This topic describes the billable items, expiration policy, and renewal process for Cloud Hardware Security Module (HSM).
Billing method
Cloud HSM uses the subscription billing method. Formula: Total Fee = Unit Price × Quantity × Subscription Duration.
Unit price
HSM: For more information, see the HSM buy page.
Dedicated HSM: For more information, see the dedicated HSM buy page.
Quantity: The number of HSMs that you can purchase is not limited. To achieve high availability for Cloud HSM, purchase at least two HSMs.
Subscription duration: Select a subscription duration based on your business needs.
Expiration policy
Time period | Description |
Before expiration | Alibaba Cloud sends renewal reminders by email 7 days, 3 days, and 1 day before your service expires. |
Within 15 days after expiration | The data in the HSM instance is retained. The instance is stopped 15 days after it expires. You can renew the instance to continue using it. |
Within 15 days after the instance is stopped | The HSM instance is unavailable, but its data is retained. After you renew the instance, you can continue to use it. |
On the 16th day after the instance is stopped | All data in the HSM instance is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. To use Cloud HSM again, you must purchase a new instance. Back up your data in advance and take note of the expiration time of the backup data. For more information, see Data backup and recovery (for HSMs in the Chinese mainland) and Data backup and recovery (for HSMs outside the Chinese mainland). Warning If you do not back up the data of your HSM instance or if your backup data expires, the data is permanently lost after the instance is deleted. Back up your data to prevent data decryption failures that can affect your business. |
Overdue payments
Cloud HSM uses the subscription billing method. No overdue payments occur because you pay in advance. To purchase or renew an HSM, make sure that your account balance is sufficient.
Renewal
To renew in the Expenses and Costs console, see Renew an expired resource. To renew your HSMs in the Cloud HSM console, perform the following steps.
Log on to the Cloud Hardware Security Module console. In the top navigation bar, select the required region.
On the VSMs page, in the Actions column of the target instance, click the
icon and then click Renew.On the Renew page, set the Subscription Period. Then, confirm Terms of Service.
Click Buy Now to complete the payment.
Unsubscription instructions
Cloud HSM does not support refunds.
Bill query
You can query and export bills for Cloud HSM in the Expenses and Costs console. For more information, see Billing details.