Global Accelerator:Create and manage standard GA instances

Create a subscription standard GA instance

1. Log on to the GA console.

2. On the Instances page, click Create GA Instance. Select Subscription Standard Instance or Pay-as-you-go Standard Instance based on your business requirements.

   In this example, Subscription Standard Instance is selected.

3. On the Create Standard Instance (Subscription) page, set the following parameters, click Buy Now, and then complete the payment.

   Parameter	Description
   Instance Specification	Select the specification of the standard Global Accelerator instance. For more information about the specifications of standard Global Accelerator instances, see Specifications of standard GA instances.
   Accelerated IP Address Type	Select the type of accelerated IP address of the standard Global Accelerator instance. You need to specify this parameter only for GA instances of the Large Ⅰ specification or higher. EIP (default): If you select EIP, the custom access mode is used. You can select an access point based on your business requirements. Each access point provides a separate elastic IP address (EIP). Anycast EIP: If you select Anycast EIP, the automatic access mode is used. You do not need to specify an acceleration area. GA provides an Anycast EIP that is shared among multiple regions across the globe. Note By default, you cannot use Anycast EIPs as accelerated IP addresses. To use Anycast EIPs as accelerated IP addresses, go to the Quota Center console, find the quota named GA supports anycast, and then click Apply in the Actions column. For more information, see the "Adjust quotas" section of the Manage GA quotas topic. To use Anycast EIPs, the Global Accelerator instances and basic bandwidth plans must meet the following requirements: Global Accelerator instances: Select subscription standard Global Accelerator instances whose specifications are Large Ⅰ or higher and whose bandwidth metering method is pay-by-bandwidth. Basic bandwidth plans: Select the premium bandwidth type and the pay-by-data-transfer metering method. By default, basic bandwidth plans that use the pay-by-data-transfer metering method are not available. To use these plans, contact your account manager. For pay-as-you-go standard Global Accelerator instances, two accelerated IP addresses of the EIP type that belong to different zones are allocated to each acceleration region. Some regions support only one accelerated IP address. You can view the actual number of accelerated IP addresses in the console. Both accelerated IP addresses can receive client traffic at the same time to ensure high availability of the acceleration area. The bandwidth of each accelerated IP address is equal to the bandwidth that is allocated to the acceleration region. For more information, see Types of accelerated IP addresses.
   Bandwidth Billing Method	Select a metering method for bandwidth resources. Pay-By-Bandwidth: You are charged for bandwidth plans. After you purchase a GA instance whose bandwidth metering method is Pay-By-Bandwidth, you must associate a basic bandwidth plan with the GA instance. For more information about the billing rules of bandwidth plans, see Subscription basic bandwidth plans. Pay-By-Data-Transfer: The data transfer fees are managed by Cloud Data Transfer (CDT). After you purchase a GA instance whose bandwidth metering method is pay-by-data-transfer, you do not need to associate a basic bandwidth plan with the GA instance. For more information about the billing rules of CDT, see Pay-by-data-transfer. If this is the first time that you create a GA instance whose bandwidth metering method is pay-by-data-transfer, select the CDT Terms of Service to activate CDT. Note By default, the pay-by-data-transfer bandwidth metering method is unavailable. To use this metering method, contact your account manager.
   Subscription Duration	Select the subscription duration of the standard GA instance. To enable auto-renewal for the GA instance, select Auto-renewal. (Make sure that your account balance is sufficient.).
   GA Instance Name	Enter a name for the Global Accelerator instance.
   Resource Group	Select the resource group to which the standard Global Accelerator instance belongs. The resource group must be created in Resource Management by the current Alibaba Cloud account. For more information, see Create a resource group.
   Coupon	Specify whether to use coupons. By default, Do Not Use Coupons is selected. You can also select a coupon from the drop-down list.
   Terms of Service	Read and select the Terms of Service.

4. Optional: Return to the GA console. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Standard Instance > Instances. On the Instances page, view the standard Global Accelerator instance that you purchased.

