When a PolarDB cluster expires or a payment becomes overdue, you have a grace period to renew or add funds before the cluster is locked or released. The steps to restore your cluster depend on its billing method.
Service interruptions may occur when your cluster expires or a payment becomes overdue. When you receive a notification, renew the cluster or add funds immediately to prevent interruptions.
To avoid disruptions:
Manually renew your subscription cluster before it expires, or enable auto-renewal.
Make sure your account has sufficient balance.
Subscription clusters
The following table shows what happens after a subscription cluster expires.
| Period | Cluster status | Billing | How to restore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days 1–15 after expiry | Runs normally | See below | Manually renew the cluster to prevent it from being locked. |
| Days 16–30 after expiry | Locked and unavailable | See below | Manually renew the cluster. After renewal, the cluster is unlocked and returns to normal. |
| Day 31 after expiry | Released | Data retained per backup retention policy | If the cluster was moved to the cluster recycle bin, restore the released cluster using a backup set. |
In other words, you have 30 days to renew before the cluster is released: 15 days while it runs normally, and 15 more days after it is locked.
Billing during days 1–15
Compute nodes are free of charge. Renewal starts from the expiration date. Storage billing depends on the storage billing method:
Subscription storage: not charged. Renewal starts from the expiration date.
Pay-as-you-go storage: charged per billing rules.
If the purchased storage capacity is exhausted and a storage scale-up is triggered during this period, you are charged for the additional storage space even though the cluster has expired.
Backup storage beyond the free quota is charged if the cluster's backup storage exceeds the free quota; otherwise, no charge applies.
SQL Explorer and cold data archiving are charged if enabled; otherwise, no charge applies.
Billing during days 16–30
Compute nodes, storage space, and SQL Explorer are free of charge.
Even while the cluster is locked, the following fees may still apply:
Backup storage beyond the free quota: charged if the cluster's backup storage exceeds the free quota.
Cold data archiving: charged if this feature is enabled.
Data retention after release (day 31)
What happens to your data depends on your backup retention policy:
When the cluster is released, the cluster data is automatically backed up, and the latest backup set is retained for a long period of time or When the cluster is released, the cluster data is automatically backed up, and all backup sets of the cluster are retained for a long period of time: data is moved to the cluster recycle bin. Storage fees apply.
When the cluster is released, all backup sets of the cluster are deleted immediately: all data is deleted and cannot be restored. No additional fees apply.
Pay-as-you-go and serverless clusters
When your Alibaba Cloud account has overdue payments, all pay-as-you-go and serverless clusters under that account become overdue simultaneously.
The following table shows what happens after a cluster becomes overdue.
| Period | Cluster status | Billing | How to restore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days 1–15 after overdue | Runs normally | Charged normally per billable items | Add funds to your Alibaba Cloud account to prevent the cluster from being locked. |
| Days 16–30 after overdue | Locked and unavailable | See below | Add funds to your Alibaba Cloud account. After you add funds, the cluster is unlocked and returns to normal. Before adding funds, check the payment methods configured for your account. |
| Day 31 after overdue | Released | Data retained per backup retention policy | If the cluster was moved to the cluster recycle bin, restore the released cluster using a backup set. |
In other words, you have 30 days to add funds before the cluster is released: 15 days while it runs normally, and 15 more days after it is locked.
Billing during days 16–30
Compute nodes, storage space, and SQL Explorer are free of charge.
Even while the cluster is locked, the following fees may still apply:
Backup storage beyond the free quota: charged if the cluster's backup storage exceeds the free quota.
Cold data archiving: charged if this feature is enabled.
Data retention after release (day 31)
What happens to your data depends on your backup retention policy:
When the cluster is released, the cluster data is automatically backed up, and the latest backup set is retained for a long period of time or When the cluster is released, the cluster data is automatically backed up, and all backup sets of the cluster are retained for a long period of time: data is moved to the cluster recycle bin. Storage fees apply.
When the cluster is released, all backup sets of the cluster are deleted immediately: all data is deleted and cannot be restored. No additional fees apply.