This topic describes common billing questions about Apsara File Storage NAS (General-purpose NAS/Extreme NAS), including how to use or deduct General-purpose NAS resource plans, how to stop billing for NAS services, and why overdue payments occur after purchasing a resource plan.
When NAS billing starts
Simply activating the NAS service does not incur charges. Billing starts for General-purpose NAS when you write file data and actual storage capacity is consumed, and for Extreme NAS, billing starts based on the provisioned capacity and duration you configured at creation.
Billing for file system instances
General-purpose NAS
Creating a General-purpose NAS file system does not incur charges. Billing starts when you write file data to the General-purpose NAS file system and actual storage capacity is consumed.
Extreme NAS
Creating an Extreme NAS file system incurs charges. Billing is based on the provisioned capacity and duration you configured at creation.
Stop billing for NAS
Because disabling the NAS service would affect your business, NAS currently does not provide a disable feature.
If you no longer use the NAS service, you can release the file system. For more information, see Release a NAS file system.
Delayed updates to storage usage and bills
Bills reflect the charges for the previous hour. The file system usage shown in the NAS console is the maximum storage space used in the previous hour. There is a delay between what is displayed in the console and the actual data; please wait for the update.
File system data transfer charges
Data migration from on-premises to the cloud
You need to configure an ECS instance as a relay node to access Apsara File Storage NAS from the public network. Elastic IP Address (EIP) does not charge for inbound traffic, only for outbound traffic. This means uploading data from the public network to NAS does not incur traffic fees, while downloading data from NAS will incur traffic fees charged by Elastic IP Address (EIP). For more information, see Elastic IP Address (EIP) pay-as-you-go.
Data migration between OSS and NAS
If you read or write data in Alibaba Cloud NAS, accessing data in Infrequent Access (IA) storage or Archive storage will incur IA storage read/write traffic or Archive storage read/write traffic fees. For more information, see Billing for General-purpose NAS.
If you read or write data in Alibaba Cloud OSS, OSS request fees will be incurred and charged by OSS. For more information, see Request fees.
Using the online migration service incurs service fees charged by the online migration service. For more information, see Billable items.
Data migration between NAS file systems
Reading or writing data in Infrequent Access (IA) storage or Archive storage will incur IA storage read/write traffic or Archive storage read/write traffic fees. For more information, see Billing for General-purpose NAS.
Using the online migration service incurs service fees charged by the online migration service. For more information, see Billable items.
Billable storage calculation
General-purpose NAS
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Storage capacity is the total size of all files (excluding directories). Files smaller than 4 KiB are billed as 4 KiB. Files larger than 4 KiB are rounded up to the nearest multiple of 4 KiB. For example, a 2 KiB file counts as 4 KiB; a 6 KiB file counts as 8 KiB.
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Sparse regions (unwritten space within a file, often created by commands like truncate, lseek, or fallocate) count toward storage capacity and incur charges.
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General-purpose NAS stores data in Standard storage by default. When you change the storage class, files are converted in batches for performance. During conversion, copies exist in both the source and target storage classes, temporarily increasing billable usage. Billing returns to normal after conversion completes.
For more information, see Billing for General-purpose NAS.
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Extreme NAS
Billing is based on the storage capacity configured when creating the Extreme NAS instance. For more information, see Billing of Extreme NAS file systems.
Traffic fees for Infrequent Access storage
Billing is based on the cumulative IA storage read/write data traffic per hour. After billing at the end of each hour, the read/write volume is reset to zero and starts accumulating again for the next hour.
When data in the file system meets the Infrequent Access (IA) storage rules, it is automatically tiered to Infrequent Access (IA) storage without incurring write traffic fees.
When accessing files in Infrequent Access (IA) storage, billing is based on the actual read/write traffic generated. If only part of a file is read, charges are based on the traffic generated by the portion read.
IA storage read/write traffic is charged regardless of the network environment; any read or write operation generates read/write traffic fees.
When a data retrieval task is executed, read traffic fees are charged based on the target file size.
