Alibaba Cloud DNS includes multiple sub-products. This topic summarizes the detailed billing information for each sub-product.
Public DNS
1. Billing methods
Public Zone supports the following two billing methods:
Subscription: Public Zone instances are prepaid on a subscription basis.
Pay-as-you-go: Advanced services such as Traffic Analysis are billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
2. Billable items
1. Public Zone (subscription)
For purchase instructions, see Purchase and attach domain names.
Plan 1: Personal Edition + DNS Protection (optional)
Personal Edition can be purchased with optional DNS Protection. The billing formula is: Total fee = (Unit price of Personal Edition + Unit price of DNS Protection) × Number of domain names
Billable item | Price | Description |
| 7 USD/domain name/year | Personal Edition: 7 USD/domain name/year DNS Protection Basic: 86 USD/domain name/year Ultimate Protection: USD 429 per domain name per year Note For purchase and use by individual developers only Enterprise users cannot purchase new Personal Edition instances. Existing Personal Edition instances can still be used and renewed. |
| 93 USD/domain name/year | |
| 436 USD/domain name/year |
Plan 2: Enterprise Ultimate Edition + DNS Protection (required)
Enterprise Ultimate Edition requires DNS Protection. The billing formula is: Total fee = (Unit price of Enterprise Ultimate Edition + Unit price of DNS Protection) × Number of domain names
Billable item | Price | Description |
| 167 USD/domain name/year | Enterprise Ultimate Edition: 81 USD/domain name/year DNS Protection Basic: 86 USD/domain name/year Ultimate Protection: USD 429 per domain name per year |
| 510 USD/domain name/year |
Plan 3: Premium Edition
Premium Edition includes DNS Protection Advanced by default. The billing formula is: Total fee = Unit price of Premium Edition × Number of domain names
Billable item | Price |
| 4287 USD/domain name/year |
Expiration
For more information about instance expiration and renewal, see Instance expiration and renewal.
2. Traffic Analysis (pay-as-you-go)
Feature | Price | Billing cycle | Billing trigger | Description |
Alibaba Cloud DNS Storage and Analytics | 0.03 USD/10,000 entries | Billed daily | Traffic Analysis is enabled and configured to Store and analyze in Alibaba Cloud DNS | Fees for storage and analysis are charged based on the number of DNS resolution log entries generated by domain names for which Traffic Analysis is enabled. Bills are settled daily. |
Store in Simple Log Service (SLS) only | 0.0015 USD/10,000 entries | Billed daily | Traffic Analysis is enabled and configured to Store in Simple Log Service (SLS) only | Fees for storing data in SLS are charged based on the number of DNS resolution log entries generated by domain names for which Traffic Analysis is enabled. Bills are settled daily. Other fees: Subsequent storage fees are charged directly by SLS. For more information, see the billing standards for SLS. |
Forward Alibaba Cloud DNS Logs to Simple Log Service (SLS) for Storage and Statistical Analysis | 0.0315 USD/10,000 entries | Billed daily | Traffic Analysis is enabled and configured to Store and analyze in Alibaba Cloud DNS and store in Alibaba Cloud SLS | Fees for both storing and analyzing in Alibaba Cloud DNS and for storing in SLS are charged based on the number of DNS resolution log entries generated by domain names for which Traffic Analysis is enabled. Bills are settled daily. Other fees: Subsequent storage fees are charged directly by SLS. For more information, see the billing standards for SLS. |
Billing example:
Assume that Account A processes 1 million authoritative log analysis entries for its domain names in a single day.
The total fee is calculated as follows: 3 USD = 1 million entries × 0.03 USD/10,000 entries.
3. Traffic Analysis (subscription resource plan)
If your domain names receive a high volume of DNS queries, purchase a data transfer plan for Public Authoritative DNS traffic analysis to cover your pay-as-you-go charges. The data transfer plan takes effect immediately after purchase and is valid for one year. During the validity period, the plan is used to offset your pay-as-you-go charges. Any unused resources in the plan automatically expire at the end of the validity period. The billing rules for the data transfer plan are as follows:
Plan size (10,000 queries) | Validity period (months) | Plan price | Unit price per 10,000 entries |
1000 | 12 | 21 USD | 0.021 USD |
10000 | 12 | 182 USD | 0.0182 USD |
100000 | 12 | 1680 USD | 0.0168 USD |
1000000 | 12 | 14000 USD | 0.014 USD |
Traffic Analysis is billed daily. If you purchase a data transfer plan during a billing cycle, the charges are automatically deducted from the plan's quota when the bill is generated.
