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Elastic Compute Service:Overview

Last Updated:Jan 25, 2024

Disk resizing is an operation that extends disks to larger sizes to meet storage requirements. Disk resizing includes the resizing of system disks and data disks. If the capacity of a disk does not meet your storage requirements, you can resize the disk to increase the storage space to accommodate more data. This topic describes the process, upper limits, and fees for disk resizing.

Process for resizing a disk

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  1. Resize a disk in the Elastic Compute Service (ECS) console.

    For more information, see Step 1: Resize a disk to extend its capacity.

  2. Connect to the ECS instance to which the disk is attached and extend the file systems and partitions of the disk in the operating system to take advantage of the added storage space. For more information, see Connection method overview.

    Before you extend the file systems and partitions of the disk, determine what resize operations to perform based on the following factors: whether the disk is partitioned, the partition style, and the new disk size. The following table describes the operations.

    Operation

    Procedure

    Unpartitioned disk (raw disk): Directly extend the file systems.

    Extend the partitions and file systems of disks on a Linux instance

    Partitioned disk

    If the disk is resized to up to 2 TiB, directly extend the partitions and file systems.

    If the disk is GPT-formatted and is resized to more than 2 TiB, directly extend the partitions and file systems.

    If the disk is MBR-formatted and is resized to more than 2 TiB, convert the disk into a GPT disk and then extend its partitions and file systems.

    1. Convert MBR partitions into GPT partitions

    2. Extend the partitions and file systems of disks on a Linux instance or Extend the partitions and file systems of a disk on a Windows instance

Note

In addition to resizing existing disks, you can also use the following methods to obtain more storage space.

Capacity limits

When you resize a disk, the new capacity must be greater than the existing capacity and can be up to the maximum capacity allowed for the disk. System disks and data disks are subject to different capacity limits. The following items describe the limits:

  • System disk: 2,048 GiB

  • Data disk: 32,768 GiB

Note
  • The preceding capacity limits are imposed on enhanced SSDs (ESSDs) and ultra disks.

  • If ESSD AutoPL disks and ESSD disks are used as data disks, the capacity limit is 65,536 GiB.

  • If basic disks are used as system disks, the capacity limit is 500 GiB. If basic disk are used as data disks, the capacity limit is 2,000 GiB. Basic disks are the previous generation of disks and are unavailable for purchase.

For more information, see the "Block storage limits" section of the Limits topic.

For example, an instance uses a 40 GiB ESSD as the system disk. When you resize the system disk, the new size of the system disk must be larger than 40 GiB but cannot exceed 2,048 GiB.

Fees

When you resize a disk, you are charged for the incremental capacity by using the billing method used for the disk.

  • For a subscription disk, you need to pay the price difference between the new capacity and the original capacity based on the remaining subscription duration.

  • For a pay-as-you-go disk, the new capacity takes effect immediately after the disk is resized, and the disk is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis for the new capacity.

If you purchased storage capacity units, they are automatically used to offset the bills of pay-as-you-go disks. For more information, see Block storage devices.