What to do next

After you create a subscription standard Global Accelerator instance, you must perform the following operations before you can use the GA instance:

1. Associate a basic bandwidth plan with the GA instance

   You need to associate basic bandwidth plans only with Global Accelerator instances whose bandwidth metering methods are pay-by-bandwidth.

2. Add an acceleration area

3. Add and manage intelligent routing listeners or Add and manage custom routing listeners

4. Create and manage the endpoint groups of intelligent routing listeners or Create and manage the endpoint groups of custom routing listeners

Create a pay-as-you-go standard GA instance

Before you create a pay-as-you-go standard Global Accelerator instance, you must understand the following information:

• By default, the pay-as-you-go billing method is disabled. To use this billing method, contact your account manager.

• The first time you use a pay-as-you-go Global Accelerator instance, go to the pay-as-you-go GA activation page and activate Global Accelerator as prompted.

• Pay-as-you-go Global Accelerator instances support only the pay-by-data-transfer metering method. You do not need to bind a basic bandwidth plan. The billing of data transfer over the Global Accelerator network is managed by Cloud Data Transfer (CDT). For more information, see Pay-by-data-transfer.

• When you create a pay-as-you-go standard Global Accelerator instance, you can configure the acceleration area, listeners, and endpoint groups.

1. Log on to the GA console.

2. On the Instances page, click Create GA Instance. Select Subscription Standard Instance or Pay-as-you-go Standard Instance based on your business requirements.

   In this example, Pay-as-you-go Standard Instance is selected.

3. In the Basic Instance Configuration step, set the following parameters and click Next.

   Parameter	Description
   GA Instance Name	Enter a name for the GA instance.
   Instance Billing Method	Pay-As-You-Go is selected by default. You are charged an instance fee, Capacity Unit (CU) fee, and data transfer fee for the pay-as-you-go standard Global Accelerator instance. For more information about the instance fee and CU fee, see Billing of pay-as-you-go GA instances. For more information about the data transfer fee, see Pay-by-data-transfer.
   Resource Group	Select the resource group to which the standard Global Accelerator instance belongs. The resource group must be created in Resource Management by the current Alibaba Cloud account. For more information, see Create a resource group.

4. In the Configure Acceleration Area step, configure an acceleration area and click Next.

   Click to view the parameters. For more information about acceleration areas, see Overview.

   Parameter	Description
   Acceleration Area	Select one or more regions from the drop-down list and click Add. For more information about areas and regions, see Acceleration areas and regions. If the acceleration area contains regions in the Chinese mainland and the service traffic uses HTTP or HTTPS, you must apply for an ICP number for the service domain name. For more information, see Manage domain names.
   Assign Bandwidth
   Maximum Bandwidth	Specify bandwidth for the acceleration region. Default value: 200 Mbit/s. Each acceleration region supports a bandwidth range of 2 to 10,000 Mbit/s.
   IP Protocol	Select the IP version used to connect to the Global Accelerator instance. Default value: IPv4. The system assigns an accelerated IPv4 address to accelerate access from IPv4 clients to IPv4 services.
   ISP Line Type	Select an Internet service provider (ISP) line type for the Global Accelerator instance. BGP (Multi-ISP): provides premium BGP lines across the world. This is the default line type. BGP lines from different Internet service providers (ISPs) can be used. The optimal BGP line is automatically selected to ensure network stability. The following ISPs are supported: China Telecom, China Unicom, China Mobile, China Mobile Tietong, China Netcom, CERNET, NRTA, Dr.Peng Group, and Founder Broadband. All acceleration regions support BGP (Multi-ISP). BGP Pro: BGP (Multi-ISP) Pro lines optimize data transmission to the Chinese mainland and improve connection quality for international services. Cross-border connections are established by using Chinese mainland ISP services when BGP (Multi-ISP) Pro lines provide services to users in the Chinese mainland (except data centers). This reduces network latency. BGP (Multi-ISP) Pro is available only in the China (Hong Kong) and Japan (Tokyo) regions.

5. In the Configure listener step, set the required parameters, and click Next.

   Click to view the configurations of listeners of different routing types. For more information, see Routing types.

