PolarDB:Purchase a subscription cluster

Prerequisites

An Alibaba Cloud account is created and is used to log on to the Alibaba Cloud Management Console. For more information, see Register and log on to an Alibaba Cloud account.

Step 1: Complete the basic settings

In the Basic Settings step, set the basic requirements (billing method, region, and zone) and the basic resources (database engine, edition, specification, and storage) of the cluster. After you complete the basic settings, click Next: Cluster Configurations.

1. Go to the PolarDB cluster buy page.
2. Set Billing method to Subscription.
   When you create a subscription cluster, you need to pay for the compute, storage, and proxy service costs of the cluster.
3. Select a Region from the drop-down list.
   Select a region that is close to your geographical location to reduce latency. After a cluster is created, the region of the cluster cannot be changed. For more information, see Regions and Zones.

   Note

   • Make sure that the PolarDB for MySQL cluster and the ECS instance to which you want to connect are deployed in the same region. Otherwise, the PolarDB cluster and the ECS instance can communicate only over the Internet, which degrades cluster performance.
   • You can deploy your PolarDB for MySQL cluster and ECS instance in the same zone or in different zones. If you create a PolarDB for MySQL cluster in the same zone as the ECS instance, the network latency is reduced and the access speed is increased.
4. Set Create Type to Create Primary Cluster to create a new PolarDB for MySQL cluster.
   The Create Type parameter also includes the following options:

   • Create Secondary Cluster: creates a secondary cluster that is deployed in a global database network (GDN). For more information, see Add a secondary cluster.
   • Upgrade/Migrate from PolarDB: creates a cluster by replicating data from the source PolarDB for MySQL cluster and synchronizing incremental data. In most cases, this method is used to upgrade the major version of the PolarDB for MySQL cluster. For more information, see Major version upgrade.
     • Source PolarDB Version: the version of the source PolarDB for MySQL cluster. Valid values: MySQL 5.6, MySQL 5.7, and MySQL 8.0.
     • Source PolarDB Cluster: the source PolarDB for MySQL cluster.
   • Migrate from RDS: creates a cluster by cloning the data of an ApsaraDB RDS instance and synchronizing incremental data. In most cases, this method is used for data migration. Before data migration, the read/write mode of the PolarDB for MySQL cluster is Read Only. By default, binary logging is enabled. For more information, see Overview.
     • Source RDS Version: the engine version of the source RDS instance. Valid values: MySQL 5.6, MySQL 5.7, and MySQL 8.0.
     • Source RDS Instance: the source ApsaraDB RDS instance. Read-only instances are excluded.
       Note The list of available source instances Read-only instances are not displayed in the list. ApsaraDB for RDS instances that run non-InnoDB engines are not supported. When you create a PolarDB for MySQL instance by restoring a backup file, the source instance can keep running without being interrupted.
   • Clone from RDS: creates a PolarDB for MySQL cluster by cloning the data of a specified ApsaraDB RDS instance. For more information, see Create a PolarDB for MySQL cluster by cloning an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.
     • Source RDS Version: the engine version of the source RDS instance. Valid values: MySQL 5.6, MySQL 5.7, and MySQL 8.0.
     • Source RDS Instance: the source ApsaraDB RDS instance. Read-only instances are excluded.
       Note The list of available source instances Read-only instances are not displayed in the list. ApsaraDB for RDS instances that run non-InnoDB engines are not supported. When you create a PolarDB for MySQL instance by restoring a backup file, the source instance can keep running without being interrupted.
   • Restore from Recycle: creates a cluster by restoring a backup of a deleted cluster from the recycle bin.
     • Source Version: the version of the cluster that is deleted.
     • Deleted Clusters: the name of the cluster that is deleted.
     • Backup History: the backup file that you want to restore.
5. Select Database Engine.
   PolarDB for MySQL supports the following database engines:

   • MySQL 8.0.2 (fully compatible with MySQL 8.0)
   • (Recommended) MySQL 8.0.1 (fully compatible with MySQL 8.0)
   • MySQL 5.7 (fully compatible with MySQL 5.7)
   • MySQL 5.6 (fully compatible with MySQL 5.6)
6. Set Database Edition to Enterprise Edition.
7. Select an Edition.
   You can choose Cluster Edition(Recommended) or Multi-master Cluster (Database/Table) Edition. For more information about the two editions, see Editions.

