + temporary sandbox instance |
| Oracle | Sandbox storage only (you provide the database instance and attach the sandbox data disk to it) |
For MySQL, Data Disaster Recovery provisions and manages the temporary sandbox instance, so both storage and instance resources are billed. For Oracle, you bring your own database instance, so only sandbox storage is billed.
For feature details and supported operations, see Sandbox overview. For quota and restriction details, see Limits on the sandbox feature.
Sandbox storage fees
How storage is sized
Sandbox storage uses a snapshot model. When you first enable the feature, Data Disaster Recovery takes a full snapshot of your database — the minimum size is 20 GB. After that, the system creates incremental snapshots based on the log files your database generates (for example, binary log files for MySQL). Each incremental snapshot captures only the data that changed since the previous snapshot, so storage grows in proportion to how active your database is.
For a MySQL instance, the binary log data change rate typically ranges from 3% to 10%.
Use the following formula to estimate the total storage capacity required:
Capacity = Data size × (1 + Data change rate × Average logs per day × Retention period)Example: A 1 TB database with an average data change rate of 5%, generating 50 logs per day, with a 7-day retention period:
1 TB × (1 + 5% × 50 × 7) = 18.5 TBPay-as-you-go pricing
Sandbox storage is billed hourly based on actual usage.
| Pricing | Rate |
|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go | USD 0.008 per GB-day |
CDM sandbox storage plans
For large or predictable storage volumes, purchasing a CDM sandbox storage plan reduces costs compared to pay-as-you-go pricing. If your plan is exhausted, additional usage is billed at the pay-as-you-go rate.
The prices below are for reference only. For current pricing, see the buy page.
| Specifications | Unit price (USD per day) |
|---|---|
| 100 GB | 23 |
| 500 GB | 111 |
| 1 TB | 221 |
| 2 TB | 442 |
| 5 TB | 1,044 |
| 10 TB | 2,089 |
| 20 TB | 4,178 |
| 50 TB | 9,830 |
| 100 TB | 19,661 |
| 200 TB | 39,322 |
| 300 TB | 58,982 |
| 500 TB | 92,160 |
For instructions on purchasing and managing storage plans, see Use storage plans.
|
Specification |
Fee (USD/month) |
|
100 GB |
23 |
|
500 GB |
111 |
|
1 TB |
221 |
|
2 TB |
442 |
|
5 TB |
1,044 |
|
10 TB |
2,089 |
|
20 TB |
4,178 |
|
50 TB |
9,830 |
|
100 TB |
19,661 |
|
200 TB |
39,322 |
|
300 TB |
58,982 |
|
500 TB |
92,160 |
Fees of temporary sandbox instances
Temporary sandbox instance fees apply only to MySQL. Charges are based on instance specifications and duration, billed hourly. If no temporary sandbox instance is running, no instance fees are incurred.
Select a specification based on your workload: use smaller instances for data validation and point-in-time queries; use specifications that match your production environment for load tests and recovery drills.
| Specifications | Chinese mainland (USD per day) | Outside the Chinese mainland (USD per day) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 CPU core, 1 GB memory | 0.346 | 0.346 |
| 1 CPU core, 2 GB memory | 0.864 | 0.864 |
| 2 CPU cores, 4 GB memory | 2.203 | 4.104 |
| 2 CPU cores, 8 GB memory | 2.678 | 4.709 |
| 4 CPU cores, 8 GB memory | 5.160 | 9.559 |
| 4 CPU cores, 16 GB memory | 6.739 | 11.923 |
| 8 CPU cores, 16 GB memory | 10.264 | 19.157 |
| 8 CPU cores, 32 GB memory | 13.522 | 23.846 |
Delete temporary sandbox instances when they are no longer needed to stop instance charges.
|
Specification |
Fee in the Chinese mainland regions (USD/day) |
Fee in China (Hong Kong) and other regions outside China (USD/day) |
|
MySQL sandbox instance, 1-core 1 GB |
0.346 |
0.346 |
|
MySQL sandbox instance, 1-core 2 GB |
0.864 |
0.864 |
|
MySQL sandbox instance, 2-core 4 GB |
2.203 |
4.104 |
|
MySQL sandbox instance, 2-core 8 GB |
2.678 |
4.709 |
|
MySQL sandbox instance, 4-core 8 GB |
5.160 |
9.559 |
|
MySQL sandbox instance, 4-core 16 GB |
6.739 |
11.923 |
|
MySQL sandbox instance, 8-core 16 GB |
10.264 |
19.157 |
|
MySQL sandbox instance, 8-core 32 GB |
13.522 |
23.846 |