This topic describes the billable resources of Elastic Desktop Service (EDS) and the billing methods of the resources.

Billable resources

When you use EDS, you may be charged for the following resources:
  • Cloud desktops: When you use cloud desktops, you are charged for computing resources such as vCPUs, memory, GPUs, and storage resources such as system and data disks.
  • AD connectors: If you connect EDS to the Active Directory (AD) systems of enterprises, you are charged for AD connectors when you create workspaces of the enterprise AD account type.
  • Bandwidth to access the Internet: If your cloud desktops require Internet access, you must enable Internet access for the workspace in which your cloud desktops reside. You are charged for the bandwidth that is required to access the Internet on a pay-by-data-transfer or pay-by-bandwidth basis.
  • Shared storage: If you want to share files between cloud desktops in the same workspace, you must create an Apsara File Storage NAS (NAS) file system for the workspace. You are charged for the NAS file system based on your storage usage.

Billing of cloud desktop resources

Cloud desktop resources consist of computing and storage resources in EDS. Computing resources refer to desktop specifications that consist of vCPUs, memory, and GPUs. Storage resources refer to system disks and data disks. To meet your business requirements, Alibaba Cloud provides various cloud desktop types such as Enterprise Office and Enterprise Graphics. These cloud desktop types are provided with different sizes of storage resources. For more information, see Cloud desktop types.

Cloud desktops support the subscription and pay-as-you-go billing methods:
  • Subscription

    The subscription billing method requires you to pay for cloud desktop resources before you use them. You are charged for a subscription cloud desktop based on the prices of its resources and its subscription duration. The subscription duration refers to the billing cycle, in UTC+8. The duration can be 1 week, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, or 5 years.

    The billing cycle of a cloud desktop starts when the cloud desktop is created or renewed and ends at 23:59:59 on the expiration date. For example, if you purchased a cloud desktop for one month at 15:20:00 on November 20, 2020, the cloud desktop expired at 23:59:59 on December 20, 2020.
    Note If you do not renew the subscription cloud desktop, you cannot continue to use it. After the cloud desktop expires, the system retains the resources of the cloud desktop for seven days. If you do not renew the cloud desktop within the seven days, the system releases the resources. For more information about how to renew a subscription cloud desktop, see Renew a subscription cloud desktop.
  • Pay-as-you-go

    The pay-as-you-go billing method requires you to pay for cloud desktop resources after you use them. You are charged for a pay-as-you-go cloud desktop based on resource costs for the cloud desktop and the specified usage duration. Each usage duration corresponds to the billing cycle. Billing cycles are accurate to seconds. The billing cycle of a cloud desktop starts when the cloud desktop is created and enters the Running state and ends when the cloud desktop is released.

    The settlement cycle of a cloud desktop starts on the hour and ends on the next hour, in UTC+8. Within a settlement cycle, the system generates bills based on the usage of desktop resources and deducts fees from your account. Then, a new settlement cycle begins. If your account balance and coupons within your Alibaba Cloud account cannot cover the payable amount on the bill, an email notification is sent to inform you that your account balance is insufficient.

    For example, you purchase and start a pay-as-you-go cloud desktop at 08:45:30 and release it at 10:20:30. If the desktop is not stopped during this period, the bills are calculated based on the following rules:
    • The first settlement cycle is from 08:00:00 to 09:00:00. You are charged for the usage from 08:45:30 to 09:00:00, which is 870 seconds.
    • The second settlement cycle is from 09:00:00 to 10:00:00. You are charged for the usage within the entire hour, which is 3,600 seconds.
    • The third settlement cycle is from 10:00:00 to 11:00:00. You are charged for the usage from 10:00:00 to 10:20:30, which is 1,230 seconds.
    Note You are not charged for pay-as-you-go cloud desktops that are in the Stopped state. When a cloud desktop is stopped, the system retains desktop configurations but reclaims the computing resources that consist of vCPUs, memory, and GPUs. You are charged only for storage resources (system disks and data disks). You are not charged for computing resources. This can help reduce costs.
You can select a billing method based on your business requirements. The following table describes the comparisons between the subscription and pay-as-you-go billing methods.
Note When you purchase a cloud desktop, select a billing method based on your business requirements. After you purchase a cloud desktop, you can change the billing method only from pay-as-you-go to subscription. For more information, see Change the billing method of a cloud desktop.
Item Subscription Pay-as-you-go
Cost Pre-payment for services. If you use this billing method, you must make a full upfront payment. In most cases, the unit price for a cloud desktop in this billing method is more cost-effective than the unit price for a cloud desktop in the pay-as-you-go billing method for long-term usage. Post-payment for services. If you use this billing method, you are charged based on the actual resource usage. This billing method is accurate to seconds, and bills are generated on an hourly basis. The unit price for a cloud desktop in this billing method is higher than the unit price for a cloud desktop in the subscription billing method.
Note You are not charged for computing resources of a cloud desktop when the cloud desktop is stopped. You are charged only for storage resources.
Resource usage Resources are subject to the subscription duration, and you cannot flexibly release cloud desktops when your business requirements change.
  • To release a subscription cloud desktop before the cloud desktop expires, submit a ticket to apply for a refund.
  • If you do not renew a cloud desktop within seven days after it expires, the system releases resources in the cloud desktop.
You can flexibly release resources that you no longer require.
Scenario The subscription billing method can be used in scenarios of the long-term usage. For example, a company has full-time employees on site for long-term business requirements. The pay-as-you-go billing method can be used in scenarios of the short-term usage. For example, a company has temporary employees such as interns and outsourced employees, or the company is a training institution that requires cloud desktops for a short period of time.

