If you use the pay-as-you-go + storage plans storage billing method for your cluster, the storage consumed by your cluster is counted against the available amount in the storage plans first. After your storage plans are exhausted, you are charged for the excess storage usage on a pay-as-you-go basis. We recommend that you use this storage billing method for your cluster.
Note
Storage plans can be applied to all PolarDB clusters in the regions that are specified by the Resource Plan Type parameter. You can select Chinese Mainland or Outside Chinese Mainland for the parameter.
If the capacity of your storage plan is insufficient, you can purchase an additional storage plan or upgrade the storage plan. You cannot downgrade storage plans. For information about how to upgrade a storage plan, see the "Upgrade a storage plan" section of the Renew or upgrade a storage plan topic.
If the amount of the storage that is used exceeds the capacity of your storage plan, you are charged for the additional storage resources based on the pay-as-you-go billing method.
For example, if you create three PolarDB clusters each of which requires 400 GB of storage, you can purchase a storage plan with 1,000 GB of capacity for the clusters. The excess 200 GB of storage usage is billed based on the pay-as-you-go billing method. For more information, see View the database storage usage.
Advantages
The pay-as-you-go + storage plans billing method combines the cost-effectiveness of the subscription billing method and the flexibility of the pay-as-you-go billing method.
The pay-as-you-go billing method uses a serverless approach. You do not need to specify the storage capacity when you purchase clusters. The storage capacity is automatically increased when the amount of data increases. You are charged only for the storage that you use.
In most cases, the pay-as-you-go + storage plans billing method costs less than the pay-as-you-go billing method. The discount rate that a storage plan provides varies based on the storage capacity and validity period of the storage plan. In some cases, the discount rate can reach 45% compared with the pay-as-you-go billing method.
This billing method has extensive coverage. Storage plans take effect for all clusters in a specific region within your Alibaba Cloud account instead of only for a single cluster.
A Chinese Mainland storage plan can be used to offset the storage fees of all clusters in all regions in the Chinese mainland within your Alibaba Cloud account.
An Outside Chinese Mainland storage plan can be used to offset the storage fees of all clusters in the following regions within your Alibaba Cloud account: China (Hong Kong), Singapore (Singapore), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Indonesia (Jakarta), India (Mumbai) Closing Down, US (Silicon Valley), US (Virginia), Japan (Tokyo), Germany (Frankfurt), UK (London), and Australia (Sydney).
NoteYou can use storage plans only for clusters that use the pay-as-you-go billing method for storage.
When your storage plans are exhausted, data can still be written to your clusters as expected. You are charged for the excess storage usage on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Scenarios
Your Alibaba Cloud account has PolarDB clusters that store a large amount of data in specific regions. If you want to store a large amount of data, such as 1,000 GB of data or more, storage plans are more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go billing method. Higher discounts are offered for storage plans that have larger storage capacities. For more information, see Purchase a storage plan.
The amount of data generated by your business is prone to frequent fluctuations.
You have multiple pay-as-you-go clusters.
Pricing
Pricing of storage plans
A monthly storage plan provides 10% to 45% savings compared with the price of a comparable pay-as-you-go cluster. The longer the duration of the plan, the larger the discount. If you purchase annual storage plans, you can save an additional 15% off the monthly price. The following table describes the prices.
Capacity (GB) | Regions in the Chinese mainland (USD/month) (1.7% to 47.0% off compared with the pay-as-you-go billing method) | Hong Kong (China) and regions outside China (USD/month) (1.6% to 46.6% off compared with the pay-as-you-go billing method) |
50 | 28 (No discount) | 31 (No discount) |
100 | 55 (approximately 1.7% off) | 61 (approximately 1.6% off) |
200 | 109 (approximately 2.7% off) | 121 (approximately 2.4% off) |
300 | 163 (approximately 3% off) | 182 (approximately 2.6% off) |
500 | 271 (approximately 3.2% off) | 302 (approximately 2.6% off) |
1,000 | 490 (approximately 12.5% off) | 550 (approximately 11.3% off) |
2,000 | 980 (approximately 12.5% off) | 1,090 (approximately 12.5% off) |
3,000 | 1,210 (approximately 28.0% off) | 1,340 (approximately 28.0% off) |
5,000 | 2,020 (approximately 28.0% off) | 2,230 (approximately 28.1% off) |
10,000 | 3,260 (approximately 41.8% off) | 3,630 (approximately 41.5% off) |
20,000 | 6,510 (approximately 41.9% off) | 7,250 (approximately 41.5% off) |
30,000 | 9,760 (approximately 42.0% off) | 10,870 (approximately 41.5% off) |
50,000 | 14,860 (approximately 47.0% off) | 16,550 (approximately 46.6% off) |
100,000 | 29,720 (approximately 47.0% off) | 33,110 (approximately 46.6% off) |
200,000 | 59,440 (approximately 47.0% off) | 66,220 (approximately 46.6% off) |
Deduction rules for storage plans
You can use storage plans only for clusters that use the pay-as-you-go billing method for storage.
