This topic describes the pricing, billable items, billing methods, and billing examples of General-purpose NAS file systems (Capacity, Performance, and Premium).
Pricing of General-purpose NAS file systems
For more information about the pricing of each billable item, see File Storage NAS Pricing.
Storage usage fees are calculated in USD per GiB-month
. When you use the pay-as-you-go billing method, fees are calculated based on the following formula: Fees = Storage usage × Unit price per hour
. Therefore, when you calculate storage usage fees, you must convert GiB-month to GiB-hour by using the following formula: Unit price in GiB-hour = Unit price in USD per GiB-month/30/24
.
For example, the unit price of a Capacity NAS file system is USD 0.06 per GiB-month
. The unit price settled on an hourly basis is approximately USD 0.000083333 per GiB-hour (0.06/30/24)
.
Billable items of General-purpose NAS file systems
Basic fee
Billable item | Code | Description |
Storage Usage of General-purpose NAS File System (Capacity/Performance)1 | VolumeSize | You are charged for the storage usage of a General-purpose NAS file system based on the storage class (Capacity, Premium, or Performance), maximum storage usage per hour, and storage duration. |
For more information about how to view the storage usage of a file system, see View the details of a file system or Resource usage and bills.
Fees of value-added features
Fees are incurred if you enable and use the lifecycle management (IA and Archive storage) and recycle bin features for a General-purpose NAS file system.
Feature | Billable item | Code | Description |
Infrequent Access (IA) storage class | Storage Usage of IA Storage Class1 | VolumeIASize | You are charged based on the maximum storage usage of the IA storage class per hour. |
Read Traffic of IA Data2 | InfrequentReadQuantity | Traffic fees are incurred when the data in the IA storage class is accessed. Fees are calculated based on the total amount of read and write traffic per hour. The amount of read and write traffic is reset to 0 each time an hourly bill is generated. The amount of read and write traffic starts from 0 again for the next hour. | |
Write Traffic of IA Data2 | InfrequentWriteQuantity | ||
Archive storage class | Storage Usage of Archive Storage Class1 | VolumeArchiveSize | You are charged based on the maximum storage usage of the Archive storage class per hour. |
Storage Usage of Archive Data Retained for Less Than 60 Days | ArchivePenaltyQuantity | If a file in the Archive storage class is deleted or reduced in size but the file is stored for less than 60 days (1,440 hours), you are charged for the remaining storage duration (1,440 - Actual storage duration) based on the original file size. Note The minimum storage duration starts from the time when a file is accessed, which is indicated by the atime parameter. | |
Read Traffic of Archive Data2 | ArchiveReadQuantity | Traffic fees are incurred when the data in the Archive storage class is accessed. Fees are calculated based on the total amount of read and write traffic per hour. The amount of read and write traffic is reset to 0 each time an hourly bill is generated. The amount of read and write traffic starts from 0 again for the next hour. | |
Write Traffic of Archive Data2 | ArchiveWriteQuantity | ||
Recycle bin | After you enable the recycle bin feature, you are charged for the storage usage of the temporary files in the recycle bin based on the pricing of the original storage class during the retention period. Examples:
|
If you enable the recycle bin or lifecycle management feature for a file system, the billed storage usage is larger than the actual storage usage. For more information about the billed storage usage of each storage class, see View the details of a file system or Query the usage details of file systems.
Note 1: Storage usage
The storage usage of a NAS file system indicates the total size of all files in the file system. The size of directories is not included. The basic storage unit is 4 KiB. If the size of a file is less than 4 KiB, the billed storage usage of the file is rounded up to 4 KiB. If the size of a file is larger than 4 KiB, the billed storage usage is rounded up to the nearest multiple of 4 KiB. For example, if the size of a file is 2 KiB, the storage usage is counted as 4 KiB. If the size of a file is 6 KiB, the storage usage is counted as 8 KiB.
File holes occupy storage space in File Storage NAS. You are charged for the file holes in your NAS file systems. A file hole consists of zeros that are not written to a file. You can create a file hole by running the truncate, lseek, or fallocate command.
By default, the data of General-purpose NAS file systems is stored in the Standard storage class. To ensure the performance of a file system, infrequently accessed files are dumped only in batches. Dumped files no longer occupy the storage space of the original storage class. For more information, see Storage classes of General-purpose NAS file systems. When the files are being dumped, each file has a replica in the storage space of the original storage class and the new storage class. This temporarily increases storage usage and generates additional fees. After the files are dumped, the file replicas in the original storage class are deleted and no longer generate additional fees.
Note 2: Read and write traffic
If the data in a file system meets the rule specified in the lifecycle policy, the data is automatically dumped to the IA or Archive storage class. No write traffic fees are generated for the data transfer.