Billing of AD connectors

You can connect EDS to the AD systems of enterprises to integrate with existing management systems of the enterprises. To connect to an AD system of an enterprise, create a workspace of the enterprise AD account type and create an AD connector. AD connectors are classified into the following types: General and Advanced. Advanced AD connectors are more suitable than general AD connectors when you require a large number of cloud desktops. The unit price of an advanced AD connector is higher than that of a general AD connector. We recommend that you select an AD connector type based on the number of cloud desktops that you want to purchase.
  • General: applies to a workspace with no more than 500 cloud desktops.
  • Advanced: applies to a workspace with more than 500 cloud desktops.
AD connectors use the pay-as-you-go billing method, and you are charged based on the unit price and usage duration. The system generates the bills based on the following rules:
  • Unit price: You are charged for an AD connector at a fixed price by USD/hour. You can also obtain the unit price per second by converting the hourly unit price.
  • Usage duration: The billing cycle for an AD connector starts when a workspace of an enterprise AD account type is created and ends when the workspace is deleted. The usage duration is accurate to seconds.

Billing of the Internet access bandwidth

If your cloud desktop requires Internet access, you must enable the Internet access feature and set a maximum bandwidth value for the workspace to which your cloud desktop belongs. The maximum bandwidth value determines inbound and outbound bandwidths to prevent unexpected fees due to traffic bursts.
Notice This value indicates the upper limit for the inbound bandwidth. The upper limit for the outbound bandwidth is one quarter of this value. The upper limits for the inbound bandwidth and outbound bandwidth are not guaranteed performance.
The following billing methods are supported:
  • Pay-by-data-transfer: You are charged for the inbound traffic based on the usage.
  • Pay-by-bandwidth: You must pay for the bandwidth in advance. You are charged for the bandwidth based on the maximum bandwidth value and the duration that you specify.
Note The bandwidth price that is displayed in the EDS console shall prevail.

Billing of NAS file systems

If you want to share files between cloud desktops in the same workspace, you must create a NAS file system for the workspace. The NAS file system is a General-purpose NAS file system of the Capacity type that provides a storage capacity of 10 PiB. You are charged for the NAS file system based on the used storage capacity.

You are charged for NAS file systems on a pay-as-you-go basis. The system implements the billing within an hour and the bills are settled in the next hour. The fees for a NAS file system are calculated based on the following formula: Fees = Unit price × Peak storage usage per hour. You can also purchase storage plans to offset the used storage of NAS file systems. For more information, see Billing of General-purpose NAS file systems.

Payment method

You can use the following payment methods when you purchase EDS resources:
  • Bank card
  • PayPal

    After you purchase pay-as-you-go cloud desktops and when the cloud desktops start to implement billing, Alibaba Cloud pre-authorizes your PayPal account.

  • Paytm (India)

    This payment method is available for users only in India. After you purchase pay-as-you-go cloud desktops and when the cloud desktops start to implement billing, Alibaba Cloud pre-authorizes your Paytm account.

Note Coupons are used to offset your resource usage fees. The system does not deduct the amount from your account balance if the coupon can cover your fees.

Before you purchase cloud desktops, bind a bank card account, PayPal account, or Paytm (India) account to your Alibaba Cloud account.

After you purchase and use EDS resources, you can view the bills for resource usage and the information about resource usage. For more information, see View consumption details.