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    ApsaraDB RDS:RDS for PostgreSQL premium performance disks

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    ApsaraDB RDS:RDS for PostgreSQL premium performance disks

    Last Updated:Jun 02, 2026

    Premium performance disks are a storage type for ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL that extends ESSD capabilities with IO burst, Buffer Pool Extension (BPE), and data archiving.

    Features

    Premium performance disks are compatible with all ESSD features and add IO performance burst, Buffer Pool Extension (BPE), and data archiving. These capabilities deliver higher IOPS and QPS under heavy I/O load without increasing storage capacity.

    Note

    Currently, downloading backup data from the Data Backup tab on the Basic Backup List page under Backup And Recovery is not supported for premium performance disks.

    • IO performance burst: Allows disks to temporarily exceed their maximum IOPS limit during peak workloads, delivering higher I/O capabilities for sudden demand spikes.

    • Buffer Pool Extension (BPE): Improves I/O performance for databases that encounter bottlenecks from large-scale or frequent reads and writes.

    • Data archiving: Archives cold data to OSS to significantly reduce storage costs.

    Performance metrics

    • I/O performance: Combines baseline I/O performance and burst performance.

      Premium performance disk storage capacity

      Baseline performance

      Performance limit (Baseline + Burst)

      100 GB <= Storage capacity < 256 GB

      I/O bandwidth: max {min{120 + 0.5 × storage capacity, 350}, 125}

      IOPS: max {min{1800 + 50 × storage capacity, 50000}, 3000}

      I/O bandwidth: 16 KB × IOPS / 1024 MB/s

      IOPS: 1000 × storage capacity (GB)

      256 GB <= Storage capacity < 1000 GB

      I/O bandwidth: 4096 MB/s

      IOPS: 1000 × storage capacity (GB)

      Storage capacity >= 1000 GB

      I/O bandwidth: 4096 MB/s

      IOPS: 1,000,000

    • Configuration flexibility: Multiple configurations available with both scale-out and scale-in. Scale-in is available only for instances that meet specific conditions. Change instance configurations.

    • Backup method: Snapshot backup

    • Operation speed: Backups, read-only instance creation, and instance cloning complete in seconds.

    • Scale-out duration: Online upgrade that completes in seconds.

    • Scale-out impact: None.

    • Data durability: 99.9999999% data reliability. Single-node Basic Edition instances are supported for cost savings.

    Limits

    • Storage capacity range: 10 GB to 64,000 GB.

    • You cannot change the storage type from a premium performance disk to any other type, but you can change from an ESSD to a premium performance disk. Change the storage type from ESSD to premium performance disk.

    • Currently, downloading backup data from the Data Backup tab on the Basic Backup List page under Backup And Recovery is not supported for premium performance disks.

    Billing

    Premium performance disk fee = RDS storage fee + IO performance burst fee + Buffer Pool Extension (BPE) fee + Data archiving fee

    BPE is currently free. The storage fee is based on purchased capacity. The IO performance burst fee and data archiving fee are usage-based.

    Note

    Premium performance disk pricing differs from ESSD PL2 and PL3. The exact difference appears on the order page when you change the configuration. Premium performance disks are typically more cost-effective for instances with short-duration high I/O.

    Purchase a premium performance disk

    You can get a premium performance disk in the following ways:

    Existing instances

    Upgrade an existing ESSD-based instance to a premium performance disk.

    Prerequisites

    • The instance uses pay-as-you-go or subscription billing.

    • The instance storage type is ESSD with a capacity of at least 40 GB.

      Note

      Instances created before October 10, 2022 that use the old architecture must first upgrade the minor engine version to the latest version before upgrading to a premium performance disk.

    Impacts

    The upgrade takes effect immediately without transient connections or service impact. In rare cases, instance IOPS may fluctuate. Perform this operation during off-peak hours.

    Notes

    • For HA instances, the storage type change applies to both primary and secondary instances. For Basic Edition, it applies to the primary instance only. Read-only instances are not affected. To change a read-only instance's storage type, perform the operation on its details page.

    • After upgrading to a premium performance disk, you cannot change to any other storage type.

    • Ensure no backup jobs are running before the upgrade. Active backups may delay the configuration change.

    Procedure

    1. Go to the Instances page. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which the RDS instance resides. Then, find the RDS instance and click the ID of the instance.

    2. In the Basic Information section, click Upgrade Storage Type next to Storage Type.

    3. On the Upgrade/Downgrade Instance page, read the Terms of Service, click Confirm Order, and complete the payment.

      Note

      After payment, the instance status changes to Upgrading/Downgrading. The upgrade completes when the status returns to Running.

    New instances

    When you purchase a new instance, set the storage type to Premium Performance Disk. Create an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance.

    Related API operations

    API

    Description

    CreateDBInstance

    Set DBInstanceStorageType to general_essd to use a premium performance disk.