Before purchasing Global Accelerator (GA), decide on an instance type, a billing method, and the corresponding acceleration configurations. This topic walks through each decision so you can match the right configuration to your business requirements.
Jump to your billing method:
Instance type and billing method
Instance type
GA offers two instance types: standard and basic.
| Instance type | Acceleration layer | Use when |
|---|---|---|
| Standard GA instance | Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and Layer 7 (HTTP/HTTPS) | You need end-to-end acceleration across multiple access modes for global users. |
| Basic GA instance | Layer 3 (IP) | You need point-to-point acceleration and only need to specify one acceleration area and one endpoint group. |
For a full comparison of features and limits, see Comparison between standard GA instances and basic GA instances and Limits on instance types.
Billing method
GA supports two billing methods. Choose based on how predictable your traffic is.
| Billing method | Bandwidth metering | Choose when |
|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go | Pay-by-data-transfer (managed by Cloud Data Transfer (CDT)) | Traffic fluctuates significantly or usage cannot be estimated in advance. Charges are based on actual consumption of each billable item. No instance specification required. |
| Subscription | Pay-by-bandwidth (bandwidth plan) | Traffic is stable and resources are needed long-term. Select an instance specification and associate a bandwidth plan before use. |
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To use a pay-as-you-go GA instance for the first time, activate it on the pay-as-you-go GA activation page.
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Purchase GA resource plans to offset Capacity Unit (CU) fees and instance fees for pay-as-you-go GA instances. Resource plans are more cost-effective than the standard pay-as-you-go rate. For details, see GA resource plans.
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You can select the billing method only when you purchase a GA instance. The billing method cannot be changed after a GA instance is created.
Acceleration configurations
Acceleration configurations (pay-as-you-go)
Accelerated IP address type
For pay-as-you-go standard GA instances, choose between two accelerated IP address types.
| Item | EIP | Anycast EIP |
|---|---|---|
| Access mode | Custom — specify an acceleration area.  Select acceleration areas and regions based on your requirements. GA allocates a separate Elastic IP Address (EIP) to each acceleration region. |
Automatic — no acceleration area required.  GA allocates one Anycast EIP to multiple regions globally. Users connect to the nearest Alibaba Cloud access point automatically. |
| Supported access points | All acceleration areas and regions supported by GA. See Acceleration areas and regions. | Depends on Anycast EIP access points. Suitable for clients outside the Chinese mainland. To cover clients in the Chinese mainland, specify China (Hong Kong) as the acceleration region. See the "Access point locations" section of What is Anycast EIP?. |
| Advantages | Different accelerated IPs are served based on network latency after DNS resolution, ensuring optimal routes. | No acceleration area configuration needed. Clients automatically connect to the nearest access point, reducing O&M overhead significantly. |
| Disadvantages | Configuration and maintenance are more involved — specify areas and allocate bandwidth. Static IP addresses are not supported for services. | Access is limited to Anycast EIP access points. Acceleration performance varies by Internet Service Provider (ISP). |
Two EIPs are allocated to each acceleration region for pay-as-you-go standard GA instances. Both receive client traffic simultaneously for high availability.
Anycast EIP is not enabled by default. To enable it, go to Quota Center, find the GA supports anycast quota, and click Apply.
To use Anycast EIP, the following requirements must be met:
GA instance: subscription standard GA, Large I or higher specification, pay-by-bandwidth metering.
Basic bandwidth plan: premium bandwidth type, pay-by-data-transfer metering. This plan type is not available by default — contact your account manager to enable it.
For pay-as-you-go basic GA instances, the accelerated IP address type is set to Elastic IP Address (EIP) by default. Only one acceleration area and one acceleration region are supported, with a default limit of 20 accelerated IP addresses. To increase this limit, go to Quota Management and raise the gaplus_quota_basic_gaip_limit quota.
ISP line type
Applies to pay-as-you-go GA instances with the Elastic IP Address accelerated IP type.
