Select a bidding mode for a preemptible instance

Comparison of bidding modes

• Mode 1: Set Maximum Price (SpotWithPriceLimit)

  You must specify a maximum hourly price to bid for the instance type. If the spot price (current market price per hour) of the instance type exceeds your specified maximum hourly price due to price fluctuations, a preemptible instance interruption event is triggered.

  Analysis:

  • Advantage: Costs are controlled to ensure that the instance type fees do not exceed the maximum hourly price that you specify.
  • Disadvantage: If the instance type price drastically fluctuates, the probability of instance interruptions increases and instance stability decreases.
  • Applicable scenario: business that has strict budget and price requirements for ECS instances, of which the budget cannot be exceeded.
• Mode 2: Use Automatic Bid (SpotAsPriceGo)

  In this mode, the preemptible instance is billed based on the spot price.

  Analysis:

  • Advantage: The instance is not interrupted even if the instance type price drastically fluctuates, and instance stability is improved.
  • Disadvantages: It is difficult to control costs. Increases in instance type prices cannot be detected and costs can spiral uncontrollably.
  • Applicable scenario: business that has no strict cost requirements and requires to reduce costs as much as possible while improving instance stability.
• Mode 3: Combination of Use Automatic Bid (SpotAsPriceGo) and OOS

  In the Use Automatic Bid (SpotAsPriceGo) mode, increases in instance type prices cannot be detected. When the ACS-ECS-AlarmWhenDiscountAndPriceExceedsThresholdInMultiZoneAndInstanceType public template of OOS is combined with Use Automatic Bid (SpotAsPriceGo), OOS sends a notification when the price of the preemptible instance exceeds the threshold of the instance type that you specify. This way, you can manage the preemptible instance.

  Analysis:

  • Advantage: Increases in instance type prices can be detected and the instance is stable.
  • Disadvantage: The Use Automatic Bid (SpotAsPriceGo) mode must be combined with OOS, which increases costs.
  • Applicable scenario: business that requires the ability to detect price increases while improving instance stability.

Best practices for bidding modes

If you require both instance stability and cost control, you can refer to the following steps to use the SpotAsPriceGo+OOS mode. You can use the Use Automatic Bid (SpotAsPriceGo) mode to increase instance stability and use the ACS-ECS-AlarmWhenDiscountAndPriceExceedsThresholdInMultiZoneAndInstanceType public template of OOS to monitor the price of the preemptible instance. When the price exceeds the threshold that you specify, the system sends a notification.

1. Make preparations.
   1. Optional: Create a preemptible instance whose bidding mode is Use Automatic Bid (SpotAsPriceGo).
      For more information, see Create a preemptible instance. If you have created a preemptible instance, skip this step.
   2. Query the details of the preemptible instance.
      For more information, see View instance information. In this example, two preemptible instances are created, as described in the following table. In subsequent steps, the O&M scripts for price monitoring are set based on the details of the instances.

      Instance name	Region and zone	Instance type
      Preemptible instance 1	Hangzhou Zone I	ecs.c5.xlarge
      Preemptible instance 2	Hangzhou Zone K	ecs.r6.xlarge

   3. Create the OOSServiceRole role for OOS by using Resource Access Management (RAM).
      For more information, see Grant RAM permissions to OOS. In the Select Policy section of the Grant Permission page, select only the AliyunECSReadOnlyAccess policy.
   4. Add a DingTalk chatbot.
      When you add a DingTalk chatbot, select Custom Keywords for Security Settings and enter Monitor in the Custom Keywords field. In subsequent steps, OOS sends notifications by using the webhook URL of the chatbot.
2. Log on to the OOS console.
3. In the left-side navigation pane, click Scheduled O&M.
4. On the Scheduled O&M page, click Create.
5. On the Create Scheduled O&M page, configure the parameters described in the following table and click Execute Now:

   Parameter	Description
   Set Scheduled Task	Select Executed Periodically and configure the following parameters: Execution Frequency: Use the default settings. The task is executed once per hour. Note The prices of preemptible instances change infrequently within a short period of time. We recommend that you set the value to 1 hour. Time Zone for Periodic Execution: Specify the time zone based on your region. In this example, the default setting is used. End Time for Period Execution: Specify the end time of the task based on your business requirements. In this example, the default setting is used.
   Select Template	Enter ACS-ECS-AlarmWhenDiscountAndPriceExceedsThresholdInMultiZoneAndInstanceType in the search box. Then, select the template.
   Configure Parameters	Configure the following parameters based on the details of the created preemptible instances: region: Select China (Hangzhou). zoneId: Select cn-hangzhou-i and cn-hangzhou-k. instanceType: Select ecs.c5.xlarge and ecs.r6.xlarge. taskType: Select a monitoring type based on your business requirements. Valid values: Discount: monitors the instance based on real-time discounts. For example, if the pay-as-you-go price of an instance type is USD 0.400 per hour and the price of a preemptible instance is USD 0.080 per hour, the discounted price for the preemptible instance is 20% of the pay-as-you-go price. If you want to receive a notification when the discounted price rises to higher than 25%, set taskType to Discount and set threshold to 25 (75% off). Price: monitors the instance based on real-time prices. For example, assume that the pay-as-you-go price of an instance type is USD 0.400 per hour and the price of a preemptible instance is USD 0.080 per hour. If you want to receive a notification when the price of the instance is higher than USD 0.090 per hour, set taskType to Price and set threshold to 0.090. threshold: Set a threshold. Set this parameter based on the value of taskType. webhook: Specify the webhook URL of the DingTalk chatbot. rateControl: Use the default setting. Permissions: Select the OOSServiceRole role.
   Advanced	Use the default settings. You can configure the parameters based on your business requirements.

   After the scheduled task is executed, you can view the state of the scheduled task on the Scheduled O&M page.
6. Wait for the scheduled task to be executed or test the scheduled task.
   • After the scheduled task is executed, the system monitors the bid price of the preemptible instances in real time. If the price exceeds the specified threshold, a notification is sent by using the DingTalk chatbot.
   • In actual scenarios, the prices of preemptible instances do not fluctuate frequently and the execution result of the scheduled task is difficult to be verified. You can create a scheduled task and set the threshold to a value that triggers an alert. For example, if the price of a preemptible instance is USD 0.080 per hour, the threshold can be set to 0.040. Because the price of the preemptible instance remains higher than the threshold, an alert is triggered when the scheduled task is executed, and a notification is sent by using the DingTalk chatbot.