   Intelligent routing listener (formerly known as standard listener)

   Parameter	Description
   Listener Name	Enter a name for the listener.
   Routing Type	Select a routing type. In this example, Intelligent Routing is selected. Intelligent routing listeners automatically select a nearby and healthy endpoint group based on the network latency and forwards client requests to the optimal endpoint in the endpoint group.
   Protocol	Select a network transmission protocol for the listener. Valid values: TCP UDP HTTP HTTPS For more information, see Listener protocols.
   TCP or UDP
   Port	Specify the listener port. The listener port is used to receive requests and forward requests to endpoints. Valid values: 1 to 65499. You can specify up to 30 listener ports for each listener. Separate multiple listener ports with commas (,). Example: 80,90,8080. If you want to specify a port range, you can use a tilde (~). Example: 80~85. Note If you add listeners that use the same protocol to a Global Accelerator instance, configure different ports for the listeners. You can specify more than 300 consecutive listener ports for a listener in specific regions. For more information, see Advanced listeners.
   Client Affinity	Specify whether to enable client affinity. If you select Source IP Address from the drop-down list, client affinity is enabled. In this case, requests from a client IP address are forwarded to the same endpoint. If you select Disabled from the drop-down list, client affinity is disabled. In this case, requests from a client IP address may be forwarded to different endpoints.
   HTTP or HTTPS
   Port	Specify the listener port. The listener port is used to receive requests and forward requests to endpoints. Valid values: 1 to 65499. You can configure only one listener port for each HTTP or HTTPS listener.
   Server Certificate	Select the server certificate that you obtained. This parameter is required only when you set Protocol to HTTPS. Server certificates ensure that data transmission over GA is encrypted. For more information about how to purchase a certificate, see Select and purchase a certificate and Apply for a certificate.
   TLS Security Policies	Select the TLS security policy required by your service. You need to configure a TLS security policy only if you set Protocol to HTTPS. A TLS security policy contains TLS protocol versions and cipher suites that are available for HTTPS. For more information about TLS security policies, see TLS security policies.
   Client Affinity	Specify whether to enable client affinity. If you select Source IP Address from the drop-down list, client affinity is enabled. In this case, requests from a client IP address are forwarded to the same endpoint. If you select Disabled from the drop-down list, client affinity is disabled. In this case, requests from a client IP address may be forwarded to different endpoints.
   Custom HTTP Headers	Select the HTTP headers that you want to add. Use the GA-ID header to obtain the ID of the GA instance. Use the GA-AP header to retrieve the acceleration region of the GA instance. Use the GA-X-Forwarded-Proto header to retrieve the listener protocol of the GA instance. Use the GA-X-Forwarded-Port header to retrieve the listener port of the GA instance. Use the X-Real-IP header to retrieve client IP addresses.

   Custom routing listener

   Note

   Custom routing listeners are in invitational preview. To use custom routing listeners, submit an application to your account manager. After your application is approved, you can use custom routing listeners.

   Parameter	Description
   Listener Name	Enter a name for the listener.
   Routing Type	Select a routing type. In this example, Custom Routing is selected. Custom routing listeners generate a port mapping table based on the listener port range, the port ranges of the destination endpoint groups, and the IP addresses of endpoints (vSwitches). This way, traffic is routed to the specific IP addresses and ports of the specified vSwitches. For more information about how to configure a custom routing listener, see Add and manage a custom route listener.
   Port	Specify the listener port. The listener port is used to receive requests and forward requests to endpoints. Valid values: 1 to 65499. Separate multiple listener ports with commas (,). For example, you can enter 80,90,8080. If you want to specify a port range, you can use a tilde (~). Example: 80~85. Note The ports of different custom routing listeners on a GA instance must be different. Ports 25, 250, 4789, and 4790 are system-reserved ports. When a port mapping table is generated, the system-reserved ports are ignored. You cannot configure port 6081 for pay-as-you-go Global Accelerator instances. The port range that you specify for the listener determines the sum of the number of ports in the endpoint group that is associated with the listener and the number of IP addresses in the vSwitch. The number of ports in the endpoint group multiplied by the number of IP addresses of all vSwitches in the endpoints must be less than or equal to the number of listener ports. We recommend that you specify a larger port range for the listener.