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BGP (Multi-ISP) — Default. Provides premium BGP lines globally by selecting the optimal line across multiple ISPs automatically. Available in all acceleration regions.
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BGP (Multi-ISP) Pro — Optimizes data transmission to the Chinese mainland. Cross-border connections use Chinese mainland ISP circuits, reducing latency for users in the Chinese mainland (excluding data centers). Available only in China (Hong Kong) and Japan (Tokyo).
Transmission network type
Required only when your service involves cross-border acceleration between the Chinese mainland and regions outside the Chinese mainland (including China (Hong Kong), China (Macao), and China (Taiwan)).
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BGP (Multi-ISP) Pro — Uses BGP Pro lines for acceleration between the Chinese mainland and outside regions. No enterprise real-name verification required.
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Cross-border Express Connect — Uses dedicated circuits for higher acceleration performance. Requires enterprise real-name verification.
Premium Bandwidth For Cross-domain Acceleration: uses premium BGP lines to accelerate connections between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong (China), Macao (China), Taiwan (China), or other countries and regions.
Compared with Leased Line for Cross-domain Acceleration, this option simplifies the enterprise real-name registration process.
Leased Line For Cross-domain Acceleration: uses cross-domain leased lines to accelerate connections between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong (China), Macao (China), Taiwan (China), or other countries and regions.
This option provides better acceleration performance than Premium Bandwidth for Cross-domain Acceleration, but you must complete enterprise real-name registration.
For pricing details on each network type, see Pay-by-data-transfer and Billing rules for cross-border data transfer.
The service region is determined by your acceleration area and endpoint group configurations.
If the accelerated service is deployed in the Chinese mainland, or the acceleration region is in the Chinese mainland, complete ICP filing before providing services.
If the accelerated service is deployed outside the Chinese mainland and the acceleration area includes Chinese mainland regions, either complete ICP filing for the service domain, or select China (Hong Kong) as the acceleration area and use BGP Pro lines for Chinese mainland users.
In pay-as-you-go mode, whether the service runs on Alibaba Cloud only determines whether public network data transfer fees apply between the acceleration region and endpoint group region. It does not affect ISP line type or transmission network type selection.
Use the following table to match your scenario to the correct ISP line type and transmission network type.
| Region that requires acceleration | Service region | ICP filing (web services) | ISP line type | Transmission network type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese mainland | Chinese mainland | Yes | BGP (Multi-ISP) | N/A |
| Regions outside the Chinese mainland, including China (Hong Kong), China (Macao), and China (Taiwan) | — | No | BGP (Multi-ISP) Pro — must select China (Hong Kong) or Japan (Tokyo) as the acceleration region | N/A |
| Regions outside the Chinese mainland, including China (Hong Kong), China (Macao), and China (Taiwan) | — | Yes | BGP (Multi-ISP) |
Default: Premium Bandwidth Cross-border Acceleration You can also switch to Dedicated Line Cross-border Acceleration |
| Outside the Chinese mainland | Outside the Chinese mainland | No | BGP (Multi-ISP) | N/A |
| Outside the Chinese mainland | Chinese mainland | Yes | BGP (Multi-ISP) |
Default: Premium Bandwidth Cross-border Acceleration You can also switch to Dedicated Line Cross-border Acceleration If you select China (Hong Kong) as the endpoint group, the transmission network type is not applicable |
Acceleration configurations (subscription)
For subscription standard GA instances, select both an instance specification and a bandwidth plan type. For subscription basic GA instances, select only a bandwidth plan type.