   Note The Multi-master Cluster (Database/Table) Edition edition is available only when you set Creation Type to Create Primary Cluster, Upgrade/Migration from PolarDB, or Restore from Recycle Bin and set Database Engine to MySQL 8.0.1.
8. Set the number of Nodes.
   • If your source cluster isCluster Edition(Recommended), the system displays one read-write node and one read-only node by default. The read-write node is necessary and the read-only node is optional.
   • If your source cluster is Multi-master Cluster (Database/Table) Edition, the system automatically creates two primary nodes with the same specifications. You do not need to configure this parameter.
9. Select a Primary Zone.
   • A zone is an independent geographical location in a region. All of the zones in a region provide the same level of service performance.
   • You can deploy your PolarDB for MySQL cluster and ECS instance in the same zone or in different zones.
   • You need to specify only the primary zone. The system automatically selects a secondary zone.
10. Select whether to Enable Hot Standby Cluster.
    • When this feature is enabled, the primary PolarDB for MySQL cluster and a hot-standby cluster are deployed in the specified region. The primary cluster contains compute nodes that serve as standbys for each other, and a primary storage. The two clusters each have three replicas, which delivers higher SLA.
    • When this feature is disabled, only the primary cluster is deployed. The cluster has three replicas, and the storage unit price is half of that when this feature is enabled. This delivers lower SLA.
11. Select a Specification.
    The Enterprise Edition supports the General-purpose andDedicated instance families.

    • Dedicated: Computing resources such as CPUs that are allocated to each cluster are exclusive. This improves the stability and reliability.
    • General-purpose: Idle computing resources such as CPUs are shared among clusters on the same host for cost-effectiveness.

    For more information about the instance families, see Comparison between general-purpose and dedicated compute nodes.

12. Selects specifications for the compute nodes.
    Note For more information about the specifications of compute nodes, see Specifications of compute nodes.
13. The PolarProxy Type value changes with the Specification parameter value.
    PolarDB for MySQL supports Standard Enterprise Edition and Dedicated Enterprise Edition.

    • Standard Enterprise Edition: corresponds with the General-purpose specification family. It shares CPU resources with smart elastic scaling within seconds based on business loads.
    • Dedicated Enterprise Edition: corresponds with the Dedicated specification family. It occupies all allocated CPU resources and provides better stability.
14. Select a Storage Type
    PolarDB for MySQL supports PSL5 and PSL4.

    • PSL5: supported by the previous versions of PolarDB for MySQL. It is the default storage type for PolarDB for MySQL clusters purchased before June 07, 2022. It provides storage with higher performance, reliability, and availability.
    • PSL4: a new storage type for PolarDB for MySQL. This type uses the Smart-SSD technology developed in-house by Alibaba Cloud to compress and decompress data that is stored on SSD disks. It can minimize the storage costs of data while maintaining a high disk performance.
      Note The storage type of existing clusters cannot be changed. If you need to change storage type, we recommend that you purchase a new cluster, set the desired storage type, and then migrate data to the new cluster.

    For more information about the two storage types, see Comparison between PSL4 and PSL5.

15. Select a Storage Engine.
    PolarDB for MySQL supports InnoDB and InnoDB & X-Engine.

    • InnoDB :InnoDB storage engine.
    • InnoDB & X-Engine:: deploys both InnoDB and X-Engine. After you select this option, set the ratio of X-Engine Memory Usage. For more information, see X-Engine Edition.
16. Select a Storage Billing Method.
    PolarDB for MySQL supports Pay-as-you-go and Subscription.

    • Pay-as-you-go: The storage capacity is provided based on a serverless architecture. This way, you do not need to specify the storage capacity when you purchase clusters. The storage capacity of the clusters can be automatically scaled up as the volume of data increases. You are charged for the actual data volume. For more information, see Pay-as-you-go.
    • Subscription: You need to purchase a specific amount of storage capacity when you create the cluster. For more information, see Subscription.

    Note If the Billing method is set to Subscription, you can select Pay-as-you-go or Subscription as the Storage Billing Method. If the Billing method is set to Pay-as-you-go, you cannot set this parameter and pay-as-you-go is the default method.
17. Set Storage Capacity. Specify the size of the Subscription storage capacity that you want to purchase. The storage capacity ranges from 50 GB to 100 TB, in 10 GB increments.
    Note This parameter is available only when Storage Billing Method is set to Subscription.

