FAQ about billing and permissions - Realtime Compute for Apache Flink

This topic provides answers to some frequently asked questions about the billing of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink and permissions when you activate and access Realtime Compute for Apache Flink.

Billing
Permissions

Am I charged when a workspace fails to be created?

No, you are not charged when a workspace fails to be created. You can view the billing details for the deduction items. For more information, see View bills.

Am I charged if I create a pay-as-you-go workspace but do not run a deployment in the workspace?

You are also charged for the deployments that do not run, such as the deployment that you cancel and the deployment that you do not use after you create a pay-as-you-go workspace. Fees of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink include fees for billable resources and management resources. The management resource fees for a billing cycle are calculated based on the following formula: Management resource fee = 2 CUs × Unit price in the related region. To stop billing for such a deployment, you must release the workspace to which the deployment belongs.

If your business data amount is relatively stable, you can switch the billing method of the workspace from pay-as-you-go to subscription. For more information, see Switch between billing methods.

How do I calculate the number of consumed CUs in a workspace?

In the left-side navigation pane of the development console of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink, choose O&M > Session Clusters. On the Session Clusters page, view and calculate the number of CPU cores and the memory size of all session clusters in each namespace.
Calculate the sum of CPU cores and the total memory size in the workspace to obtain the total number of CPU cores and the total memory size of all session clusters in each namespace.
Calculate the number of consumed compute units (CUs) in a workspace by using the following formula: MAX (⌈Total number of CPU cores⌉, ⌈Total memory size/4⌉).
The value of the Consumed /Purchased CUs parameter in the management console of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink indicates the number of consumed CUs that you obtained.

Am I charged based on the number of purchased CUs or the number of consumed CUs when 10 CUs of computing resources for a workspace are purchased but only 5 CUs are consumed?

The subscription billing method allows you to use resources only after you pay for the resources. You must make a payment based on the subscription duration when you purchase resources. If 10 CUs of computing resources are purchased but only 5 CUs are consumed, you are still charged for computing resources based on the number of purchased CUs. In addition, you are still charged for fixed management resources in a workspace. For more information, see Subscription.
You can reconfigure resources, such as configuration downgrade, based on your business requirements. For more information, see Reduce resource quotas. You can also change the billing method from subscription to pay-as-you-go. For more information, see Switch from subscription to pay-as-you-go.
The pay-as-you-go billing method allows you to use resources before you pay for the resources. The system calculates the fees based on the actual resource usage of your workspace. You do not need to purchase CUs.

Does a workspace support the conversion between the subscription and pay-as-you-go billing methods?

Yes, a workspace supports the conversion between the subscription and pay-as-you-go billing methods. To change the billing method of a workspace, perform the following operations: Log on to the management console of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink. Find the workspace whose billing method you want to change and choose More > Convert To Subscription Billing Method or Convert To Metered Billing in the Actions column. For example, you can choose More > Convert To Subscription Billing Method to change the billing method to subscription.

In some special cases, you cannot switch the billing method between subscription and pay-as-you-go. For example, you cannot switch the billing method from subscription to pay-as-you-go when you use the YiTian ARM architecture in a workspace. For more information, see the instructions in the console.

What are the default billable items when I renew a subscription workspace?

The renewed subscription does not include fees related to services, such as Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Object Storage Service (OSS), and Application Real-Time Monitoring Service (ARMS). For more information, see Billing rules for supporting services.

Billing item	Description
Management resources	When you create a workspace, the system deploys a console for the workspace. The console and its components require approximately 2 CUs of management resources.
Computing resources	Computing resources are the resources that are consumed when you perform computing tasks, and are metered in CUs. You are charged for these CUs on the subscription or pay-as-you-go billing method.

How do I release a workspace?

If you no longer need a workspace, you can release the workspace after you back up or migrate important data in the workspace.