If a data transfer plan is purchased after a bill is generated, it cannot be used to offset the charges on that bill. The plan can only be used to offset charges in subsequent billing cycles.
After the quota of the resource plan is exhausted, additional queries are billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Overdue payments
Alibaba Cloud DNS offers service suspension protection. This feature lets you continue using Alibaba Cloud services for a specific period or within a certain credit limit after a payment becomes overdue. Your existing pay-as-you-go services, purchased resource plans, and subscription resources can be used without interruption. The service suspension process starts only if your usage exceeds the protection scope. For more information, see Pay-as-you-go service suspension protection.
Private DNS
I. Billing methods
Private Zone uses a pay-as-you-go billing method. You are charged for Authoritative Zone, Cache, Forward Zone, Inbound Endpoint, and Traffic Analysis. Bills are generated daily. You can view the charges for the previous day on the current day.
II. Billable items
1. Authoritative Zone
Billable item | Billing standard | Billing cycle | Billing trigger condition | Billing description |
Number of User Defined Zones (billing conversion) | USD 0.015/domain/day | Daily | A User Defined Zones is added to Authoritative Zone. | The total number of Authoritative Zone zones under your account is calculated. The actual number of billable domain names is converted based on the number of DNS records. The conversion logic is as follows:
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Number of DNS queries for User Defined Zones | USD 0.004/10,000 requests | Daily | DNS queries are made to a Authoritative Zone zone. |
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2. Cache
Billable item | Billing standard | Billing cycle | Billing trigger condition | Billing description |
Number of Domain Name | USD 0.015/domain/day | Daily | A Domain Name is added. | You are charged for the total number of Domain Name under your account. The cache reserve feature uses the exact-match domain name pattern. |
Number of Clear Cache | USD 15/operation | Daily | A Clear Cache is manually triggered for an added Domain Name. | You are charged for the total number of times the Clear Cache feature is used under your account. |
3. Forward Zone
Billable item | Billing standard | Billing cycle | Billing trigger condition | Billing description |
Number of Source IP Addresses of Outbound Traffic | USD 0.15/unit/hour | Hourly | An Outbound Endpoint is added. | You are charged for the total number of Source IP Addresses of Outbound Traffic under your account. |
Number of DNS queries forwarded by Outbound Endpoint | USD 0.004/10,000 requests | Daily | DNS queries are forwarded to external DNS systems through an Outbound Endpoint. | You are charged for the total number of DNS queries forwarded by all Outbound Endpoint under your account. |
4. Inbound Endpoint
Billable item | Billing standard | Billing cycle | Billing trigger condition | Billing description |
Number of Inbound service IP addresses | USD 0.15/IP/hour | Hourly | An Inbound Endpoint is added. | You are charged for the total number of Inbound service IP addresses under your account. |
Number of DNS queries received by Inbound Endpoint | USD 0.004/10,000 requests | Daily | DNS queries are received by an Inbound Endpoint. | You are charged for the total number of DNS queries received by all Inbound Endpoint under your account. |
5. Traffic Analysis
Billable item | Billing standard | Billing cycle | Billing trigger condition | Billing description |
Number of parsing log analysis entries | USD 0.015/10,000 entries | Daily | Traffic analysis feature enabled | A log entry is recorded for each DNS query. You are charged for the total number of log entries that are analyzed under your account. (1) Calculation rule for total number of parsing log entries: Total number of parsing log entries = global traffic resolution requests + authoritative traffic resolution requests + cache traffic resolution requests + forwarding traffic resolution requests + recursive traffic resolution requests (2) After enabling the traffic analysis feature, the parsing log collection feature is enabled by default, and no separate fee is charged for parsing log collection |
Global traffic resolution requests: The number of domain resolution requests directly initiated by all ECS/containers and other terminals in your internal network × 2. One DNS query request includes both request logs and acknowledgement logs.
