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    Elastic Compute Service:Subscription

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    Elastic Compute Service:Subscription

    Last Updated:Aug 29, 2023

    Subscription instances are a great way to save on ECS bills if you have long-term or predictable workloads. Elastic Compute Service (ECS) provides larger savings for longer subscriptions. This topic describes the billing rules for subscription ECS resources.

    Scenarios

    The subscription billing method is suitable if you:

    • can predict upcoming workloads.

    • have workloads with consistent resource requirements.

    • have sustained workloads in the mid- to long-term.

    The following table describes the various stages of purchasing and using a subscription instance.

    Stage

    Description

    Instance selection

    You are presented with several options for subscription durations when you create subscription instances on the Quick Launch or Custom Launch tab of the instance buy page in the ECS console.

    Instance creation

    Payment for the selected instance and subscription resources is required before your instance is created. For more information about how prices are calculated, see the Billing examples section of this topic.

    Instance in-use

    • If your workloads consistently exceed your instance capacity or underutilize resources, you can upgrade or downgrade instance configurations or resize subscription disks that are attached to the instance. For more information, see Overview of instance configuration changes and Overview.

    • If your workloads become intermittent or you no longer need the instance, you can change the billing method of your instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go. Then, you are billed only for what you use and can release your instance at any time. This lets you recover a portion of the subscription costs. For more information, see Change the billing method of an instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go.

    • Your overdue bills do not affect the use of existing subscription instances. However, you will be unable to perform payment-related activities, including purchasing new instances, upgrading instance configurations, or renewing resources. For more information, see Overdue payments.

    Instance expiration

    When an instance expires, the instance is stopped and subsequently released after 15 days. To continue using the instance, you must renew the instance. For more information, see Renewal overview.

    Billable items

    An ECS instance consists of computing resources (vCPUs and memory), Elastic Block Storage (EBS) devices, an image, and networking resources. The resources listed in the following table support the subscription billing method.

    Resource

    Description

    Computing resources (vCPUs and memory)

    During instance selection, you are provided the option to choose the subscription billing method.

    Images

    Images that are used to create subscription instances are billed by using the subscription billing method.

    Cloud disks

    Cloud disks that are created along with subscription instances are billed by using the subscription billing method.

    After you create a subscription instance, you can add additional subscription disks to the instance. You can also separately create pay-as-you-go disks and then attach them to the instance. For more information, see Create a subscription disk and Attach a data disk.

    Public bandwidth (pay-by-bandwidth)

    Public bandwidth provides the pay-by-bandwidth and pay-by-traffic option. The pay-by-bandwidth option lets you pay for public bandwidth by using the subscription billing method. For more information, see Public bandwidth.

    When you are configuring the instance on the buy page, the total price is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

    • Total indicates the total price of the following resources:

      • Computing resource (vCPUs and memory)

      • Cloud disks

      • Public bandwidth (pay-by-bandwidth)

        Note

        If you select pay-by-traffic as the billing method for network usage, the total price does not include the cost of public bandwidth. For more information, see Public bandwidth.

    • Marketplace Image Fees is displayed if you select a paid Alibaba Cloud Marketplace image.

    You can use the ECS TCO Calculator to evaluate your cloud migration costs.

    Billing cycles

    The billing cycle is determined by the subscription duration of the instance. The start time of billing cycle is accurate to the second, and begins the moment you make a successful purchase. The billing cycle ends at 00:00:00 on the day after the expiration date. If you renew the instance, the new billing cycle starts at the end of the previous billing cycle.

    Note

    The billing cycles of subscription resources are in the unit of calendar years or months.

    Billing examples

    For example, you used computing resources (vCPUs and memory), an image, and a cloud disk (as the system disk) to create a one-month subscription instance at 13:00:00 on August 9, 2022. Then, you manually renewed the instance for another one month. The following billing cycles apply:

    • The first billing cycle is from 13:00:00 on August 9, 2022 to 00:00:00 on September 10, 2022.

    • The second billing cycle is from 00:00:00 on September 10, 2022 to 00:00:00 on October 10, 2022.

    Subscription instances require upfront payment, which must be completed before each billing cycle. The price for each billing cycle is determined by the configurations of your instance. The following table describes how each ECS resource is billed, and provides the formulas used.

    Resource type

    Billing formulas

    Unit price

    Computing resource (vCPUs and memory)

    Unit price of an instance type × Subscription duration

    For more information, see the Instance section on the Pricing tab of the Elastic Compute Service product page.

    Note

    Local disks are available only for specific instance types. The prices of local disks are included in the prices of the instance types.

    Image

    Unit price of an image × Subscription duration

    You can view the price on the instance buy page in the ECS console or in Alibaba Cloud Marketplace.

    Cloud disk (system disk)

    Unit price of a cloud disk × Disk capacity × Subscription duration

    For more information, see the Storage section on the Pricing tab of the Elastic Compute Service product page.

    Note

    The prices for pay-as-you-go disks displayed on the tab are in USD per 100 GiB-hour. Divide the prices by 100 to obtain the unit prices per GiB-hour.

    Cloud disk (data disk)

    Unit price of a cloud disk × Disk capacity × Subscription duration

    For more information, see the Storage section on the Pricing tab of the Elastic Compute Service product page.

