Subscription dedicated hosts and the Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances on them expire at the end of each billing cycle. This topic explains what happens at expiration, how to renew a dedicated host, and how to manage renewal for ECS instances on the host.
What happens when a dedicated host expires
When a dedicated host reaches its expiration date, it is automatically shut down and enters the Stopped state. Your data is retained for 15 days. If you do not renew within that window, the host is released and the data cannot be recovered.
| Time after expiration | Host state | Data |
|---|---|---|
| 0–15 days | Stopped | Retained |
| After 15 days | Released | Unrecoverable |
For details, see Expiration and overdue payments.
Renew a dedicated host
Two renewal methods are available.
| Method | When to use | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Manual renewal | You want full control over each renewal cycle | After a billing cycle expires, renew the subscription from the console. If you miss the renewal, the host is stopped and eventually released. |
| Auto-renewal | You want uninterrupted operation without manual steps | Fees are deducted from your credit card or PayPal account on the expiration date. If the first deduction fails, the system retries on day 6 and day 14 after expiration. If all three attempts fail, the host is stopped. You can enable auto-renewal after you purchase a DDH. When this feature is enabled, Alibaba Cloud automatically deducts payment from your linked credit card or PayPal account on the expiration date (T). If the payment fails, Alibaba Cloud attempts to deduct the payment again on the 7th day (T+6) and the 15th day (T+14). This process continues until the renewal is successful or the DDH service is stopped after three failed attempts. For the steps to enable auto-renewal, see Enable and disable auto-renewal. |
For step-by-step instructions, see:
Renew ECS instances on a dedicated host
Only subscription ECS instances require renewal. For pay-as-you-go instances, maintain a sufficient balance in your Alibaba Cloud account to cover ongoing charges.
When renewing a subscription ECS instance, make sure the new expiration date does not exceed the dedicated host's expiration date. If it does, auto-renewal settings for the instance will not take effect.
The following renewal options are available for subscription ECS instances.
| Option | Description | References |
|---|---|---|
| Manual renewal | Renew at any time before the instance is automatically released | Renew a subscription instance |
| Auto-renewal | Automatically renew the instance before it expires to prevent accidental release. Enable, view the status, or disable auto-renewal on the Instance page or Renewal page. | Configure auto-renewal settings of an instance |
| Renewal with configuration downgrade | Renew and downgrade instance configurations within 15 days before the instance expires or before an expired instance is released | Renew an instance and downgrade its configurations |
| Unified expiration date | Align the expiration dates of multiple subscription instances to the same day of the month to simplify management | Synchronize the expiration dates of subscription instances |