Instance FAQ

Paid editions provide higher service quality and broader guarantees:

• Service quality: Paid editions include a 100% SLA guarantee and expert technical support. The Free Edition offers no availability guarantee or technical support.

• Enhanced features:

  • More subdomain levels and granular TTL settings for greater resolution flexibility.

  • Intelligent parsing by carrier, cloud provider, and region to route users to the optimal path.

  • Higher IP address capacity for Server Load Balancer to handle complex traffic demands.

  • DNSSEC support and query volume statistics for enhanced security and analytics.

• Advanced features (Ultimate Edition):

  • More granular intelligent parsing.

  • DNS record backup and Secondary DNS for improved availability and security.

Compare all features in the Edition Comparison.

A: Use one of the following methods:

• Method 1:

• Method 2: Adjust the TTL value of your DNS records. A larger TTL caches results longer at the local resolver, reducing queries to the authoritative server and lowering costs.

  Warning

  Read How to Configure TTL before changing TTL values.

• Method 3: Contact us on DingTalk (ID: behladu) for a business discount.

1. Log on to the Alibaba Cloud DNS – Public Authoritative DNS console.

2. Click Instance > Batch Auto-renewal.

3. Set Expires At to All, Product Name to Alibaba Cloud DNS (Subscription), and Region to All Regions. On the Manual Renewal tab, select the target instances and click Enable Auto-renewal.

   The auto-renewal payment date appears in the Countdown to Expiration column.

A: No. The upgrade is seamless and does not interrupt DNS resolution. Post-upgrade steps depend on your domain registrar:

• Domain name is registered with Alibaba Cloud: Alibaba Cloud DNS automatically updates your DNS servers. If the update fails due to an update lock or a network issue, disable the lock and manually update the DNS servers. Modify Your Domain’s DNS Servers.

• Domain name is not registered with Alibaba Cloud: Change the DNS servers at your registrar to the ones assigned by Alibaba Cloud DNS.

A: Upgrading between paid editions may assign different DNS server names. This does not affect DNS resolution because all paid editions share the same server cluster: vip(1-8).alidns.com. Update the DNS servers at your registrar to the newly assigned names. Modify Your Domain’s DNS Servers.

A: Alibaba Cloud DNS does not support edition downgrades. For example, you cannot downgrade from the Ultimate Edition to the Personal Edition.

• To use a lower-edition instance, Switch Your Domain to Another Instance.

• To switch from a paid instance to the Free Edition, Detach Your Domain from an Instance.

A: Direct edition downgrades are not supported. A switch from a paid instance to the Free Edition occurs when you detach the instance or when it expires. This switch can fail for the following reasons:

• If your domain is registered with Alibaba Cloud, the switch typically fails because an update lock is enabled. Run a WHOIS query to check. If the status shows Registrar-provided update lock, disable it and manually change your DNS servers to the Free Edition names. Modify Your Domain’s DNS Servers.

• Alibaba Cloud DNS does not support automatic DNS server switching for third-party registrar domains. Manually change the DNS servers to the Free Edition names at your registrar.

A: Yes, but complete the switch within seven days after your instance expires. After seven days, the instance is released and DNS resolution stops. Some DNS records may be paused and paid-only features become unavailable after the switch. Instance Expiration and Renewal.

A: Yes. You can request a partial refund for an active instance or cancel a future renewal. Cancel an Instance.

A: Alibaba Cloud retains your DNS data for a 7-day grace period after expiration. Renewing within this period preserves DNS resolution. If you do not renew, the instance is released. To prevent resolution failure:

• For domain names registered with Alibaba Cloud: The system automatically downgrades DNS settings to the Free Edition and pauses records that rely on paid features. If an update lock is enabled (check via WHOIS query for the status "Registrar-provided update lock") or a network timeout prevents the automatic downgrade, manually change the DNS servers to the Free Edition names in the Alibaba Cloud DNS console.

• For domain names registered with other registrars: DNS resolution is disrupted. Manually change your DNS servers to the Free Edition names.

Instance Expiration and Renewal.