Instance expiration and renewal_Authoritative DNS - Alibaba Cloud DNS

If you use a paid instance, it is important to understand the effects of expiration and how to renew the instance.

Effects of DNS instance expiration

If you do not renew your DNS instance on the day it expires, the paid edition continues to provide the service. Your DNS resolution is not affected.
If you renew your DNS instance within seven days after it expires, the paid edition continues to provide the service. Your DNS resolution is not affected.
If you do not renew your DNS instance by the seventh day after it expires, the instance is released. The DNS data on the paid edition cluster becomes unavailable.

Renewal

To prevent service disruptions, renew your instance as soon as you receive an expiration notice.

Renewal time

Effect

Method

Within seven days after the DNS instance expires (exclusive of the seventh day)

The paid edition of Alibaba Cloud DNS continues to provide the service. DNS resolution is not affected.

Renew the DNS instance.

More than seven days after the DNS instance expires

The DNS instance is released. The DNS data on the paid edition cluster becomes unavailable and cannot respond to DNS requests.
If your domain name is registered with Alibaba Cloud, the system attempts to downgrade it to the Free Edition after the paid service expires. The downgrade might fail due to factors such as a domain name change lock. The system does not send a notification if the downgrade fails. To ensure that your DNS service runs properly, you must manage your instance before it expires. The system only attempts to perform the downgrade and is not liable for the result.

On the seventh day after expiration, the system automatically releases the DNS instance. You cannot renew the instance to resume the service. Instead, you must perform the following steps:

Purchase a new instance.
Attach the domain name to the newly purchased DNS instance.
If any DNS records were paused because the instance was released, you must re-enable them. Otherwise, you can ignore this step.

Renewal procedure

You can renew a DNS instance manually or automatically. To prevent your instance from being released after expiration and affecting your business, we recommend that you enable auto-renewal.

Auto-renewal

Log on to the Alibaba Cloud DNS - Authoritative DNS page. On the Authoritative DNS page, click Batch Auto Renewal.
You are redirected to the Resource Renewals page. Select the check box next to the instance ID and click Enable Auto Renewal.

Manual renewal

Log on to the Alibaba Cloud DNS - Authoritative DNS page. On the Instance Plans page, click Renew in the row of the target instance.

Important

Users who enable auto-renewal receive a 15% discount on annual payments. This discount applies only to automatic deductions made by the system before expiration. If you renew your instance manually, you are not eligible for the 15% discount on annual payments. The 15% discount on annual payments for auto-renewal is available on the China site (aliyun.com) but not on the international site (alibabacloud.com).
Auto-renewal settings take effect the next day, not immediately. After the settings take effect, the system starts to deduct the renewal fee at 08:00, nine days before the instance expires. If the first deduction fails due to an insufficient account balance or other reasons, the system attempts to deduct the fee once per day. This process continues until the payment is successful or until 08:00 on the day before the instance expires. If the deduction still fails, you must renew the instance manually. In this case, you are not eligible for the 15% discount on annual payments.
When you purchase an Authoritative DNS instance, if you select and agree to Auto-renewal, the system sends you a reminder and automatically creates a renewal order before the instance expires. You do not need to renew it manually. The auto-renewal cycle is one month for a monthly subscription and one year for a yearly subscription.

Discontinuing the paid edition of Alibaba Cloud DNS

If you no longer want to use the paid edition of Alibaba Cloud DNS, you can switch your domain name from the paid instance to the Free Edition. For more information, see Detach an instance.