Number of Private Zone traffic resolution queries: The number of DNS queries that hit the Private Zone module (including acceleration regions and regular regions) and receive a response.
Cache traffic resolution requests: The number of DNS resolution requests that hit the cache module and obtain resolution results.
Forwarding traffic resolution requests: The number of DNS resolution requests that hit the forwarding module and obtain resolution results × 2, including forwarding module acknowledgement logs and external DNS acknowledgement logs.
Recursive traffic resolution requests: The number of DNS resolution requests that hit the recursive module and obtain resolution results.
III. Examples
Scenario 1: Authoritative Zone
Account A has two User Defined Zones: example.com and example.aliyundoc.com. example.com is in an acceleration region and has 5,050 DNS records. example.aliyundoc.com is in a regular region and has 105,000 DNS records.
In one day, the domain example.aliyundoc.com has 100,000 DNS origin queries, and the domain example.com receives 200,000 DNS query requests from terminal devices.
example.com is an acceleration area domain, and 5,050 resolution records are converted to 6 domains for calculation. example.aliyundoc.com is a regular area domain, and 105,000 resolution records are converted to 2 domains for calculation. So Account A is billed for 8 domains.
Therefore, the daily usage fee for Account A is the sum of user domain fees + regular area domain origin resolution request fees + acceleration area domain request fees:
USD 0.24 = USD 0.12 (8 × USD 0.015/domain) + USD 0.04 (10 × USD 0.004/10,000 requests) + USD 0.08 (20 × USD 0.004/10,000 requests).
Acceleration region (default):
You are charged based on the number of DNS queries initiated by devices, such as ECS instances and containers. The billing is not affected by the TTL value. We recommend that you enable Name Service Cache Daemon (NSCD) for your ECS instances to reduce the number of DNS queries that result from the absence of a local cache.
Regular region:
You are charged based on the actual number of origin requests for User Defined Zones.
For example: If the TTL of domain www.example.com is set to 30 seconds, when an internal terminal accesses this domain, theoretically all requests within 30 seconds will hit the TTL cache, and after the 30-second TTL expires, DNS will make 1 origin query. So in 10 minutes, the number of origin queries for this domain is 10 × 60/30 = 20 times. You can view the number of origin requests on the request analysis page in the console.
The longer the TTL setting time, the slower the frequency of DNS server origin requests, the longer the domain change takes effect, and the less the corresponding charge.
The shorter the TTL setting time, the faster the frequency of DNS server origin requests, the faster the domain change takes effect, and the more the corresponding charge.
Because internal DNS provides services through clusters, DNS query requests are distributed across multiple servers in the cluster. Only when each server in the cluster has a cache can it hit the cache 100% without making origin requests. Therefore, when you compare test data with the data on the console's request analysis page, it is normal for the number of origin queries displayed on the console to be larger than the data you calculated theoretically, especially when the request volume is not high.
Scenario 2: Cache
Account B has three Domain Name: www.example.com, test.example.com, and api.example.com. You update the DNS records because of an urgent business adjustment. To make the updated DNS records of the Domain Name take effect immediately, you perform a Clear Cache for www.example.com and test.example.com.
A Clear Cache is performed once for www.example.com and once for test.example.com. This is counted as two Clear Cache.
The daily fee for Account B is the sum of the Domain Name fee and the Clear Cache fee: USD 30.045 = USD 0.045 (3 × USD 0.015/FQDN) + USD 30 (2 × USD 15/purge).
Scenario 3: Forward Zone
Account C adds a forwarding rule for the domain name example.top and configures two Source IP Addresses of Outbound Traffic. In one day, the Outbound Endpoint forward 1 million DNS queries for this domain name.
The daily fee for Account C is the sum of the Source IP Addresses of Outbound Traffic fee and the Outbound Endpoint forwarded DNS query fee: USD 7.6 = USD 7.2 (2 × 24 hours × USD 0.15/IP address/hour) + USD 0.4 (100 × USD 0.004/10,000 queries).
Scenario 4: Inbound Endpoint
Account D adds two Inbound service IP addresses. In one day, the Inbound Endpoint receive 1 million DNS queries.
The daily fee for Account D is the sum of the Inbound service IP addresses fee and the Inbound Endpoint received DNS query fee: USD 7.6 = USD 7.2 (2 × 24 hours × USD 0.15/IP address/hour) + USD 0.4 (100 × USD 0.004/10,000 queries).
