If the configurations of an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance do not meet your business needs, you can change the configurations, including the instance type (vCPUs and memory), bandwidth configurations, and the billing methods of the data disks. This topic describes methods of changing the configurations of an ECS instance.
Change instance types
An instance type is a predefined combination of vCPUs and memory. When you change the instance type of an instance, you must change both the number of vCPUs and memory size. The number of vCPUs or memory size cannot be changed individually.
- For information about instance types, see Overview of instance families.
- For information about instance families that support instance type changes, see Instance families that support instance type changes.
The following table describes the change methods best suited for different billing methods of your instances.
| Billing method | Change time | Effective time | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Before the instance expires | After the instance is restarted | |
| Within 15 days before the instance expires | After the instance is restarted within the first seven days of the new billing cycle | Downgrade the configurations of an instance during renewal | |
| Pay-as-you-go | N/A | After the instance is restarted | Change the instance type of a pay-as-you-go instance |
Change the billing method for network usage
You can use different methods to change the billing method for network usage of an instance based on the public IP address type. The following table describes the methods.
| Public IP address type | Effective time | References |
|---|---|---|
| System-assigned public IP address | Immediately | Change the billing method of network usage |
| Elastic IP address (EIP) | Immediately | Modify the bandwidth of an EIP |
Modify public bandwidth
You can use different methods to modify the public bandwidth of an instance based on your business needs and the billing method of the instance. The following table describes the methods.
- If the instance is located in a virtual private cloud (VPC), the public IP address of the instance is released immediately.
- If the instance is located in the classic network, the instance can no longer access the Internet but its public IP address is retained.
You can set the public bandwidth to a non-zero value when you create an instance. The system assigns a public IP address to the created instance. If you set the public bandwidth to zero when you create an instance, the instance is not assigned a public IP address. After the instance is created, you can change the public bandwidth from 0 Mbit/s to a non-zero value by using the configuration upgrade feature to assign a public IP address to the instance.
| Public IP address type | Applicable scope | Effective time | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| System-assigned public IP address | Modify the base public bandwidth for a subscription instance | Immediately | Modify the bandwidth configurations of subscription instances |
| Modify the base public bandwidth for a subscription instance during renewal | After the new billing cycle starts | Downgrade the configurations of an instance during renewal | |
| Modify the base public bandwidth for a pay-as-you-go instance | Immediately | Modify the bandwidth configurations of pay-as-you-go instances | |
| EIP | Modify the bandwidth of an EIP for a subscription or pay-as-you-go instance | Immediately | Modify the bandwidth of an EIP |
Change the billing methods of data disks
Only pay-as-you-go data disks can be attached to pay-as-you-go instances. Therefore, you can change the billing methods of data disks only for subscription instances.
| Change time | Effective time | References |
|---|---|---|
| Before the instance expires | Immediately | Switch the billing method of a disk |
| Within the 15 days before the instance expires or when the instance has expired but not been released | Immediately | Downgrade the configurations of an instance during renewal |
FAQ
The following section provides answers to the frequently asked questions about upgrading and downgrading the configurations of instances. For more information, see Instance FAQ.
- How is the fee for an instance configuration upgrade calculated?
- You are charged for upgrading the instance type and configurations of a subscription ECS instance. The fee is the difference between the price of the new configurations and the remaining price of original configurations.
- After a pay-as-you-go ECS instance is upgraded, the instance is billed periodically based on the new instance type.
The actual fee is displayed in the ECS console when you upgrade the instance type or configurations of an instance. You can also view the billing details on the Account Overview page.
- Are my cloud service configurations affected if I upgrade the configurations of ECS instances?
Pay-as-you-go instances must be stopped before their configurations can be upgraded. After you upgrade the configurations of a subscription instance, you must restart the instance for the new configurations to take effect. The upgrade operation interrupts services that are running on the instance for a short period of time. We recommend that you upgrade instances during off-peak hours. After an instance upgrade, the instance seamlessly resumes services without the need to reconfigure its environment.
- After I make an upgrade order for an instance, can I cancel the order and restore the instance to its original configurations?
No, you cannot cancel the order and restore the instance to its original configurations. After an upgrade order for an instance takes effect, the order cannot be canceled and the configurations of the instance are upgraded. If you want to restore the instance to its original configurations, you can downgrade its configurations. You are charged for the downgrade operation.