If you access files in the IA or Archive storage class, you are charged for the actual read and write traffic that is generated. If you read only a part of a file, you are charged for the read traffic that is generated.
When you read data from or write data to the IA or Archive storage class, you are charged for the read and write traffic regardless of the network environment.
If you run a data retrieval task, you are charged for read traffic based on the size of the retrieved files.
If you back up files from the IA or Archive storage class, you are charged for read traffic based on the size of the files.
If you use security services such as the anti-ransomware service of Security Center to scan files in the IA or Archive storage class, you are charged for the actual read and write traffic that is generated.
You are not charged for managing metadata in the IA or Archive storage class. For example, you are not charged for running the ls command to show the metadata of specified files.
Billing methods
The default billing method of General-purpose NAS file systems is pay-as-you-go. After you create a General-purpose NAS file system, you can purchase resource plans and storage capacity units (SCUs) to offset storage usage fees.
Select billing methods
Before you use a file system, we recommend that you select appropriate billing methods to reduce storage costs. The following table describes the characteristics and scenarios of different billing methods.
Billing method | Description | Characteristics | Use scenario |
Pay-as-you-go | By default, you are charged for all billable items based on the pay-as-you-go billing method. You are charged for the actual usage of each billable item. Pay-as-you-go allows you to use resources first and pay for them afterwards. | The storage usage fluctuates and is difficult to predict. |
|
A resource plan is a favorable billing method that can be used to offset fees for various billable items. When bills are being settled, resource plans have higher priority than the pay-as-you-go billing method. Before you can use resource plans to offset fees, you must purchase resource plans. | The storage usage of each file system is relatively stable and predictable. | For stable storage usage, you can purchase resource plans to reduce storage costs. Important Resource plans offset fees based on specific offset factors, depending on the file system type and storage class. For more information, see Resource plans. | |
A storage plan is a billing method that can be used to offset fees for specific billable items. Before you can use storage plans to offset fees, you must purchase storage plans. | You can use a storage plan to offset only the storage usage fees of a NAS file system to which the storage plan is attached. Only the fees for the Standard storage class and the IA storage class can be offset. | We recommend that you do not use storage plans because storage plans are no longer available for purchase. | |
An SCU is a billing method that can be used to offset fees for specific billable items. Before you can use SCUs to offset fees, you must purchase SCUs. | SCUs can be used to offset the storage usage fees of Capacity NAS file systems, Performance NAS file systems, and other Alibaba Cloud storage services. | You use services such as Object Storage Service (OSS), snapshot service, and Cloud Backup in addition to File Storage NAS. |
Billing methods supported by each billable item
The following table describes the billing methods supported by each billable item of General-purpose NAS file systems.
If you have resource plans, SCUs, and storage plans within your Alibaba Cloud account, storage usage fees are offset based on the following order: storage plans, resource plans, and SCUs. Then, you are charged based on the pay-as-you-go billing method. The following figure shows the offset order.
Billable item | Pay-as-you-go | |||
Storage Usage of General-purpose NAS File System (Capacity/Performance) | Supported | Supported | Only the storage usage fees of Capacity NAS file systems and Performance NAS file systems can be offset. The storage usage fees of Premium NAS file systems cannot be offset. | |
Storage Usage of IA Storage Class | Supported | Supported | Supported | Not supported |
Read Traffic of IA Data | Supported | Not supported | Not supported | Not supported |
Write Traffic of IA Data | Supported | Not supported | Not supported | Not supported |
Storage Usage of Archive Storage Class | Supported | Supported | Not supported | Not supported |
Storage Usage of Archive Data Retained for Less Than 60 Days | Supported | Not supported | Not supported | Not supported |
Read Traffic of Archive Data | Supported | Not supported | Not supported | Not supported |
Write Traffic of Archive Data | Supported | Not supported | Not supported | Not supported |
Example of cost optimization
By default, the data of General-purpose NAS file systems is stored in the Standard storage class. When you use General-purpose NAS file systems, you can select appropriate storage classes based on the changes of business data, and effectively reduce storage costs by combining the subscription and pay-as-you-go billing methods.
For example, you have 20 GiB of hot data, 60 GiB of IA data, and 20 GiB of cold data that needs to be stored for a long time. You create a General-purpose NAS file system in the China (Hangzhou) region. The following tables demonstrate the monthly costs for different storage classes.
The unit prices listed in the following tables are for reference only. To view the actual prices, visit the File Storage NAS Pricing page.