When backing up files in Infrequent Access (IA) storage, read traffic fees are charged based on the target file size.
When security services (for example, the anti-ransomware service of Cloud Security Center) scan files in Infrequent Access (IA) storage, billing is based on the actual read traffic generated.
Operations on the metadata of files in Infrequent Access (IA) storage are not charged. For example, running the ls command on file metadata.
Discrepancy between billed and console usage
After the recycle bin feature is enabled for a General-purpose NAS file system, files temporarily stored in the recycle bin are billed according to their original storage type.
When reconciling usage details, you must include the storage capacity of files temporarily stored in the recycle bin. That is, General-purpose NAS file system usage details = file storage usage + recycle bin temporary file storage capacity.
Convert subscription to pay-as-you-go
No. The billing method of a created Extreme NAS file system cannot be changed. After your subscription-based Extreme NAS file system expires, you can create a new pay-as-you-go Extreme NAS file system and migrate the data from the original subscription-based file system to the new pay-as-you-go file system.
NAS billing with resource and storage plans
When both a storage package and a resource plan exist, the storage package is used for deduction first, and then the resource plan is used to deduct the General-purpose NAS storage capacity and Infrequent Access (IA) storage capacity that the storage package cannot fully cover.
Unsubscribe from a subscription Extreme NAS file system
Subscription-based Extreme NAS instances support self-service unsubscription requests through Expenses and Costs. You can select different unsubscription operations based on the subscription status of the instance. Subscription-based Extreme NAS supports three types of unsubscription: 5-day no-questions-asked unsubscription, non-full refund unsubscription, and unsubscription of pending renewal cycles. For more information, see Unsubscribe from a subscription Extreme NAS file system instance.
Unsubscribing a resource releases the instance and returns the corresponding amount based on the unsubscription rules.
Refund amount = actual amount paid for the order − amount consumed
Amount consumed = daily price for subscription × applicable discount for the duration used
If the subscription purchase was made during a promotional event, the promotional discount will not be refunded.
Before unsubscribing a resource, make sure that the Extreme NAS instance to be unsubscribed contains no data you need, or that the data you need has been backed up or migrated.
Before unsubscribing Apsara File Storage NAS resources, familiarize yourself with the unsubscription rules, precautions, and unsubscription examples. For more information, see Rules for unsubscribing from resources.
Replacing storage plans with resource plans
In the following scenarios, you can purchase a resource plan to deduct storage capacity fees.
Storage capacity exceeds the storage package capacity
When the purchased storage package cannot fully cover the file system storage capacity, you can purchase a resource plan to deduct the excess storage capacity of that file system.
Storage package expires
After the storage package expires, you can purchase a resource plan to deduct the excess storage capacity of that file system.
NoteAfter a storage package is bound to a file system, manual unbinding is not supported. The storage package is automatically unbound only when the bound General-purpose NAS file system instance is deleted or the storage package expires. For more information, see Storage plans (no longer available for new purchase).
Resource plan effective period
A resource plan takes effect immediately after purchase and automatically deducts file system storage fees incurred after the purchase time.
The effective time is calculated on the hour, and the expiration time is midnight of the day after the expiry date. For example, if you successfully purchase a 10 TiB General-purpose NAS resource plan at 2019-08-21 09:15:00 with a validity period of one year, the effective time and billing start time of the resource plan are 2019-08-21 09:00:00, and the expiration time is 2020-08-22 00:00:00. The bill for 2020-08-21 23:00–24:00 is the last deduction period.
Refund for a resource plan
If a resource plan has not been used, a refund is supported. For more information, see Refund policy.
Resource plan and instance binding
No.
Overdue payments with a resource plan
When overdue payments occur after purchasing a resource plan, you can log in to NAS console, and in the Resource Plan Data table in the Resource Statistics area on the Overview page, confirm whether Undeducted Base Capacity① and Unsupported Items② exist for resource plans in each region under the current account.
Undeducted baseline capacity: your actual usage exceeds Purchased Capacity③.