Step 2: Complete the cluster configurations

In the Cluster Configurations step, set the cluster name, network type, parameter template, and table name case sensitivity. After you complete the cluster configurations, click Next: Confirm Order.

1. You can specify a custom Cluster Name or use an auto-generated one.
   If you select the auto-generated Cluster Name, after the cluster is created, the system automatically generates a name that you can still modify. If you specify a custom Cluster Name, you need to enter a name that meets the following requirements:

   • It cannot start with http:// or https://.
   • It must be 2 to 256 characters in length.
   • It must start with a letter and can contain letters, digits, periods (.), underscores (_), and hyphens (-).
2. Set Resource Group.
   Select a resource group from the drop down list. For more information, see Create a resource group.

   Note A resource group is a group of resources that belong to an Alibaba Cloud account. Resource groups allow you to manage these resources in a centralized manner. A resource belongs to only one resource group. For more information, see Use RAM to create and authorize resource groups.
3. Configure VPC and vSwitch.
   The network type can only be VPC. You do not need to specify this parameter. Make sure that the PolarDB for MySQL cluster is created in the same VPC as the ECS instance to which you want to connect. Otherwise, the cluster and the ECS instance cannot communicate over the internal network to achieve optimal performance.

   • If an existing VPC meets your network requirements, select the VPC. For example, if you have an existing ECS instance and the VPC to which the ECS instance belongs meets your network requirements, select this VPC.
   • Otherwise, use the default VPC and the default vSwitch.
     • Default VPC:
       • Only one VPC is specified as the default VPC in the region that you select.
       • The CIDR block of the default VPC uses a 16-bit subnet mask. For example, the CIDR block of the default VPC can be 192.168.0.0/16. This CIDR block provides up to 65,536 private IP addresses.
       • The default VPC does not count towards the quota of VPCs that you can create on Alibaba Cloud.
     • Default vSwitch:
       • Only one vSwitch is specified as the default vSwitch in the zone that you select.
       • The CIDR block of the default vSwitch uses a 20-bit subnet mask. For example, the CIDR block of the default vSwitch can be 192.168.0.0/20. This CIDR block provides up to 4,096 private IP addresses.
       • The default vSwitch does not count towards the quota of vSwitches that you can create in a VPC.
   • If the default VPC and vSwitch cannot meet your business requirements, you can create your own VPC and vSwitch. For more information, see Create and manage a VPC.
4. Select Parameter Templates.
   Select a custom or default system parameter template.

   Note In the drop-down list, all custom or default system parameter templates available in the current region are displayed. For more information about parameter templates, see Apply a parameter template.
5. Set Time Zone.
   The time zone of the cluster. The default value is UTC +08:00.
6. Set Table Name.
   You can specify whether table names in the cluster are case-sensitive. The default value is Not Case-sensitive (Default). If table names in your on-premises database are case-sensitive, select Case-sensitive to simplify the process of data migration.

   Note The value of this parameter cannot be changed after the cluster is created. Exercise caution when you select the value.
7. Choose whether to Enable Binary Logging. For more information, seeEnable binary logging.
8. Set the backup retention policy when the cluster is released.
   • Retain Last Automatic Backup (Automatic Backup before Release): retains the last backup when you release the cluster. This is the default value.
   • Retain All Backups: The system retains all backups when you release the cluster.
   • Delete All Backups (Cannot be Restored): The system retains no backups when you release the cluster.

Step 3: Confirm the order

Before the cluster is created, make sure that the selected configurations such as the quantity meet your requirements.

1. Check the selected configurations.
   To modify the configurations in a step, click the icon to go to the step.
2. Set Subscription Cycle and Quantity, and select whether to enable Auto-renewal.
   Note

   • You can create a maximum of 50 clusters at a time. This allows you to create multiple clusters in specific scenarios. For example, you can deploy multiple game servers at a time.
   • We recommend that you enable Auto-renewal to prevent service interruptions caused by overdue payments.
3. Read and select the terms of service.
4. View the fee and details in the lower part of the page. If they are correct, click Buy Now.
5. On the Purchase page, confirm the order and the payment method, and click Purchase.
   After you complete the payment, wait 10 to 15 minutes. Then, you can view the newly created cluster on the Clusters page.

   Note

   • If nodes in your cluster are in the Creating state, the cluster is being created and unavailable. The cluster is available only when it is in the Running state.
   • Make sure that you have selected the region where the cluster is deployed. Otherwise, you cannot view the cluster.

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