All data stored in the Standard storage class
File system | Data volume | Unit price | Storage fee |
Capacity NAS file system | 100 GiB | USD 0.06 per GiB-month | USD 6 |
Premium NAS file system | USD 0.13 per GiB-month | USD 13 | |
Performance NAS file system | USD 0.3 per GiB-month | USD 30 |
Assume that 20 GiB of hot data is stored in the Standard storage class, 60 GiB of IA data is dumped to the IA storage class, and 20 GiB of cold data that needs to be stored for a long time is dumped to the Archive storage class.
The following table describes the fees that you need to pay after you convert the storage class and use resource plans.
File system | Converted base capacity3 | Fee of General-purpose NAS resource plan |
Capacity NAS file system | Converted base capacity = 20 GiB × 1 + 60 GiB × 0.37 + 20 GiB × 0.17 = 48.6 GiB | If you purchase a 100 GiB resource plan, the fee is USD 4.57. |
Premium NAS file system | Converted base capacity = 20 GiB × 2.45 + 60 GiB × 0.37 + 20 GiB × 0.17 = 74.6 GiB | If you purchase a 100 GiB resource plan, the fee is USD 4.57. |
Performance NAS file system | Converted base capacity = 20 GiB × 5.47 + 60 GiB × 0.37 + 20 GiB × 0.17 = 135 GiB | If you purchase a 200 GiB resource plan, the fee is USD 9.14. |
Note 3: Converted base capacity
When you use NAS resource plans to offset storage usage fees, the offset factor varies depending on the file system type, the storage class, and the region of the file system. When you purchase resource plans, you need to convert prices according to the preceding information. For more information, see Offset factors.
As shown in the preceding tables:
If data is stored in a Capacity NAS file system, you can save 23.83% of the storage cost by converting the storage class and using resource plans, compared with storing all data in the Standard storage class.
If data is stored in a Premium NAS file system, you can save 64.85% of the storage cost by converting the storage class and using resource plans, compared with storing all data in the Standard storage class.
If data is stored in a Performance NAS file system, you can save 69.53% of the storage cost by converting the storage class and using resource plans, compared with storing all data in the Standard storage class.
Billing examples
The following examples show how you are charged for NAS in common scenarios.
The unit prices listed in the following tables are for reference only. To view the actual prices, visit the File Storage NAS Pricing page.
Example 1: Share data for web services
On November 1, 2024, Mr. Wang deployed a shared-storage web service in a Capacity NAS file system in the China (Hangzhou) region. The service is expected to use 500 GiB of storage capacity per hour. In this case, the total fee of the month is USD 30, as shown in the following table.
Operation | Billable item | Code | Unit price | Billable amount | Fee |
Store 500 GiB of data | Storage Usage of General-purpose NAS File System (Capacity/Performance) | VolumeSize | USD 0.06 per GiB-month | 500 GiB per month | USD 30 |
Example 2: Access IA data
Mr. Zhang created a Performance NAS file system in the China (Hangzhou) region. The storage usage of the file system is 100 GiB per hour in November 2024. 10 GiB of data is stored in the Standard storage class, and 90 GiB of data is stored in the IA storage class. The read traffic of the IA storage class is 1 GiB and the write traffic of the IA storage class is 2 GiB within the month. In this case, the total fee of the month is USD 5.11767, as shown in the following table.
Operation | Billable item | Code | Unit price | Billable amount | Fee |
Store 10 GiB of data in the Standard storage class | Storage Usage of General-purpose NAS File System (Capacity/Performance) | VolumeSize | USD 0.3 per GiB-month | 10 GiB per month | USD 3 |
Store 90 GiB of data in the IA storage class | Storage Usage of IA Storage Class | VolumeIASize | USD 0.02322 per GiB-month | 90 GiB per month | USD 2.0898 |
Read 1 GiB of data from the IA storage class | Read Traffic of IA Data | InfrequentReadQuantity | USD 0.00929 per GiB-month | 1 GiB per month | USD 0.00929 |
Write 2 GiB of data to the IA storage class | Write Traffic of IA Data | InfrequentWriteQuantity | 2 GiB per month | USD 0.01858 |
Example 3: Implement cross-region disaster recovery based on NAS file systems
On November 1, 2024, Mr. Zhang stored 150 GiB of files in a Performance NAS file system (File System A) in the China (Beijing) region. To further improve the security and reliability of data and prevent data loss or access interruptions caused by failures in a single region, Mr. Zhang created a cross-region backup policy for the file system to back up data on a regular basis. If exceptions such as natural disasters and power failures occur in a region, Mr. Zhang can still use the data in the backup vault to recreate a file system (File System B), thus ensuring business continuity. In this case, the total fee of the month is USD 59.5418, as shown in the following table.