For example, you purchased a General-purpose NAS resource plan (100 GiB, 1 month). During one billing cycle, file system A under your account actually stores 180 GiB of data. In this billing cycle, file system A first uses the resource plan to deduct 100 GiB; the excess 80 GiB storage capacity is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis, resulting in an overdue payment. You can upgrade the resource plan to avoid this situation. For more information, see Upgrade a resource plan.
NoteWhen using a resource plan to deduct Performance-type NAS storage capacity fees, every 5.47 GiB of General-purpose resource plan baseline capacity can deduct 1 GiB of Performance-type NAS storage capacity. You can also click View Calculation Method in the ④ column for the target region row to view resource plan deduction details and the recommended resource plan purchase options.Total Base Capacity
If you have also purchased a storage package, you need to first check whether the data in Undeducted Usage⑤ and Undeducted IA storage capacity⑥ in General-purpose NAS Storage Plan has been included in the Total Base Capacity④ of Resource Plan Data, and then check the Undeducted Base Capacity① after resource plan deduction.
Non-deductible items: IA storage read/write traffic, Archive storage read/write traffic.
If you have enabled the lifecycle management feature, data that meets the lifecycle management policy is tiered to Infrequent Access (IA) storage or Archive storage. When you access this data, IA storage read/write traffic or Archive storage read/write traffic fees are incurred. These fees only support pay-as-you-go billing, which may result in overdue payments. For more information, see Billing for General-purpose NAS.
NoteWhen you view Read/Write Traffic of IA Storage Medium in the Unsupported Items② of Resource Plan Data, it indicates that IA storage read/write traffic fees have been incurred.
For information on how to disable the lifecycle management feature, see Lifecycle management FAQ.
Other reasons:
Resource plan has expired: when the resource plan you purchased has expired, Purchased resource plan capacity③ will display 0.
For example, if you purchased a General-purpose NAS resource plan (500 GiB, 1 month) on January 5, 2021 at 10:39:41, with an expiry time of February 6, 2021 at 00:00:00, charges will be incurred on a pay-as-you-go basis after expiry. You can renew the resource plan before it expires to avoid this situation. For more information, see Renew resource plans.
Billing system delay
NAS resource plans take effect immediately after purchase, but there is a delay in the Alibaba Cloud billing system, so the bill received at 10:00 may reflect charges incurred between 7:00 and 9:00. It is recommended that you carefully verify the time when charges were incurred after receiving the bill.
Find a purchased NAS resource plan
You can view purchased resource plans on the Resource Plans page in NAS console.
If you have forgotten the region and instance ID of the resource plan, you can obtain the purchased resource plan instance ID and region through Billing Management. For more information, see Find a resource plan's region and instance ID.
Find a resource plan's region and instance ID
After purchasing a resource plan, if you have forgotten the region and instance ID, you can query them using the following methods.
Log in to Expenses and Costs.
Open the Orders page, select the Product orders tab, set the product to Apsara File Storage NAS, set the product subcategory to NAS resource plan, select a time range, and search Search orders.
In the Actions column, find the target resource plan and click Details.
On the Order management page, in the Order Details area, obtain the resource plan instance ID and Region. Instance name is the resource plan instance ID.
View purchased resource plans
Log in to NAS console.
In the upper-left corner of the top menu bar, select the region where the resource plan is located.
In the left navigation pane, click Resource Plans. Select the Resource Plans tab to view purchased resource plans.
Expired resource plan renewal
Renewal after a resource plan expires is not supported. You can purchase a new resource plan to deduct file system fees.
Why do I still receive pay-as-you-go bills with a resource plan?
When using an Apsara File Storage NAS resource plan to deduct storage capacity or provisioned capacity, the deduction is calculated based on the file system specification you use. You can use the calculator to query the resource plan deduction status for the current account and region, select a resource plan suitable for your current usage, and further reduce costs.
The file system specifications and conversion factors supported for deduction by each resource plan in China mainland regions are shown in the following table.