6. In the Configure an endpoint group step, configure the endpoint group and the endpoints, and then click Next.

   Click to view the configurations of endpoint groups and endpoints. For more information about endpoint groups and endpoints, see Overview.

   Endpoint groups of intelligent routing listeners

   Parameter	Description
   Region	Select the region where you want to deploy the endpoint group.
   Endpoint Configuration	Client requests are routed to endpoints. To add an endpoint, set the following parameters: Backend Service Type: If your backend server is deployed on Alibaba Cloud, you can select Alibaba Cloud Public IP Address, ECS, CLB, ALB, or OSS. If your backend server is not deployed on Alibaba Cloud, you can select Custom IP Address or Custom Domain Name. Note Standard GA instances that were created after June 8, 2023 can use Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances in virtual private clouds (VPCs), Classic Load Balancer (CLB) in VPCs, and Application Load Balancer (ALB) as backend services. If your standard GA instance was created before June 8, 2023 and you want to use the preceding backend services, contact your account manager to upgrade your GA instance. The IP addresses of endpoints associated with each GA instance must be globally unique and cannot be duplicates of other GA instances. If no service-linked roles exist when you specify Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances, Classic Load Balancer (CLB) instances, Application Load Balancer (ALB) instances, or Object Storage Service (OSS) buckets as endpoints, the system automatically creates the corresponding service-linked role. For more information, see AliyunServiceRoleForGaVpcEndpoint, AliyunServiceRoleForGaAlb and AliyunServiceRoleForGaOss. Backend Service: Enter the IP address, domain name, or instance ID of the backend server. Weight: Specify a weight for the endpoint. Valid values: 0 to 255. GA routes network traffic to endpoints based on the weights of the endpoints. Warning When you set the weight of an endpoint to 0, Global Accelerator stops distributing network traffic to the endpoint. Proceed with caution. You can click + Add Endpoint to add multiple endpoints. You can add up to four endpoints. If you want to add more endpoints, go to the Quota Management page and increase the quota. For more information, see Manage GA quotas. You can add endpoints that reside on Alibaba Cloud or outside Alibaba Cloud to an endpoint group. You cannot add endpoints that reside on Alibaba Cloud and endpoints that reside outside Alibaba Cloud to the same endpoint group.
   Preserve Client IP	Specify whether to preserve client IP addresses. After you enable this feature, backend servers can retrieve client IP addresses. For more information, see Preserve client IP addresses.
   Backend Service Protocol	Select the protocol that is used by the backend server. Valid values: HTTP (default) HTTPS Note If the listener protocol is HTTP, this parameter is automatically set to HTTP and cannot be modified. You can configure the Backend Service Protocol parameter only when you configure an endpoint group for an HTTP or HTTPS listener.
   Port Mapping	If the listener port is not the same port over which the endpoint provides services, you must set this parameter. Listener Port: Enter the listener port. Endpoint Port: Enter the port over which the endpoint provides services. Endpoint Port: If the listener port is the one used by the endpoint to provide services, you do not need to specify a port mapping. Global Accelerator automatically routes requests to the listener port of the endpoint. Note You can configure the Port Mapping parameter only when you configure an endpoint group for an HTTP or HTTPS listener.
   Traffic Distribution Ratio	Set a traffic distribution ratio for the endpoint group. Unit: %. Valid values: 0 to 100. Note You can set the Traffic Distribution Ratio parameter only when you create an endpoint group for a TCP or UDP listener. For more information about how to specify traffic distribution ratios, see Distribute traffic across endpoint groups in different scenarios. A value of 0 specifies that no traffic is forwarded to the endpoint group. A value of 100 specifies that all traffic is forwarded to the endpoint group.
   Health Check	Specify whether to enable the health check feature. After you enable this feature, you can use health checks to check the status of endpoints. For more information about the health check feature, see Enable and manage health checks. Note If your GA instance uses UDP listeners, you can enable the health check feature for an endpoint only if the endpoint is associated with a TCP, HTTP, or HTTPS service. Otherwise, the endpoint is marked as unhealthy.
   Health Check Protocol	Select the protocol that you want to use for health checks. Valid values: TCP, HTTP, and HTTPS. A TCP health check probes whether a server port is healthy at the network layer by sending SYN packets to the port. An HTTP health check probes whether an endpoint is healthy by simulating HTTP GET requests sent from a browser.
   Port	Set the port of the endpoint to which probe packets are sent for health checks. Valid values: 1 to 65535.
   Health Check Interval	Set the interval between two consecutive health checks. Unit: seconds. Valid values: 1 to 50. Default value: 2.
   Path	Specify the path that is used for health checks. By default, GA sends a GET request to the default homepage of the backend service. If you do not want to use the default homepage for health checks, you can manually specify a URI. Note This parameter is supported only for HTTP and HTTPS health checks.
   Healthy Threshold	The number of consecutive health check failures that must occur before a healthy endpoint is considered unhealthy, or the number of consecutive health check successes that must occur before an unhealthy endpoint is considered healthy. Valid values: 2 to 10. Default value: 3.