Scenario 5: Traffic Analysis
Account E enables Traffic Analysis and generates 1 million log entries in one day.
Therefore, the daily usage fee for Account E is the parsing log fee: USD 1.5 = 100 × USD 0.015/10,000 entries.
IV. Overdue payments
Alibaba Cloud DNS offers service suspension protection. This feature lets you continue using Alibaba Cloud services for a specific period or within a certain credit limit after a payment becomes overdue. Your existing pay-as-you-go services, purchased resource plans, and subscription resources can be used without interruption. The service suspension process starts only if your usage exceeds the protection scope. For more information, see Pay-as-you-go service suspension protection.
Global Traffic Manager
Global Traffic Manager and Global Traffic Manager 3.0 share the same billing methods and billable items.
Billing methods
Global Traffic Manager 3.0 supports both subscription and pay-as-you-go billing methods.
Subscription
The subscription billing method is ideal for scenarios that require a fixed budget. The following resources are billable:
Subscription instance: You can purchase a Standard or Ultimate Edition of Global Traffic Manager for a specific period, such as a month or a year.
Detection Task Package: By default, the Standard and Ultimate editions include 100 detection tasks per month. To add more health check tasks, you can purchase a Detection Task Package for your instance.
Subscription GTM instances
Edition | Price | Version guide |
Standard | USD 20/month | For more information about the differences between the Standard and Ultimate editions, see Subscription instances. |
Ultimate | USD 140/month |
Detection task package
When you apply a Health Check Template to an address, one detection task is created. Each instance includes 100 detection tasks by default. Additional detection tasks for health checks can be used only with an instance and cannot be purchased or used separately.
Edition | Price |
Standard | USD 12/month for a package of 100 detection tasks. |
Ultimate | USD 48/month for a package of 100 detection tasks. |
Calculation Example for a Detection Task
In the health check configuration for an address pool, you apply an ICMP (Ping) Health Check Template and an HTTP Health Check Template to three IP addresses: ip1, ip2, and ip3. The total number of detection tasks is calculated as follows: Number of IP addresses × Number of applied Health Check Template = 3 × 2 = 6.
Expiration
The system sends renewal reminders 7, 3, and 1 day before your instance expires.
If you do not renew your instance before it expires, its DNS resolution and health check tasks automatically stop. This may cause service access issues for your domain names.
Seven days after the instance expires, Global Traffic Manager 3.0 releases the instance and deletes the configuration data for the Access Domain.
NoteThe Health Check Template, Address, and Address Pool of Global Traffic Manager 3.0 are not deleted.
Pay-as-you-go
For flexible and dynamic business needs, Alibaba Cloud DNS offers a pay-as-you-go billing method for GTM instances. The following items are billable:
Pay-as-you-go GTM instances
Billable item | Price | Description |
Domain Name Count | USD 0.015/domain name/day | Billed based on the number of Access Domain you have (including enabled and disabled ones). Fees are settled daily. |
DNS Query Count | USD 0.004/10,000 requests | Billed based on the number of DNS queries processed by GTM. Fees are settled daily. |
Health Probe Count | USD 1.5/10,000 checks | Billed based on the number of health checks performed on your addresses. Fees are settled daily. Important If you disable an Access Domain, the health check tasks for the addresses under that domain name continue to run. To stop billing completely, delete the health check tasks. |
SMS Alerts | USD 0.225/message | Billed based on the number of text message alerts sent. Fees are settled daily. |
DNS traffic analysis
Feature | Price | Billing cycle | Billing trigger | Description |
Alibaba Cloud DNS Storage and Analytics | 0.03 USD/10,000 entries | Billed daily | Traffic Analysis is enabled and configured to Store and analyze in Alibaba Cloud DNS | Fees for storage and analysis are charged based on the number of DNS resolution log entries generated by domain names for which Traffic Analysis is enabled. Bills are settled daily. |
Store in Simple Log Service (SLS) only | 0.0015 USD/10,000 entries | Billed daily | Traffic Analysis is enabled and configured to Store in Simple Log Service (SLS) only | Fees for storing data in SLS are charged based on the number of DNS resolution log entries generated by domain names for which Traffic Analysis is enabled. Bills are settled daily. Other fees: Subsequent storage fees are charged directly by SLS. For more information, see the billing standards for SLS. |
Forward Alibaba Cloud DNS Logs to Simple Log Service (SLS) for Storage and Statistical Analysis | 0.0315 USD/10,000 entries | Billed daily | Traffic Analysis is enabled and configured to Store and analyze in Alibaba Cloud DNS and store in Alibaba Cloud SLS | Fees for both storing and analyzing in Alibaba Cloud DNS and for storing in SLS are charged based on the number of DNS resolution log entries generated by domain names for which Traffic Analysis is enabled. Bills are settled daily. Other fees: Subsequent storage fees are charged directly by SLS. For more information, see the billing standards for SLS. |
Cost estimation example
Example: Consider a scenario with one Access Domain, 2 IP addresses, and 3 detection nodes. The nodes perform HTTP detection on 2 ports (such as 80 and 3000) for each IP address at a frequency of once per minute. This scenario also assumes an average of 100,000 DNS resolution requests and 1 text message alert per day.