Storage plans can be used to deduct consumed storage capacity based on specific ratios. The following table lists the ratios.
Storage type | Offset factor | Storage capacity offset by a 1-GB storage plan (regions in the Chinese mainland) | Storage capacity offset by a 1-GB storage plan (regions outside the Chinese mainland) |
PSL4 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 0.65 | 1.54 GB | 1.54 GB |
PSL4 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 0.325 | 3.08 GB | 3.08 GB |
PSL5 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 1 | 1 GB | 1 GB |
PSL5 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 0.5 | 2 GB | 2 GB |
For example, for a PSL4 cluster in a region of the Chinese mainland with hot standby storage enabled, a 50-GB storage plan can be used to offset the storage usage of 76.92 GB (1/0.65 × 50). Excess storage usage that exceeds 76.92 GB is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
The following table lists the actual storage capacity that can be deducted from storage plans in regions inside the Chinese mainland.
Capacity of a storage plan (GB) | PSL4 (GB) | PSL5 (GB) |
50 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 76.92 | 50 |
50 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 153.84 | 100 |
100 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 153.84 | 100 |
100 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 307.69 | 200 |
200 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 307.69 | 200 |
200 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 615.38 | 400 |
300 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 461.54 | 300 |
300 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 923.08 | 600 |
500 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 769.23 | 500 |
500 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 1,538.46 | 1,000 |
1,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 1,538.46 | 1,000 |
1,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 3,076.92 | 2,000 |
2,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 3,076.92 | 2,000 |
2,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 6153.84 | 4,000 |
3,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 4,615.38 | 3,000 |
3,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 9,230.76 | 6,000 |
4,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 6,153.85 | 4,000 |
4,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 12,307.7 | 8,000 |
5,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 7,692.31 | 5,000 |
5,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 15,384.62 | 10,000 |
6,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 9,230.77 | 6,000 |
6,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 18,461.54 | 12,000 |
7,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 10,769.23 | 7,000 |
7,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 21,538.46 | 14,000 |
8,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 12,307.69 | 8,000 |
8,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 24,615.38 | 16,000 |
9,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 13,846.15 | 9,000 |
9,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 27,692.3 | 18,000 |
10,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 15,384.62 | 10,000 |
10,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 30,769.24 | 20,000 |
15,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 23,076.92 | 15,000 |
15,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 46,153.84 | 30,000 |
20,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 30,769.24 | 20,000 |
20,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 61,538.48 | 40,000 |
25,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 38,461.54 | 25,000 |
25,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 76,923.08 | 50,000 |
30,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 46,153.846 | 30,000 |
30,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 92,307.692 | 60,000 |
40,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 61,538.46 | 40,000 |
40,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 123,076.92 | 80,000 |
50,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 76,923.08 | 50,000 |
50,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 153,846.16 | 100,000 |
60,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 92,307.69 | 60,000 |
60,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 184,615.38 | 120,000 |
70,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 107,692.31 | 70,000 |
70,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 215,384.62 | 140,000 |
80,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 123,076.92 | 80,000 |
80,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 246,153.84 | 160,000 |
90,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 138,461.54 | 90,000 |
90,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 276,923.08 | 180,000 |
100,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 153,846.15 | 100,000 |
100,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 307,692.3 | 200,000 |
200,000 (Hot standby storage cluster enabled) | 307,692.3 | 200,000 |
200,000 (Hot standby storage cluster disabled) | 615,384.6 | 400,000 |
After your storage plans are exhausted, you are charged for the excess storage capacity on a pay-as-you-go basis. For more information about billing rules, see Pay-as-you-go.
Best practices for using storage plans
For more information, see Best practices for using storage plans.
Pay-as-you-go + storage plans or subscription
Subscription billing method: Select this billing method if the storage usage of the cluster is small and stable.
If you select the subscription billing method, the storage price per GB-month is approximately 65% of the corresponding pay-as-you-go storage price.
Pay-as-you-go + storage plans billing method: Select this billing method if the storage usage of the cluster is large and fluctuates.
If you select the subscription billing method, you must reserve a specific storage capacity to avoid pay-as-you-go fees.
The price of storage plans of 10,000 GB or more is 55% to 60% of the pay-as-you-go price. If the storage plans fully offset your storage usage, the cost per GB is lower than the subscription price.
Use the pay-as-you-go + storage plans billing method
For information about how to use the pay-as-you-go storage billing method for a cluster, see Purchase a pay-as-you-go cluster and Purchase a subscription cluster.
For information about the discount rates of storage plans and how to purchase storage plans, see Purchase a storage plan.