   If your service requires cross-border acceleration between the Chinese mainland and regions outside the Chinese mainland, including China (Hong Kong), China (Macao), and China (Taiwan), you need to read Compliance Commitments Regarding Cross-border Data Transfers and select Agree to the Preceding Compliance Agreement.

   Note

   After the GA instance is created, the Transmission Network Type is BGP (Multi-ISP) Pro by default. You can accelerate content delivery in a cost-effective manner between regions in the Chinese mainland and regions outside the Chinese mainland, including China (Hong Kong), China (Macao), and China (Taiwan). No additional configuration is required. For more information, see Pay-by-data-transfer.

   Endpoint groups of custom routing listeners

   Parameter	Description
   Region	Select the region where you want to deploy the endpoint group.
   Port Mapping Range and Protocol	Specify the Port Range and Protocol parameters. You can set Protocol to TCP or UDP. You can also select both TCP and UDP. The port ranges and protocols of backend services are mapped to the port range of the listener that is associated with the endpoint group. You can click + Add to add more entries. You can specify up to 20 entries at a time. Note The sum of all ports in the endpoint groups that are associated with a custom routing listener and the IP addresses of all vSwitches in the endpoints must be less than or equal to the number of listener ports. This means that the number of ports in the endpoint groups times the number of IP addresses of all vSwitches in the endpoints must be less than or equal to the number of listener ports.
   Endpoint	Click Add Endpoint. In the Add Endpoint dialog box, set the following parameters and click OK. Backend Service Type: You can select only vSwitch. Backend Service: Select the vSwitch to which traffic is forwarded. Subnet Traffic: Select an access policy for subnet traffic. Allow All Traffic: GA forwards all traffic to the specified backend service. Deny All Traffic: GA does not forward traffic to the specified backend service. This is the default value. Allow Traffic from Specific vSwitch IP Address and Port: specifies the access policy that can receive client requests, which is the IP address and port of an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance. You must select a mode for the access policy. List Mode: enter an IP address and port. You can select the All Ports check box. You can click + Add to add IP addresses and ports. In this mode, you can add up to 20 entries at the same time. Batch Mode: Enter IP addresses and port ranges based on the instructions. You can also download a template, enter IP addresses and port ranges, and then upload the template. In this mode, you can add up to 100 entries at the same time.

   If your service requires cross-border acceleration between the Chinese mainland and regions outside the Chinese mainland, including China (Hong Kong), China (Macao), and China (Taiwan), you need to read Compliance Commitments Regarding Cross-border Data Transfers and select Agree to the Preceding Compliance Agreement.

   Note

   After the GA instance is created, the Transmission Network Type is BGP (Multi-ISP) Pro by default. You can accelerate content delivery in a cost-effective manner between regions in the Chinese mainland and regions outside the Chinese mainland, including China (Hong Kong), China (Macao), and China (Taiwan). No additional configuration is required. For more information, see Pay-by-data-transfer.

7. In the Configuration Review step, check the configurations and click Submit.

   Note

   It takes 3 to 5 minutes to create a Global Accelerator instance.