Resource plan name | Specification | Conversion factor | Description |
General-purpose NAS resource plan | Capacity-type NAS | 1 | Every 1 GiB of General-purpose resource plan baseline capacity can deduct 1 GiB of Capacity-type NAS storage capacity. |
Performance-type NAS | 5.47 | Every 5.47 GiB of General-purpose resource plan baseline capacity can deduct 1 GiB of Performance-type NAS storage capacity. | |
Advanced-type NAS | 2.43 | Every 2.43 GiB of General-purpose resource plan baseline capacity can deduct 1 GiB of Advanced-type NAS storage capacity. | |
Infrequent Access (IA) storage | 0.43 0.37 | Every 0.43 GiB of General-purpose resource plan baseline capacity can deduct 1 GiB of IA storage capacity. Every 0.37 GiB of General-purpose resource plan baseline capacity can deduct 1 GiB of IA storage capacity. | |
Archive storage | 0.14 0.17 | Every 0.14 GiB of General-purpose resource plan baseline capacity can deduct 1 GiB of Archive storage capacity. Every 0.17 GiB of General-purpose resource plan baseline capacity can deduct 1 GiB of Archive storage capacity. | |
Extreme NAS resource plan | Standard-type NAS | 1 | Every 1 GiB of Extreme NAS resource plan baseline capacity can deduct 1 GiB of Standard-type Extreme NAS provisioned capacity. |
Advanced-type NAS | 1 | Every 1 GiB of Extreme NAS resource plan baseline capacity can deduct 1 GiB of Advanced-type Extreme NAS provisioned capacity. |
Binding a resource plan
After a resource plan is purchased, no binding operation is required; it automatically deducts pay-as-you-go General-purpose NAS file system service fees.
General-purpose NAS resource plan savings
In China mainland regions, using a resource plan to deduct General-purpose NAS service fees saves at least 10% on storage capacity fees compared to pay-as-you-go pricing for the same storage capacity. For specific pricing information, see File Storage NAS Pricing.
Differences between resource plans, storage plans, and SCUs
For the differences between resource plans, storage packages, and SCU, see Billing methods.
Resource plan expiration
After a resource plan expires, you can purchase a new resource plan to deduct file system service fees. If you do not purchase a new resource plan in time or renew before expiry, the system will automatically settle on a pay-as-you-go basis. To prevent pay-as-you-go bills from being generated after expiry, it is recommended that you configure auto-renewal. For more information, see Renew resource plans.
Exceeding your resource plan quota
When your actual usage exceeds the resource plan quota, the excess is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
You can use the use the calculator tool to view the exceeded quota. If the exceeded quota is large, it is recommended that you upgrade the resource plan or purchase additional resource plans to deduct the excess. For more information, see Purchase resource plans and Upgrade a resource plan.
Purchasing multiple resource plans
Yes. NAS resource plans of the same type and region support stacked purchases for more precise deduction.
Resource plan offsets for different NAS file systems
After purchasing a resource plan applicable to the corresponding resource, no binding operation is required; the resource plan automatically starts deducting pay-as-you-go file system fees.
General-purpose NAS resource plan
Only supports deducting General-purpose storage capacity (Capacity-type/Advanced-type/Performance-type) fees, IA storage capacity fees, and Archive storage capacity fees incurred when using General-purpose NAS file systems. It does not support deducting IA storage read/write traffic fees, Archive storage read/write traffic fees, or Archive storage minimum duration capacity fees.
Deduction order: deductions are made in the billing order of General-purpose storage capacity (Capacity-type/Advanced-type/Performance-type), IA storage capacity, and Archive storage capacity per hour.
Extreme NAS resource plan
Deducts the provisioned capacity selected when creating an Extreme NAS file system.
For more information about resource plans, see Resource plans.
Can a resource plan increase file system bandwidth?
No. The bandwidth of General-purpose NAS file systems grows linearly with actual usage, and resource plans can only deduct usage fees; they are unrelated to bandwidth. For more information, see General-purpose NAS.
Using storage plans with resource plans
Yes. If your file system is already bound to a storage package, the storage package quota is deducted first, and the resource plan is used only for the excess.
