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    Elastic Compute Service:Change disk category

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    Elastic Compute Service:Change disk category

    Last Updated:May 15, 2026

    Change a disk's category online without service interruption to resolve performance bottlenecks or reduce costs.

    Limitations

    • Unsupported block storage types: Basic disks, elastic ephemeral disks, and local disks do not support category changes.

    • Instance type limitations: The attached instance type must support the target disk category.

    • Disk status limitations:

      • Data disk: status must be In Use or Unattached.

      • System disk: status must be In Use.

    • Disk configuration limitations: Disks with multi-attach enabled do not support category changes.

      On the ECS console > Elastic Block Storage > Disks page, click the disk ID. If Multi-attach displays Yes, the feature is enabled.

    Procedure

    Important

    To ensure data security, create a manual snapshot of the disk before changing the disk category.

    1. Go to ECS console - Block Storage - Cloud Disks. In the top-left corner, select the region and resource group for the target resource.

    2. In the Actions column, choose More > Change Configuration.

    3. In the Change Configuration dialog box, select a New Disk Category.

      • Locally redundant disks: Store data redundantly across devices within a single Availability Zone (AZ) to protect against hardware failures.

      • Zone-redundant disks: In regions with three or more AZs, store data redundantly across AZs for disaster recovery from single-AZ failures.

      Enterprise SSDs (ESSDs)

      These are locally redundant disks.

      • An ESSD at PL0 can be changed to:

        • ESSD at PL1, PL2, or PL3

        • ESSD AutoPL disk

        • Regional ESSD

          Only a data disk can be changed to a Regional ESSD.

      • Supported changes for ESSDs at PL1, PL2, and PL3 vary by billing method:

        • Pay-as-you-go disks:

          • Switch between PL1, PL2, and PL3.

          • Change to an ESSD AutoPL disk.

          • Change an ESSD at PL1 to a Regional ESSD.

            Only a data disk can be changed to a Regional ESSD.

        • Subscription disks (upgrade only):

          • Change an ESSD at PL1 to an ESSD at PL2.

          • Change an ESSD at PL1 to an ESSD at PL3.

          • Change an ESSD at PL2 to an ESSD at PL3.

          • Change an ESSD at PL1 to an ESSD AutoPL disk.

          • Change an ESSD data disk at PL1 to a Regional ESSD.

      ESSD AutoPL disks

      These are locally redundant disks. Supported target categories:

      • ESSD AutoPL disk

        During the change, you can modify the provisioned performance but not the performance burst. Adjust the performance burst after the change.

      • Regional ESSD

        • Before changing to a Regional ESSD, disable provisioned performance and performance burst.

          Regional ESSDs and ESSD AutoPL disks have different performance limits. Disabling provisioned performance and performance burst may affect your services. Review the block storage performance documentation to ensure the new configuration meets your needs.

        • Only a data disk can be changed to a Regional ESSD.

      Regional ESSDs

      These are zone-redundant disks.

      1. Zone.

        • If disk status is In Use, this option is grayed out. The new locally redundant disk stays in the same AZ as the attached instance.

        • If disk status is Unattached, the new locally redundant disk can only be attached to instances in the selected AZ.

      2. Select a New Disk Category.

        A Regional ESSD can be changed to:

        • ESSD at PL1, PL2, or PL3

        • ESSD AutoPL disk

      ESSD Entry disks

      These are locally redundant disks. Supported target categories:

      • ESSD at PL0, PL1, PL2, or PL3

      • ESSD AutoPL disk

      • Regional ESSD

        Only a data disk can be changed to a Regional ESSD.

      Ultra disks

      These are locally redundant disks. Supported target categories:

      • Standard SSD

      • ESSD Entry disk

        These disks can be attached only to General Purpose (U-series) and economy instance family e instances.

      • ESSD at PL0, PL1, PL2, or PL3

      • ESSD AutoPL disk

      Standard SSDs

      These are locally redundant disks. Supported target categories:

      • ESSD at PL1, PL2, or PL3

      • ESSD AutoPL disk

    4. Review the fees and click OK.

    5. Verify the result:

      On the Tasks page, wait until the Change Disk Type task status changes to Completed, then return to the disk list to verify the new category.

      Duration depends on the disk's throughput, capacity, and original category.

    6. (Conditional) If you change a disk to an ESSD at PL3, reattach the disk or restart the instance to achieve optimal performance. This affects only performance, not data reliability.

    Usage notes

    • Performance impact assessment before the change:

      Different disk categories have different performance limits. A category change may affect your services. Review the block storage performance documentation to ensure the new configuration meets your needs.

    • Performance impact during the change:

      Disk read and write performance may be slightly affected during the change, but services will not be interrupted and no data will be lost. Perform this operation during off-peak hours.

    Quotas and limits

    • The following operations are not supported during a disk category change:

      • Cancel the category change

      • Create snapshots

      • Resize disks

      • Format partitions

      • Re-initialize disks

      • Roll back disks by using snapshots

      • Attach and detach disks

      • Edit properties

      • Change the operating system

      • Set a snapshot policy

      • Modify the performance level of an ESSD

    • Disk capacity limitation: Different ESSD performance levels have minimum capacity requirements. If a higher PL is unavailable, resize the disk first.

    • Task limit: A maximum of 50 concurrent category change tasks per account per region.

    • Change interval limitations:

      • PL change only (within ESSD): No interval limit.

      • Provisioned IOPS change only (ESSD AutoPL): At least 1 hour between consecutive changes.

      • Category change to an ESSD AutoPL disk:

        • With provisioned IOPS adjustment: at least 1 hour between consecutive changes.

        • Without provisioned IOPS adjustment: a second change is allowed immediately after the first, then at least 1 hour between subsequent changes.

      • All other category changes: at least 6 hours between consecutive changes.

    Billing

    After you change the disk category, the following billing rules apply.

    • Pay-as-you-go disks: Billed at the new category rate, effective immediately.

    • Subscription disks: A supplemental fee is charged based on the price difference between the old and new configurations for the remaining subscription period (from 00:00 on the following day to the end of the subscription term).

    See Elastic Block Storage billing.

    FAQ

    • How do I change an ultra disk to a Regional ESSD?

      • System disk: Not supported.

      • Data disk: Not directly supported. First change to an ESSD at PL0/PL1 or ESSD AutoPL, then change to a Regional ESSD.

    • How do I change a Standard SSD to a Regional ESSD?

      • System disk: Not supported.

      • Data disk: Not directly supported. First change to an ESSD at PL1 or ESSD AutoPL, then change to a Regional ESSD.

    • How do I change an ESSD data disk at PL2 or PL3 to a Regional ESSD?

      • System disk: Not supported.

      • Data disk: Not directly supported. First change to an ESSD at PL1 or ESSD AutoPL, then change to a Regional ESSD.