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ApsaraDB RDS:Backup fees

Last Updated:Apr 11, 2025

This topic describes how to view and manage the backup size and billable items for RDS SQL Server. You can adjust your backup policy as needed to reduce backup fees.

Billable items

Billable item

Billable item code

Associated product

References

Storage for regular backups

BackupCharged

RDS

Storage for cross-region backups

DdrOssStorageSize

RDS

Cross-region backup

Traffic that is consumed by cross-region backups

NetworkOutDuplicationSize

Database Backup (DBS)

Internet traffic that is consumed for backup downloads

NetworkOutSize

Database Backup (DBS)

Download data backups and log backups

Billing rules

If the total backup size does not exceed the free quota, no fees are charged for backups. Fees are charged for the backup size that exceeds the free quota on a pay-as-you-go basis. The billing rules for different scenarios are as follows:

Physical backup

When the backup mode of an instance is physical backup and only physical backup files exist in the backup space, refer to the following billing rules:

Note

When you switch your instance from snapshot backup to physical backup:

  • If the original snapshot backup files have not expired and been deleted, both physical backup files and snapshot backup files will exist in the backup space. During this period, refer to the billing rules for the "Coexistence of snapshot backup and physical backup files" scenario.

  • If the original snapshot backup files have expired and been deleted, only physical backup files remain in the backup space. Refer to the billing rules for this scenario.

Billing formula

Hourly backup fee = (Total backup size - Free quota) × Unit price for physical backup

Total backup size

The sum of all physical backup and log backup sizes. You can view this in the Basic Information > Instance Resources > Backup Usage section on the instance details page in the console.

Free quota (GB)

Total instance storage space × 50%

Unit price for physical backup

The unit price varies by storage type, as follows (unit: USD/GB/hour):

  • RDS instances that use cloud disks: 0.00004

  • RDS instances that use local disks: 0.00020

Billing example

Instance with only physical backup files in physical backup mode

Basic information about the cloud disk instance

  • Instance region: China (Hangzhou)

  • Instance storage space: 20 GB

  • Backup mode: Physical backup

  • Total physical backup size: 30 GB (data backup: 20 GB, log backup: 10 GB)

  • Unit price for physical backup: 0.00004 USD/GB/hour

Backup fee calculation process

  1. Free backup quota = Storage space × 50% = 20 GB × 50% = 10 GB

  2. Current total backup size = Data backup + Log backup = 20 GB + 10 GB = 30 GB

  3. Excess beyond free quota = Current total backup size - Free quota = 30 GB - 10 GB = 20 GB

  4. Hourly fee = Excess part × Unit price = 20 GB × 0.00004 USD/GB/hour = 0.0008 USD/hour

Snapshot backup

When the backup mode of an instance is snapshot backup and only snapshot backup files exist in the backup space, refer to the following billing rules:

Note

When you switch your instance from physical backup to snapshot backup:

  • If the original physical backup files have not expired and been deleted, both physical backup files and snapshot backup files will exist in the backup space. During this period, refer to the billing rules for the "Coexistence of snapshot backup and physical backup files" scenario.

  • If the original physical backup files have expired and been deleted, only snapshot backup files remain in the backup space. Refer to the billing rules for this scenario.

Billing formula

Hourly backup fee = (Total backup size - Free quota) × Unit price for physical backup

Total backup size

The sum of all snapshot backup and log backup sizes. You can view this in the Basic Information > Instance Resources > Backup Usage section on the instance details page in the console.

Free quota (GB)

Total instance storage space × 200%

Unit price for snapshot backup

0.00004 (unit: USD/GB/hour)

Billing example

Instance with only snapshot backup files in snapshot backup mode

Basic information about the cloud disk instance

  • Instance region: China (Hangzhou)

  • Instance storage space: 20 GB

  • Backup mode: Snapshot backup

  • Total snapshot backup size: 60 GB (data backup: 40 GB, log backup: 20 GB)

  • Unit price for snapshot backup: 0.00004 USD/GB/hour

Backup fee calculation process

  1. Free backup quota = Storage space × 200% = 20 GB × 200% = 40 GB

  2. Current total backup size = Data backup + Log backup = 40 GB + 20 GB = 60 GB

  3. Excess beyond free quota = Current total backup size - Free quota = 60 GB - 40 GB = 20 GB

  4. Hourly fee = Excess part × Unit price = 20 GB × 0.00004 USD/GB/hour = 0.0008 USD/hour

Coexistence of snapshot backup and physical backup files

When the backup mode of an instance is switched from snapshot backup to physical backup, or from physical backup to snapshot backup:

  • If the original snapshot/physical backup files have expired and been deleted, and only one type of backup files (all physical backups or all snapshot backups) remains in the backup space, refer to the billing rules for the "Physical backup" or "Snapshot backup" scenario.