Resource plan for Extreme NAS
Extreme NAS resource plans can deduct Extreme NAS storage fees.
Unsubscribing from a purchased resource plan
NAS resource plan instances support self-service unsubscription requests through Expenses and Costs. You can select different unsubscription operations based on the subscription status of the instance.
NAS resource plans support five-day refund for unused plans, partial refund, and unsubscription for renewals that have not yet taken effect as three types of resource plan unsubscription. For more information, see Unsubscribe from a NAS resource plan instance.
After unsubscribing a resource plan, the file system storage capacity fees that were being deducted by the resource plan will switch to pay-as-you-go billing. Please ensure that your account has sufficient funds.
When a resource plan meets the following conditions, you can submit a refund request.
The resource plan is unused (not used for deduction).
The resource plan was purchased less than 30 days ago.
The resource plan was not purchased through an upgrade or renewal.
Resource plans for subscription Extreme NAS
No. Only pay-as-you-go Extreme NAS instances support using resource plans to deduct storage service fees.
Performance NAS resource plan consumption
Because different types of NAS file systems have different pricing, the resource plan deduction capacity needs to be converted accordingly. For example, in China mainland regions, the conversion factor for General-purpose Performance-type is 5.47. When the General-purpose Performance-type file system usage is 10 GiB, 54.7 GiB of resource plan baseline capacity is needed for deduction.
One storage plan and multiple file systems
No.
A storage package can only deduct the storage capacity of the file system it is bound to. If you want to deduct fees for multiple file systems, it is recommended that you unsubscribe from the storage package and then purchase a resource plan to deduct the storage capacity fees for multiple file systems.
Why do charges occur with a storage plan?
When overdue payments occur after binding a storage package to a file system, you can log in to NAS console, on the Overview page, select the General-purpose NAS tab, select the region in the drop-down list next to the Usage and Resource Plan Offset Details area, and then in the General-purpose NAS Storage Plan table, confirm whether Undeducted Usage and Undeducted IA storage capacity exist for the storage package in the current region.
When overdue payments occur after binding a storage package to a file system, you can log in to NAS console, and in the General-purpose NAS Storage Plan table in the Resource Statistics area on the Overview page, confirm whether Undeducted Usage and Undeducted IA storage capacity exist for storage packages under the current account.
Undeducted usage capacity: your actual usage exceeds the storage package specification.
For example, you purchased a storage package (100 GiB, 1 month) for Performance-type file system A. During one billing cycle, you actually store 180 GiB of file data. In this billing cycle, file system A first uses the storage package to deduct 100 GiB; the excess 80 GiB storage capacity is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis, resulting in an overdue payment. You can avoid overdue payments using the following methods.
With a resource plan, you do not need to bind a General-purpose NAS file system, and you can deduct storage capacity fees for multiple General-purpose NAS file systems at the same time. For a comparison of resource plan and storage package billing methods, see Billing methods.
You can also click View Calculation Method for the target region in the Resource Plan Data table to view the required resource plan baseline capacity and achieve the optimal configuration.
Undeducted IA storage capacity: IA storage read/write traffic.
If you have enabled the lifecycle management feature, data that meets the lifecycle management policy is tiered to Infrequent Access (IA) storage. When you access this data, IA storage read/write traffic fees are incurred. These fees only support pay-as-you-go billing, which may result in overdue payments. For more information, see Billing for General-purpose NAS.
Other reasons: billing system delay.
NAS storage packages take effect immediately after purchase, but there is a delay in the Alibaba Cloud billing system, so the bill received at 10:00 may reflect charges incurred between 7:00 and 9:00. It is recommended that you carefully verify the time when charges were incurred after receiving the bill.
Storage plan and storage capacity
Storage package
A storage package is a billing method for General-purpose NAS and is only used to deduct General-purpose NAS service fees. When the General-purpose NAS storage capacity exceeds the capacity of the storage package, the portion within the quota is deducted normally, and the excess is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
NoteSince storage packages no longer support new purchases, it is recommended that you purchase a resource plan, and use a resource plan, which does not require binding a General-purpose NAS file system and can deduct storage capacity fees for multiple General-purpose NAS file systems at the same time. For a comparison of resource plan and storage package billing methods, see Billing methods.