Monthly cost estimation:
Access domain name fee: 1 domain name × USD 0.015/domain name/day × 30 days/month = USD 0.45/month
Health check fee: 2 IP addresses × 2 ports × 3 detection nodes × 1 check/minute × 60 minutes/hour × 24 hours/day × 30 days/month × USD 0.00015/check = USD 77.64/month
GTM DNS resolution request fee: 100,000 requests/day × 30 days/month × USD 0.004/10,000 requests = USD 1.2/month
Text message alert fee: 1 message/day × 30 days/month × USD 0.225/message = USD 6.75/month
Total fee: 0.45 + 77.64 + 1.2 + 6.75 = USD 86.04/month
Overdue payments
If your account has an overdue payment, services for the Access Domain immediately stop. This includes DNS resolution, health checks, and text message alerts. You are not charged for the Access Domain while the payment is overdue. If the payment is not settled, the Access Domain is automatically released 15 days after the payment becomes overdue. Address pools, addresses, and Health Check Template are not affected.
Enterprise Recursive DNS Gateway
Billing methods
Recursive Gateway uses a pay-as-you-go billing method. You can purchase resource plans to reduce your costs.
Bills for Recursive Gateway are generated daily.
On the first day of each month, active Recursive Gateway services receive a free quota of 10 million standard HTTP requests, which is equivalent to 20 million UDP/TCP queries. Usage within this quota is free. Any usage that exceeds the free quota is charged.
The free quota is granted monthly and does not roll over to the next month.
Billing rules
Recursive Gateway is billed based on the number of UDP/TCP queries:
Usage that exceeds the free quota is billed at a rate of USD 0.0031 per 10,000 queries.
Deduction priority
Overdue payments
Alibaba Cloud DNS offers service suspension protection. This feature lets you continue using Alibaba Cloud services for a specific period or within a certain credit limit after a payment becomes overdue. Your existing pay-as-you-go services, purchased resource plans, and subscription resources can be used without interruption. The service suspension process starts only if your usage exceeds the protection scope. For more information, see Pay-as-you-go service suspension protection.
HTTPDNS
Billing methods
HTTPDNS uses the pay-as-you-go billing method. You are not charged if you do not use the service.
HTTPDNS is billed on a daily basis, and a bill is generated each day.
On the first day of each month, HTTPDNS provides a free quota of 10 million HTTP queries for each active account. This is equivalent to 20 million UDP/TCP resolution queries. You are not charged if your usage is within the free quota. If you exceed the free quota, you are charged for the additional usage.
The free quota is provided monthly. Unused quota from the current month does not carry over to the next month.
Billable items
HTTPDNS billing is based on the number of HTTP queries. The number of HTTPS queries, including DoH and DoT, is converted to an equivalent number of HTTP queries for billing. The conversion ratios are as follows:
HTTPS queries, including DoH and DoT, are billed at five times the rate of HTTP queries. For example, one HTTPS query (DoH or DoT) is equivalent to five HTTP queries.
Usage exceeding the free quota is charged at USD 0.0062 per 10,000 HTTP queries.
