Starting September 14, 2022, Alibaba Cloud charges for manual backup storage that exceeds the free quota. Previously, manual backups exceeding the free quota were provided at a 100% discount (no charge). The billing method for manual backups is now the same as for automatic backups.
Effective dates and regions
| Date | Region |
|---|---|
| September 14, 2022 | China (Hohhot), China (Chengdu), and Singapore |
| September 20, 2022 | China (Hangzhou), China (Beijing), China (Shanghai), China (Shenzhen), China (Qingdao), China (Guangzhou), China (Hong Kong), Japan (Tokyo), South Korea (Seoul), China (Zhangjiakou), China (Heyuan), China (Ulanqab), US (Silicon Valley), US (Virginia), Germany (Frankfurt), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Indonesia (Jakarta), Philippines (Manila), Thailand (Bangkok), UAE (Dubai), and UK (London) |
Billing rules
Application scope
This change applies to:
ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL
ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server
ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL
ApsaraDB RDS for MariaDB does not support manual backups. For MariaDB instances, configure an automatic backup policy to back up your data.
How to trigger a manual backup
To manually back up an RDS instance, log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console, go to the Basic Information page of your instance, and click Backup Instance in the upper-right corner.
Free quota
The free quota for backup storage depends on the storage type of your ApsaraDB RDS instance.
| Storage type | Free quota | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud disks | 200% of the purchased storage capacity | View the free quota on the Basic Information page of your instance in the ApsaraDB RDS console (lower-right corner). |
| Local disks | 50% of the purchased storage capacity |
How fees are calculated
Manual and automatic backup files share the same free quota. If the combined size stays within the free quota, no storage fees apply. If the combined size exceeds the free quota, an hourly fee applies to the excess.
Formula:
Hourly fee = (Total size of manual and automatic backup files − Free quota) × Unit price of storage
Example:
Suppose your ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance uses cloud disks with 500 GB of purchased storage. The free quota is 1,000 GB (200% × 500 GB). If your automatic backups total 800 GB and manual backups total 400 GB in the current hour, the combined size is 1,200 GB, which exceeds the free quota by 200 GB. You are charged for 200 GB of excess backup storage for that hour.
For the unit price of backup storage, see:
ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL: Backup storage fees
ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server: Backup storage fees
ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL: Backup storage fees
Reduce backup storage costs
View and download your manual backups on the Backup and Restoration page of your RDS instance.
To keep backup storage costs under control, use the following guidance based on your scenario:
| Scenario | Recommended action |
|---|---|
| Core production databases | Rely on automatic backups for ongoing protection. Create manual backups only before major changes such as schema migrations or version upgrades, and delete them promptly after verification. |
| Non-critical or development databases | Shorten the automatic backup retention period and avoid storing manual backups long-term. |
| Testing databases | Create manual backups only before specific tests. Delete them immediately after the test is complete. |
For detailed guidance on reducing backup storage costs, see Backup storage fees.
What's next
ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL: Manually back up an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance
ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server: Back up an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance
ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL: Back up an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance