File Storage NAS:Billing FAQ

When NAS billing starts

You are not charged for activating NAS. For a General-purpose NAS file system, billing starts when you use storage capacity. For an Extreme NAS file system, you are billed immediately upon creation based on its configured storage capacity and storage duration.

Billing for file system instances

• General-purpose NAS

  No. You are not charged for creating a General-purpose NAS file system instance. Billing starts when you write data to the file system.

• Extreme NAS

  Yes. After you create an Extreme NAS file system instance, you are billed for the storage capacity and duration specified at creation.

Stop billing for NAS

NAS does not have a disable option. This is to prevent potential disruption to your business.

To stop billing, release the file system. For instructions, see Release a NAS file system.

Delayed updates to storage usage and bills

Your bill and the storage usage shown in the NAS console are based on the peak usage from the previous hour. Therefore, data deletions are not reflected immediately. Please wait for the usage data to update.

File system data transfer charges

• Migrating data from an on-premises environment to NAS

  To access a NAS file system from the public network, you must configure an ECS instance to serve as an intermediate node. Uploading data to a NAS file system is free, as you are not charged for inbound traffic over the associated elastic IP address (EIP). However, downloading data from a NAS file system incurs charges for outbound traffic. For more information, see Pay-as-you-go.

• Data migration between OSS and NAS

  • If you read data from or write data to a NAS file system, you incur read/write traffic fees for data in the Infrequent Access (IA) or Archive storage classes. For more information, see Billing for General-purpose NAS.

  • If you read data from or write data to OSS, you incur OSS request fees. For more information, see Request fees.

  • Using Data Transport incurs service fees. For more information, see Billable items.

• Data migration between NAS file systems

  • When you read data from or write data to the Infrequent Access (IA) or Archive storage classes, you incur read/write traffic fees. For more information, see Billing for General-purpose NAS.

  • Using Data Transport incurs service fees. For more information, see Billable items.

Billable storage calculation

• General-purpose NAS

  • 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.

  • Sparse regions (unwritten space within a file, often created by commands like truncate, lseek, or fallocate) count toward storage capacity and incur charges.

  • 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.

• Extreme NAS

  You are charged based on the storage capacity that you provision when you create an Extreme NAS file system. For more information, see Billing of Extreme NAS file systems.

Traffic fees for Infrequent Access storage

You are billed hourly for the cumulative read and write traffic on Infrequent Access storage. This traffic count resets to zero every hour after billing.

• When data in a file system meets the criteria for Infrequent Access storage, the system automatically moves it to that storage class. This transition does not incur write traffic fees.

• When you access files in Infrequent Access storage, you are charged for the read and write traffic generated. If you read only part of a file, you are charged only for the amount of data read.

• Read and write traffic fees apply to all read or write operations, regardless of the network environment.

• When you perform a data retrieval, you incur read traffic fees based on the size of the retrieved files.

• When you back up files from Infrequent Access storage, you incur read traffic fees based on the size of the backed-up files.

• When a security service, such as the anti-ransomware service of Security Center, scans files in Infrequent Access storage, it generates billable read traffic.

• Operations on file metadata in Infrequent Access storage are free of charge. For example, you are not charged for running the ls command to view file metadata.

Discrepancy between billed and console usage

After you enable the recycle bin for a General-purpose NAS file system, files temporarily stored in the recycle bin are still billed based on their original storage type.

When you review your usage details, you need to include the storage capacity of files in the recycle bin. The total billable usage for a General-purpose NAS file system is the sum of the active file storage usage and the storage usage of the recycle bin.

Convert subscription to pay-as-you-go

No. You cannot change the billing method for an Extreme NAS file system after you create it. When your subscription expires, you can create a pay-as-you-go Extreme NAS file system and migrate the data to it.

NAS billing with resource and storage plans

If you have both storage plans and resource plans, storage plans are applied first to offset charges. Resource plans are then used to cover any remaining usage charges for general-purpose NAS and the IA storage class.

Unsubscribe from a subscription Extreme NAS file system

To unsubscribe from a subscription Extreme NAS file system, submit a request in Expenses and Costs. The unsubscription process varies based on the subscription status of the file system. Subscription Extreme NAS file systems support three types of unsubscription: 5-day unconditional refund, partial refund, and cancellation of pending renewals. For more information, see Unsubscribe from a subscription Extreme NAS file system.

When you unsubscribe, Alibaba Cloud releases the instance and issues a refund according to the unsubscription rules.

• Refund amount = Actual amount paid - Consumed amount

• Consumed amount = Daily subscription price × Usage duration × Applicable discount for the usage duration

Replacing storage plans with resource plans

In the following scenarios, you can purchase a resource plan to offset storage capacity fees.

• Storage capacity exceeds the storage plan capacity

  If your storage plan cannot cover the storage capacity of a file system instance, you can purchase a resource plan to offset fees for the excess capacity.

• A storage plan expires

  When a storage plan expires, you can purchase a resource plan to offset storage capacity fees for the file system instance.

  Note

  You cannot manually detach a storage plan from a general-purpose NAS file system instance. A storage plan is automatically detached only when the general-purpose NAS file system instance is deleted or the storage plan expires. For more information, see Storage plans (no longer available for new purchase).

Resource plan effective period

A resource plan takes effect immediately upon purchase and automatically offsets file system storage fees.

The plan takes effect at the start of the hour of purchase, and it expires at 00:00:00 on the day after the expiration date. For example, if you purchase a 10 TiB general-purpose NAS resource plan with a one-year term at 09:15:00 on 2019-08-21, the plan starts offsetting charges at 09:00:00 on 2019-08-21. The plan expires at 00:00:00 on 2020-08-22. The final offset applies to the billing hour from 23:00 to 24:00 on 2020-08-21.

Refund for a resource plan

You can request a refund for any unused resource plan. For details, see the refund policy.

Resource plan and instance binding

No.

Overdue payments with a resource plan

Find a purchased NAS resource plan

You can view your purchased resource plans on the Resource Plans page on the NAS console.

If you forget the region and instance ID of a resource plan, you can find them in Billing Management. For instructions, see How do I find the region and instance ID for a purchased resource plan?.

Find a resource plan's region and instance ID

To find the region or instance ID of a purchased resource plan, follow these steps.

1. Log in to the Expenses and Costs console.

2. Navigate to the Orders page. On the Orders for Services tab, set the product to File Storage NAS and the sub-type to NAS resource plan. Select a time range and click Search.

3. In the Actions column for the desired resource plan, click View Details.

4. On the Orders page, in the Order Details section, obtain the resource package instance ID and region. The Instance Name is the resource package instance ID.

View purchased resource plans

1. Log in to the NAS console.

2. In the upper-left corner of the top navigation bar, select the region that contains your resource plans.

3. In the left-side navigation pane, click Resource Plans. Select the Resource Plans tab to view your resource plans.

Expired resource plan renewal

You cannot renew an expired resource plan. Purchase a new resource plan to offset your file system fees.

Why do I still receive pay-as-you-go bills with a resource plan?

When offsetting charges for storage capacity or provisioned capacity, a NAS resource plan applies a conversion coefficient based on your file system's storage class. Use the calculator to see how a resource plan can offset charges in the current region, and purchase a suitable plan to optimize your costs.

The following table lists the storage classes and corresponding conversion coefficients for resource plans in the Chinese mainland.

Binding a resource plan

No. A purchased resource plan automatically offsets the service fees for pay-as-you-go General-purpose NAS file systems, and no binding is required.

General-purpose NAS resource plan savings

In the Chinese mainland, resource plans for General-purpose NAS file systems save you at least 10% on storage capacity fees compared to pay-as-you-go pricing. For detailed pricing information, see File Storage NAS Pricing.

Differences between resource plans, storage plans, and SCUs

For information about the differences between resource plans, storage plans, and SCUs, see billing methods.

Resource plan expiration

After a resource plan expires, you can purchase a new one to offset your file system fees. If you do not purchase a new resource plan or renew the current one before it expires, your usage is automatically billed at pay-as-you-go rates. To avoid pay-as-you-go bills, we recommend enabling auto-renewal. For more information, see Renew resource plans.

Exceeding your resource plan quota

If your usage exceeds your resource plan quota, the overage is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.

You can use the calculator to determine any overage. If the overage is significant, we recommend upgrading your resource plan or purchasing an additional one to cover it. For more information, see Purchase resource plans and Upgrade a resource plan.

Purchasing multiple resource plans

Yes. You can purchase multiple NAS resource plans of the same type and in the same region to offset costs more precisely.

Resource plan offsets for different NAS file systems

After you purchase an applicable resource plan, it automatically offsets the fees for your pay-as-you-go file systems. You do not need to bind the plan to a specific file system.

• General-purpose NAS resource plan

  A General-purpose NAS resource plan only offsets storage capacity fees for General-purpose NAS file systems (Capacity, Premium, and Performance), the IA storage class, and the Archive storage class. It does not offset fees for read/write traffic of the IA and Archive storage classes, or fees for data stored in the Archive storage class for less than the minimum required duration.

  Offset order: The plan offsets fees in the hourly billing order: General-purpose storage capacity (Capacity, Premium, and Performance), the storage capacity for the IA storage class, and the storage capacity for the Archive storage class.

• Extreme NAS resource plan

  An Extreme NAS resource plan offsets the fees for the storage capacity that you specify when you create an Extreme NAS file system.

For more information about resource plans, see Resource plans.

Can a resource plan increase file system bandwidth?

No. A general-purpose NAS file system's bandwidth scales linearly with its usage. A resource plan only offsets usage fees and does not affect bandwidth. For more information, see general-purpose NAS.

Using storage plans with resource plans

Yes. If a storage plan is attached to your file system, its capacity is used first to offset storage usage. A resource plan then offsets the excess usage.

Resource plan for Extreme NAS

Yes. An Extreme NAS resource plan can be used to cover these costs.

Unsubscribing from a purchased resource plan

You can request a refund if your resource plan meets the following criteria. For more information, see Unsubscription rules for international sites.

• The resource plan is unused (not used for deduction).

• The resource plan was purchased less than five days ago.

• The resource plan was not purchased through an upgrade or renewal.

Resource plans for subscription Extreme NAS

No. Resource plans can only be used to offset storage usage fees for pay-as-you-go Extreme NAS file systems.

Performance NAS resource plan consumption

Because different types of NAS file systems are priced differently, a resource plan applies a conversion coefficient to offset their storage usage. For example, in regions in the Chinese mainland, the conversion coefficient for a Performance NAS file system is 5.47. Using 10 GiB of storage on a Performance NAS file system consumes 54.7 GiB of your resource plan's base capacity.

One storage plan and multiple file systems

No.

A storage plan offsets storage usage only for the specific file system it is bound to. To cover multiple file systems, cancel the storage plan and purchase a resource plan instead.

Why do charges occur with a storage plan?

If you incur charges after you bind a storage plan to a file system, log on to the NAS console. On the Overview page, in the General-purpose NAS Storage Plan table of the Resource Statistics section, check the Undeducted Usage and Undeducted Usage of IA Storage Class columns.

• Undeducted usage: Your actual usage exceeds the capacity of the storage plan.

  For example, you purchase a storage plan (100 GiB, one month) for a performance NAS file system A. During a billing cycle, your actual storage usage is 180 GiB. The storage plan covers the fees for the first 100 GiB. The excess 80 GiB is charged at the pay-as-you-go rate. You can use the following methods to prevent these charges:

  • Purchase a resource plan

    A resource plan can offset storage fees for multiple general-purpose NAS file systems without being bound to a specific one. For a comparison between resource plans and storage plans, see Billing methods.

    You can also click View Calculation Method for your target region in the Resource Plan Data table to determine the optimal resource plan capacity to purchase.

  • Upgrade a storage plan

• Undeducted usage of IA storage class: This refers to usage from read and write traffic for data in the IA storage class.

  If you enable lifecycle management, data that meets the lifecycle policy is automatically tiered to the IA storage class. When you access this data, you incur read/write traffic fees for the IA storage class. These fees are charged only on a pay-as-you-go basis. For more information, see Billing for General-purpose NAS.

• Other reasons: A delay in the billing system.

  A NAS storage plan takes effect immediately after purchase, but the Alibaba Cloud billing system may have a delay. For example, a bill you receive at 10:00 may include charges incurred between 07:00 and 09:00. After you receive a bill, check the time period it covers.

Storage plan and storage capacity

• Storage plan

  A storage plan is a billing method for General-purpose NAS used exclusively to offset its service fees. If the storage usage of a General-purpose NAS file system exceeds the storage plan's capacity, the plan offsets usage up to its capacity limit, and any excess is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.

  Note

  Storage plans are no longer available for new purchases. We recommend that you purchase a resource plan. A resource plan does not need to be linked to a specific General-purpose NAS file system and can be used to offset storage capacity fees for multiple General-purpose NAS file systems. For a comparison of resource plans and storage plans, see billing method.

  You can also use the calculator to determine the optimal base capacity for your resource plan.

• Storage capacity

  Storage capacity refers to the amount of storage used by a file system.

  • A Performance NAS file system has a maximum capacity of 1 PiB.

  • A Capacity NAS file system has a maximum capacity of 10 PiB.

  • An Extreme NAS file system is purchased with a fixed capacity, with a maximum of 256 TiB.

Follow these steps to view your storage usage.

1. Log on to the NAS console.

2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose File System > File System List.

3. Find the target file system and click its file system ID or Manage. The storage usage is displayed in the Basic Information section.

   The storage usage displayed in the General-purpose NAS console is the peak storage usage from the previous hour.

   On a Linux system, you can also run the df -h command to view the real-time storage usage of the file system. If the storage usage is 0, the file system contains no data.

Storage plan and file system capacity

No, a storage plan does not limit a file system's storage capacity. Each file system has a fixed maximum storage capacity: 10 PiB for a Capacity NAS instance and 1 PiB for a Performance NAS instance. If you use more storage than your storage plan covers, the excess is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.

For example, if you purchase a one-month, 100 GiB storage plan for a Performance NAS file system and store 180 GiB of data during a billing cycle, the storage plan first covers 100 GiB of storage. The excess 80 GiB is then billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Storage plan activation

A storage plan activates immediately after payment.

Storage plan expiration

After a storage plan expires, you cannot renew or upgrade it. You have the following options:

• Purchase a resource plan

  A resource plan can offset storage capacity fees for multiple general-purpose NAS file systems and is not tied to a specific file system. For a comparison between resource plans and storage plans, see Billing methods.

  You can also use the calculator to determine the optimal base capacity for a resource plan.

• Revert to pay-as-you-go

  If you do not renew your storage plan before it expires, your billing automatically reverts to pay-as-you-go.

Excess storage usage

If your storage usage exceeds your storage plan's capacity, the excess amount is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.

For example, say you create a Capacity NAS file system and apply a 1-month, 500 GiB storage plan to it. If between 07:00 and 08:00 on August 1, 2020, the peak storage usage for the file system reaches 550 GiB, then for that billing period, the storage plan will cover 500 GiB, and the remaining 50 GiB will be billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Can I buy a standalone storage plan?

No. You must attach a storage plan to a file system upon purchase. You can attach only one storage plan to a file system at a time. If you need a storage plan with a higher specification or longer duration, you have the option to upgrade storage plan or renew storage plan.

Detach a storage plan

You cannot manually detach a storage plan from a file system. It detaches automatically when you delete the file system.

Move a storage plan

To detach a storage plan, you must delete the file system it is attached to. You can then attach the plan to a new file system.

Refunding a storage plan

You can get a refund for a purchased storage plan if it is attached to an unused file system, where the used storage capacity is 0 GiB.

Storage plans for Extreme NAS

No. You can apply storage plans only to General-purpose NAS file systems to offset their storage capacity fees. For more information about billing for Extreme NAS, see Billing for Extreme NAS file systems.

Storage plan expiration time

The Basic Information page for a file system displays the details of its storage plan, including the storage plan ID, storage plan capacity, start time, and expiration time.

Can I stack storage plans?

No. You can attach only one storage plan to a file system at a time. When you purchase a storage plan, you must attach it to a file system. If you need a storage plan with higher specifications or a longer duration, you can upgrade a storage plan or renew a storage plan.

Checking for overdue payments

To view your overdue payments, go to the Account Overview page in the Expenses and Costs console. Overdue payments can disrupt your use of NAS. If your account has an overdue balance, add funds promptly.

Coupons for overdue payments

No. To settle an overdue payment, you need to add funds to your account.