Usage deduction order
Self-hosted DNS
Billing method
On-premises DNS uses a pay-as-you-go billing method. You are billed daily based on the number of resolution service nodes that you deploy. Charges are settled daily.
Billing rules
Billable item | Billing standard | Billing cycle | Billing |
Resolution service node (50,000 QPS) | 7.5 USD/day/node | Billed daily |
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Resolution service node (100,000 QPS) | 15 USD/day/node | Billed daily |
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Expert managed services | For inquiries, join our DingTalk group: 104160006996 | Billed annually |
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Limited-time 40% discount: From November 6, 2025, to March 31, 2026, all specifications of On-premises DNS are available to new and existing users at a 40% discount. Prices will return to normal after the promotion ends.
Free trial: Enterprise users automatically qualify for a free trial. The trial lasts for 30 days and includes unlimited features and nodes.
Built-in authoritative domain names and cache reserve domain names are added to Internal DNS, which incurs domain name fees. For more information, see the product billing for Internal DNS.
Resolution requests and cache purges for domain names associated only with On-premises DNS resolution clusters are free of charge.
Overdue payments
If you have an overdue payment for your On-premises DNS service, your resolution nodes will continue to work for 30 days. During this period, the Cloud DNS console is locked, which prevents you from changing any configurations. However, your existing resolution data is not affected.
If a payment remains overdue for 30 days, all service nodes and domain name resolution data are deleted. This data cannot be recovered.
DNS Firewall
Billing methods
DNS Firewall includes multiple components and supports both pay-as-you-go and subscription billing methods.
Pay-as-you-go
This billing method applies to Private Zone DNS Firewall and Public Recursive DNS Firewall. Fees are calculated and settled daily based on your actual usage.
Component | Billable item | Pricing | Description |
Private Zone DNS Firewall | Number of custom rules | USD 0.015/rule/day |
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Number of protection detections | USD 0.004/10,000 queries | Fees are charged based on the number of domain name queries that hit Custom Rules or Threat Intelligence Rules. | |
Public Recursive DNS Firewall | Number of protection detections | USD 0.004/10,000 queries | Fees are charged based on the number of domain name query requests generated within the scope of the Threat Intelligence Rules. |
Cost estimation example
Feature: Private Zone DNS Firewall
Usage: 20 custom rules. Each custom rule blocks 10,000 domain name queries per day.
Monthly cost estimate:
Protection rule fee: 20 rules × USD 0.015/rule/day × 30 days/month = USD 9/month
Protection detection fee: 20 rules × 10,000 queries/day × USD 0.004/10,000 queries × 30 days/month = USD 2.4/month
Total fee: USD 9/month + USD 2.4/month = USD 11.4/month
Overdue payments
Alibaba Cloud DNS offers service suspension protection. This feature lets you continue using Alibaba Cloud services for a specific period or within a certain credit limit after a payment becomes overdue. Your existing pay-as-you-go services, purchased resource plans, and subscription resources can be used without interruption. The service suspension process starts only if your usage exceeds the protection scope. For more information, see Pay-as-you-go service suspension protection.
Subscription
This billing method applies to Public Zone DNS Firewall. You must purchase the service in advance, and the fee covers the subscription period that you select.
Component | Billable item | Pricing | Description |
Anti-DDoS Protection | DNS Anti-DDoS Basic | USD 86/domain name/year | Provides basic DNS attack protection for each domain name attached to the edition. The basic DNS attack defense threshold is 10 million queries per second (QPS). |
DNS Anti-DDoS Advanced | USD 429/domain name/year | Provides comprehensive DNS attack protection for each domain name attached to the edition. This can withstand over 100 million DNS QPS. | |
Authoritative DNS Resolution Agent | Authoritative Zone Name | USD 588/domain name/year | The fee to purchase an authoritative proxy domain name. Note Due to a sales policy adjustment, starting from October 30, 2025, subscription plans with DNS Security set to "No Defense" will no longer be available for purchase. |
Expiration
Anti-DDoS Protection: This feature expires when the Public Authoritative Zone instance expires. To avoid service interruptions, renew the instance. For more information, see Instance expiration and renewal.
Authoritative DNS Resolution Agent: When the service expires, the proxy feature is disabled. To ensure business continuity, renew the service before it expires.