Pay-as-you-go workspaces
Find the workspace you want to manage and choose More > Release Resources in the Actions column as prompted.
Unexpired subscription workspaces
Submit a ticket to unsubscribe from cloud resources.
Expired subscription workspaces
You can renew a subscription workspace within 15 days after the workspace expires. After the renewal is successful, you can continue using the workspace. The workspace is automatically released 15 days after the workspace expires. The deployment data of the workspace is deleted and cannot be restored. For more information, see Resource changes for an expired subscription instance.

Why am I still charged after I release a workspace?

A delay exists in generating a bill. If billing continues for a pay-as-you-go workspace that is released, view the bill to confirm the payment time.

Why am I unable to go to the RAM console after I click Authorize in RAM?

Problem description
After I click Purchase in the management console of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink, the Authorization Request page appears. After I click Authorize in RAM, I am redirected to the management console of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink and cannot go to the Resource Access Management (RAM) console. As a result, manual authorization fails.
Cause
The AliyunStreamAsiDefaultRole role is manually added before you perform the authorization. As a result, the system skips the authorization process when this role is automatically assigned.
Solution
Log on to the RAM console and delete the existing AliyunStreamAsiDefaultRole role. Then, go back to the management console of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink and click Authorize in RAM to complete the authorization.

What permissions do I need when I log on to the management console of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink?

To access the management console of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink and perform draft development and deployment O&M in a namespace in the development console of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink, you must be granted RAM permissions and the permissions to perform operations in the namespace.

RAM permissions: You can use RAM permissions to purchase workspaces and reconfigure resources.
Permissions to perform operations in a namespace: You can perform operations such as draft development and deployment O&M in the namespace.

For more information about the scenarios and differences between the two types of permissions, see Permission management.

What do I do if my account does not have the required permissions when I log on to the management console of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink?

Problem description
When I log on to the management console of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink, the error message that is shown in the following figure appears.
Cause
You do not have the permissions to view Realtime Compute for Apache Flink workspaces, or you have only the permissions on a specific resource group.
Solution
- If you have only permissions on a specific resource group, select the resource group and the region of the resource group in the top navigation bar of the console to view the desired workspace.
- If you do not have the permissions to view Realtime Compute for Apache Flink workspaces, grant the related permissions to the RAM user or the Alibaba Cloud account to which the RAM role is assigned. For more information, see Grant permissions to a RAM user.
  You can select one of the following policies that include permissions to view Realtime Compute for Apache Flink workspaces:
  - System policy: AliyunStreamReadOnlyAccess (permissions to access Realtime Compute for Apache Flink in read-only mode) or AliyunStreamFullAccess (all permissions on Realtime Compute for Apache Flink). For more information, see System policies.
  - Custom policy: stream:DescribeVvpInstances (permissions to view workspaces). For more information, see Custom policies.

What do I do if Realtime Compute for Apache Flink becomes unavailable after I delete a role or change authorization policies?

You can perform the following steps to perform automated authorization:

Check whether the RAM role AliyunStreamAsiDefaultRole is deleted. For more information, see Delete a RAM role.
Important
You can delete a role only after you revoke all permissions from the role.
Delete the stacks FlinkServerlessStack and FlinkOnAckStack of fully managed Flink. For more information, see Delete a stack.
- FlinkServerlessStack: the name of the Resource Orchestration Service (ROS) stack of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink.
- FlinkOnAckStack: the name of the ROS stack of Container Service for Kubernetes (ACK).
Delete the policy AliyunStreamAsiDefaultRolePolicy. For more information, see Delete a custom policy.
Log on to the management console of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink and perform automated authorization. For more information, see Procedure.

What do I do if the error message "You are not authorized to perform the operation. Contact the role administrator for authorization." appears?

Specific features are not available or specific operations are not allowed in a namespace. For example, you cannot deploy, start, or stop a deployment.

This issue indicates that you do not have the permissions to perform the related operations. To obtain the permissions, click the Role Management tab on the Permissions page to view the permissions of different roles and the members to whom the roles are assigned. Then, contact the namespace owner or a member who has the permissions to manage roles. For more information about roles and role permissions, see Manage roles.