Instance specification
Subscription standard GA instances support multiple specifications. The specification determines the number of acceleration regions, maximum bandwidth, and maximum concurrent connections.
| Specification | Acceleration regions | Maximum bandwidth | Maximum concurrent connections |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small I | 1 | 20 Mbps | 5,000 |
| Small II | 2 | 40 Mbps | 10,000 |
| Small III | 3 | 60 Mbps | 15,000 |
| Medium I | 5 | 100 Mbps | 25,000 |
| Medium II | 8 | 160 Mbps | 40,000 |
| Medium III | 10 | 200 Mbps | 50,000 |
| Large I | All regions. See Overview of acceleration areas. | 400 Mbps | 100,000 |
| Large II | 600 Mbps | 150,000 | |
| Large III | 800 Mbps | 200,000 | |
| Large IV | 1 Gbps | 250,000 | |
| Large V | 1.2 Gbps | 300,000 | |
| Large VI | 1.4 Gbps | 350,000 | |
| Large VII | 1.6 Gbps | 400,000 | |
| Large VIII | 1.8 Gbps | 450,000 | |
| Super Large I | 2 Gbps | 500,000 | |
| Super Large II | 4 Gbps | 1,000,000 |
Large III and higher specifications are unavailable by default. Contact your account manager to enable them.
Bandwidth plan type
After purchasing a subscription GA instance, associate a basic bandwidth plan with it. GA supports three bandwidth types: basic, enhanced, and premium. Choose based on where your application is deployed and where your users are located.
| Bandwidth type | Acceleration type | Accelerated endpoint | Acceleration scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Applications on Alibaba Cloud | Standard GA: public IPs (Alibaba Cloud), Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances, elastic network interfaces (ENIs), Classic Load Balancer (CLB) (formerly SLB) instances, Application Load Balancer (ALB) instances, Network Load Balancer (NLB) instances, Object Storage Service (OSS) buckets, vSwitches. Basic GA: CLB instances, secondary ENIs, ECS instances, NLB instances. | Both the acceleration area and endpoint area are in the Chinese mainland by default. |
| Enhanced | Applications on Alibaba Cloud or outside Alibaba Cloud | Standard GA: public IPs (Alibaba Cloud), ECS instances, ENIs, CLB instances, ALB instances, NLB instances, OSS buckets, vSwitches, custom IP addresses, custom domain names. Basic GA: N/A. | Both the acceleration area and endpoint area are in the Chinese mainland by default. |
| Premium | Applications on Alibaba Cloud or outside Alibaba Cloud | Standard GA: public IPs (Alibaba Cloud), ECS instances, ENIs, CLB instances, ALB instances, NLB instances, OSS buckets, vSwitches, custom IP addresses, custom domain names. Basic GA: CLB instances, secondary ENIs, ECS instances, NLB instances. | Both the acceleration area and endpoint area are outside the Chinese mainland by default. For cross-border acceleration between the Chinese mainland and other areas, specify China (Hong Kong) as the acceleration region. |
Basic GA instances that use the pay-by-bandwidth metering method can only be associated with basic or premium bandwidth plans. Enhanced bandwidth plans are not supported.
For information about supported backend service types, see Endpoint groups and endpoints and Add and manage endpoint groups and endpoints for a basic GA instance.
If the accelerated service is deployed in the Chinese mainland, or the acceleration region is in the Chinese mainland, complete ICP filing before providing services.
Use the following table to match your scenario to the correct bandwidth type.
| Region that requires acceleration | Service region | Server deployment | ICP filing (web services) | Bandwidth type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese mainland | Chinese mainland | On Alibaba Cloud | Yes | Standard bandwidth |
| Outside Alibaba Cloud | Yes | Enhanced bandwidth | ||
| Outside the Chinese mainland | On Alibaba Cloud | No | Premium bandwidth — specify China (Hong Kong) as the acceleration region | |
| Outside Alibaba Cloud | No | Premium bandwidth — specify China (Hong Kong) as the acceleration region | ||
| Outside the Chinese mainland | Outside the Chinese mainland | On or outside Alibaba Cloud | No | Premium bandwidth |
| Chinese mainland | On Alibaba Cloud | Yes | Premium bandwidth — specify China (Hong Kong) as the acceleration region | |
| Outside Alibaba Cloud | Yes | Premium bandwidth — deploy the endpoint group in the China (Hong Kong) region |
Next steps
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Create a GA instance: Create and manage a standard GA instance or Create and manage a basic GA instance
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Follow a hands-on tutorial: Get started with GA