    Note

    The prices for pay-as-you-go disks displayed on the tab are in USD per 100 GiB-hour. Divide the prices by 100 to obtain the unit prices per GiB-hour.

    Public bandwidth (pay-by-bandwidth)

    The bandwidth is charged (in Mbit/s) based on a tiered billing model.

    • 1 to 5 Mbit/s: You are billed at a flat rate per Mbit/s.

    • ≥ 6 Mbit/s: Each bandwidth value corresponds to a different unit price.

    A tiered billing model is used for bandwidth. You can select a bandwidth value on the instance buy page to view the fee schedule.

    For example, assume that you created a three-month subscription instance in the China (Qingdao) region. The following figure shows the process of calculating the instance price.

    Note

    The prices in the following figure are for reference only. Prices on the Pricing tab of the Elastic Compute Service product page prevail.

    Changes in resource states after a subscription instance expires

    Important

    After a subscription instance expires, it may be stopped. The system sends you notifications for renewing the instance. Renew your instance at your earliest convenience to ensure service continuity. If you have other questions, submit a ticket.

    If the auto-renewal feature is not enabled for a subscription instance, the instance stops providing services at some point from 00:00:00 on the expiration date to 00:00:00 the next day.

    Note

    You cannot enable the auto-renewal feature for an expired subscription instance.

    The following table describes the resource states for such an expired subscription instance.

    Resource type

    Day 1 to 15

    After day 15

    Computing resource (vCPUs and memory)

    The computing resources (vCPUs and memory) of the instance are retained, but the instance stops providing services.

    Note

    After an instance is stopped, you cannot connect to the instance remotely or access websites deployed on the instance, and service errors may occur.

    The computing resources (vCPUs and memory) are released.

    Image

    The image becomes unavailable.

    The image becomes unavailable.

    Block storage device

    • Cloud disks and their data are retained, but the cloud disks cannot be accessed.

    • Local disks and their data are retained, but the local disks cannot be accessed.

    • Subscription disks are released, and their data can no longer be recovered.

      Note

      If you have manually attached pay-as-you-go cloud disks and have not set the release mode of the disks to Release with Instance, these disks stop providing services.

    • Local disks are released, and their data can no longer be recovered.

    Public IP address

    • If the instance resides in the classic network, its public IP address is retained.

    • If the instance resides in a virtual private cloud (VPC), the following rules apply:

      • The public IP address is retained.

      • The elastic IP address (EIP) associated with the instance remains unchanged.

    • If the instance resides in the classic network, its public IP address is released.

    • If the instance resides in a VPC, the following rules apply:

      • The public IP address is released.

      • The EIP is disassociated from the instance.

    If the auto-renewal feature is enabled for a subscription instance but the renewal fails, the instance stops providing services at some point from 00:00:00 on day 15 to 00:00:00 on day 16.

    The following table describes the resource states for such an expired subscription instance.

    Resource type

    Day 1 to 15

    Day 16 to 30

    After day 30

    Computing resource (vCPUs and memory)

    The computing resources (vCPUs and memory) are retained, and the instance works properly.

    Note

    You can start or stop an instance that works properly, and connect to the instance by using management terminals or other connection methods.

    The computing resources (vCPUs and memory) of the instance are retained, but the instance stops providing services.

    Note

    After an instance is stopped, you cannot connect to the instance or access websites deployed on the instance, and service errors may occur.

    The computing resources (vCPUs and memory) are released.

    Image

    The image is available.

    The image becomes unavailable.

    The image becomes unavailable.

    Block storage device

    • Cloud disks and their data are retained. The cloud disks work properly.

    • Local disks and their data are retained. The local disks work properly.

    • Cloud disks and their data are retained, but the cloud disks become inaccessible.

    • Local disks and their data are retained, but the local disks become inaccessible.

    • Subscription disks are released, and their data can no longer be recovered.

      Note

      If you have manually attached pay-as-you-go cloud disks and have not set the release mode of the disks to Release with Instance, these disks stop providing services.

    • Local disks are released, and their data can no longer be recovered.

    Public IP address

    • If the instance resides in the classic network, its public IP address is retained.

    • If the instance resides in a VPC, the following rules apply:

      • The public IP address is retained.

      • The EIP associated with the instance remains unchanged.

    • If the instance resides in the classic network, its public IP address is retained.

    • If the instance resides in a VPC, the following rules apply:

      • The public IP address is retained.

      • The EIP associated with the instance remains unchanged.

    • If the instance resides in the classic network, its public IP address is released.

    • If the instance resides in a VPC, the following rules apply:

      • The public IP address is released.

      • The EIP is disassociated from the instance.

    After an instance expires, Data Storage is displayed in the Actions column corresponding to the instance on the Instances page. Before the instance is released, you can create a custom image from the instance or create snapshots for disks of the instance to back up disk data. Data Storage

    Switch from subscription to pay-as-you-go

    You can change the billing method of an instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go. This allows you to recover a portion of the subscription costs and use the instance in a more flexible manner. For more information, see Change the billing method of an instance from subscription to pay-as-you-go.

    Overdue payments

    If you have overdue bills, existing subscription instances are not affected. However, you will be unable to perform payment-related activities, including purchasing instances, upgrading instance configurations, or renewing resources. For more information, see Overdue payments.

    Billing FAQ