Operation | Billable item | Code | Unit price | Billable amount | Fee |
Store 150 GiB of data | Storage Usage of General-purpose NAS File System (Capacity/Performance) | VolumeSize | USD 0.3 per GiB-month | 150 GiB | USD 45 (included in your NAS bills) |
Back up files by using a cross-region backup policy created in Cloud Backup | Storage Space | Storage | USD 0.03187 per GiB-month | 140 GiB3 | USD 4.4618 (included in your Cloud Backup bills) |
Cross-region replication traffic | Traffic | USD 0.072 per GiB | 140 GiB | USD 10.08 (included in your Cloud Backup bills) |
3 When you back up data, Cloud Backup deduplicates and compresses the data. Therefore, the amount billed in this scenario is the amount of deduplicated and compressed data.
Example 4: Automatically dump and clean up NAS data
On November 1, 2024, Mr. Zhang created a Capacity NAS file system in the China (Beijing) region. The storage usage of the file system is 1,000 GiB per hour. All files are stored in the /mnt
directory. To cope with changes in access requirements at different phases, Mr. Zhang configured the following lifecycle rules:
Phase 1: Data needs to be frequently accessed in this phase. All files in the
/mnt
directory are stored in the Standard storage class. This phase lasts 14 days.Phase 2: Data is accessed less than once within 14 days. All files in the
/mnt
directory are dumped to the IA storage class. This phase lasts 16 days.Phase 3: Data is accessed less than once within 30 days. All files in the
/mnt
directory are dumped to the Archive storage class. This phase lasts 5 days.Phase 4: Data no longer needs to be retained. Delete all files in the
/mnt
directory after data is stored in the Archive storage class for 5 days.
In this case, the total fee of the month is USD 45.8628, as shown in the following table.
Operation | Billable item | Code | Unit price | Billable amount | Fee |
Store 1,000 GiB of data in the Standard storage class for 14 days | Storage Usage of General-purpose NAS File System (Capacity/Performance) | VolumeSize | USD 0.06 per GiB-month | 1,000 GiB stored for 14 days | USD 28 |
Store 1,000 GiB of data in the IA storage class for 16 days | Storage Usage of IA Storage Class | VolumeIASize | USD 0.02322 per GiB-month | 1,000 GiB stored for 16 days | USD 12.384 |
Store 1,000 GiB of data in the Archive storage class for 5 days | Storage Usage of Archive Storage Class | VolumeArchiveSize | USD 0.0076 per GiB-month | 1,000 GiB stored for 5 days | USD 1.267 |
Delete 1,000 GiB of data after the data is stored in the Archive storage class for 5 days | Storage Usage of Archive Data Retained for Less Than 60 Days | ArchivePenaltyQuantity | USD 0.0076 per GiB-month | 1,000 GiB stored for 16 days4 | USD 4.0533 |
Dump 1,000 GiB of data from the Standard storage class to the IA storage class | Storage Usage of General-purpose NAS File System (Capacity/Performance) | VolumeSize | USD 0.06 per GiB-month | 1,000 GiB stored for 1 hour5 | USD 0.083 |
Storage Usage of IA Storage Class | VolumeIASize | USD 0.02322 per GiB-month | 1,000 GiB stored for 1 hour5 | USD 0.03225 | |
Dump 1,000 GiB of data from the IA storage class to the Archive storage class | Storage Usage of IA Storage Class | VolumeIASize | USD 0.02322 per GiB-month | 1,000 GiB stored for 1 hour5 | USD 0.03225 |
Storage Usage of Archive Storage Class | VolumeArchiveSize | USD 0.0076 per GiB-month | 1,000 GiB stored for 1 hour5 | USD 0.011 |
4 The minimum storage duration of the Archive storage class is 60 days. The minimum storage duration starts from the time when a file is accessed, which is indicated by the atime parameter. Therefore, you are charged for the storage usage of archive data that is stored for 16 days (60 - 14 - 25 - 5).
5 When files are being dumped, each file has a replica in the storage space of the original storage class and the new storage class. After the files are dumped, the file replicas in the original storage class are deleted. In this case, traffic fees are incurred for the file replicas.
References
By default, the data of General-purpose NAS file systems is stored in the Standard storage class. You can convert the storage class of files from Standard to IA or Archive to reduce storage costs. For more information, see Manage lifecycle policies.
You can view the storage usage of the IA storage class, the Archive storage class, and the recycle bin. For more information, see View the storage usage of a file system.
You can view storage usage of the Standard, IA, and Archive storage classes of a General-purpose NAS file system in real time. For more information, see View the capacity monitoring data of a NAS file system.
You can create an alert rule to monitor the storage usage of a NAS file system. For more information, see Configure a basic alert rule.
You can view the usage details of a NAS file system. For more information, see Resource usage and bills.
FAQ
Why do I still have overdue payments after I purchase a resource plan?
How am I charged when I upload data to or download data from a file system?
For more information about the billing of NAS, see Billing FAQ.