You can also plan the resource plan baseline capacity through calculator to achieve the optimal configuration.
Storage capacity
Storage capacity refers to the used capacity of the file system.
The maximum storage capacity of a Performance-type file system is 1 PiB.
The maximum storage capacity of a Capacity-type file system is 10 PiB.
Extreme NAS file systems are purchased at fixed specifications, with a maximum specification of 256 TiB.
Follow the steps below to view storage capacity.
Log in to NAS console.
In the left navigation pane, select .
Find the target file system, click the file system ID or Manage, and view the file system capacity in the basic information section.
The file system usage displayed on the General-purpose NAS console is the maximum storage space used in the previous hour.
In Linux systems, you can also run the
df -hcommand to view the real-time capacity of the file system. When the file system usage is 0, it means the current file system has no stored data.
Storage plan and file system capacity
The storage capacity you can use is fixed and is not limited by the storage package specification. The maximum storage capacity for a single Capacity-type NAS instance is 10 PiB; the maximum storage capacity for a single Performance-type NAS instance is 1 PiB. When actual storage capacity exceeds the storage package quota, the excess is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
For example: you purchased a storage package (100 GiB, 1 month) for Performance-type file system A. During one billing cycle, you actually store 180 GiB of file data. In this billing cycle, file system A first uses the storage package to deduct 100 GiB, and the excess 80 GiB storage capacity is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Storage plan activation
A storage package takes effect immediately after successful payment.
Storage plan expiration
After the storage package expires, renewal and upgrade are no longer supported. You can
With a resource plan, you do not need to bind a General-purpose NAS file system, and you can deduct storage capacity fees for multiple General-purpose NAS file systems at the same time. For a comparison of resource plan and storage package billing methods, see Billing methods.
You can also plan the resource plan baseline capacity through calculator to achieve the optimal configuration.
Use pay-as-you-go
If the storage package is not renewed before it expires, the system will automatically settle on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Excess storage usage
When your actual usage exceeds the storage package capacity, the excess is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
For example, you created a Capacity-type file system and bound a storage package (500 GiB, 1 month) to it. During the period from 7:00 to 8:00 on August 1, 2020, the maximum file system usage was 550 GiB. At billing time, 500 GiB is deducted by the storage package, and 50 GiB is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Can I buy a standalone storage plan?
No. A storage package has a binding relationship with a file system; when purchasing a storage package, you must bind it to a file system, and one file system can only be bound to one storage package at a time. If you need a higher specification or a longer deduction period, you can Upgrade a storage plan or Renew a storage plan the purchased storage package.
Detach a storage plan
After a storage package is bound to a file system, manual unbinding is not supported. The storage package is automatically unbound only when the file system is deleted.
Move a storage plan
After a storage package is bound to a file system, you can only bind a new file system after deleting the original file system to unbind the storage package.
Refunding a storage plan
Unsubscription is supported when you have purchased and bound a storage package but have not actually used the file system, meaning the file system data storage capacity is 0 GiB.
Storage plans for Extreme NAS
Not supported. Storage packages only support binding to General-purpose NAS and are used to deduct General-purpose NAS storage capacity fees. For more information about Extreme NAS billing, see Billing of Extreme NAS file systems.
Storage plan expiration time
You can view the basic information of the storage package, including the storage package ID, storage package capacity, start time, and expiry time, on the Basic Information page of the target file system.
Can I stack storage plans?
Not supported. Only one storage package can be bound to a file system at a time, and a file system must be bound when purchasing a storage package. If you need a higher specification or a longer deduction period, you can Upgrade a storage plan or Renew a storage plan the purchased storage package.
Checking for overdue payments
Go to the Account Overview page in Expenses and Costs to view the overdue payment amount. Overdue payments will affect your use of NAS; if there are overdue payments, please top up your account promptly.
Coupons for overdue payments
No. If there are overdue payments, please top up your account promptly.