  • If the original snapshot/physical backup files have not expired and been deleted, and both physical backup files and snapshot backup files exist in the backup space, refer to the billing rules for this scenario during this period.

Billing formula

Hourly backup fee = (Total backup size - Free quota) × Unit price for backup

Total backup size

The sum of all physical backup, snapshot backup, and log backup sizes. You can view this in the Basic Information > Instance Resources > Backup Usage section on the instance details page in the console.

Free quota (GB)

Total instance storage space × 200%

Unit price for backup

The fee is calculated based on the unit price of the backup mode after switching:

  • Snapshot backup switched to physical backup: Unit price for physical backup (see the "Physical backup" scenario)

  • Physical backup switched to snapshot backup: Unit price for snapshot backup (see the "Snapshot backup" scenario)

Billing example

Snapshot backup switched to physical backup

Basic information about the cloud disk instance

  • Instance region: China (Hangzhou)

  • Instance storage space: 20 GB

  • Backup mode: Originally snapshot backup, now switched to physical backup

  • Current total backup size:

    • Snapshot backups retained from the original mode: 40 GB (data backup: 20 GB, log backup: 20 GB)

    • Physical backups generated after switching: 20 GB (data backup: 10 GB, log backup: 10 GB)

  • Unit price for physical backup: 0.00004 USD/GB/hour

Backup fee calculation process

When snapshot backup and physical backup files coexist:

  • Free backup quota = Storage space × 200% = 20 GB × 200% = 40 GB

    During the coexistence period, the free quota is calculated based on the 200% free quota for snapshot backups.
  • Current total backup size = Total snapshot backup size + Total physical backup size = 40 GB + 20 GB = 60 GB

  • Excess beyond free quota = Current total backup size - Free quota = 60 GB - 40 GB = 20 GB

  • Hourly fee = Excess part × Unit price = 20 GB × 0.00004 USD/GB/hour = 0.0008 USD/hour

    During the coexistence period, the unit price is calculated based on the current mode (physical backup) unit price.

Physical backup switched to snapshot backup

Basic information about the cloud disk instance

  • Instance region: China (Hangzhou)

  • Instance storage space: 20 GB

  • Backup mode: Originally physical backup, now switched to snapshot backup

  • Current total backup size:

    • Physical backups retained from the original mode: 20 GB (data backup: 10 GB, log backup: 10 GB)

    • Snapshot backups generated after switching: 40 GB (data backup: 20 GB, log backup: 20 GB)

  • Unit price for snapshot backup: 0.00004 USD/GB/hour

Backup fee calculation process

When snapshot backup and physical backup files coexist:

  • Free backup quota = Storage space × 200% = 20 GB × 200% = 40 GB

    During the coexistence period, the free quota is calculated based on the 200% free quota for snapshot backups.
  • Current total backup size = Total physical backup size + Total snapshot backup size = 20 GB + 40 GB = 60 GB

  • Excess beyond free quota = Current total backup size - Free quota = 60 GB - 40 GB = 20 GB

  • Hourly fee = Excess part × Unit price = 20 GB × 0.00004 USD/GB/hour = 0.0008 USD/hour

    During the coexistence period, the unit price is calculated based on the current mode (snapshot backup) unit price.

Notes

  • Data and log backups are stored in an independent backup space and do not occupy instance storage space.

  • Backup fees are only related to backup size, not to instance storage space usage. When calculating backup fees, check the total backup size rather than the storage space usage.

  • Control operations involving cloud disk replacement (such as secondary database rebuilding) will have the following impacts on cloud disk instances in snapshot mode:

    • The backup storage of the RDS instance that uses cloud disks increases. As a result, the backup storage fees increase. The code of the billable item is BackupCharged.

    • The traffic consumed by cross-region backups of the RDS instance that uses cloud disks increases. As a result, the traffic fees of cross-region backups increase. The code of the billable item is NetworkOutDuplicationSize.

    • The cross-region backup storage of the RDS instance that uses cloud disks increases. As a result, the fees generated for cross-region backup storage increase. The code of the billable item is DdrOssStorageSize.

    Note

    For example, when a user performs certain DDL operations on an RDS cloud disk instance that cause excessive secondary database latency, the system may automatically trigger secondary database rebuilding to ensure product stability. This operation can lead to an increase in snapshot chains, resulting in growth of backup storage and network traffic, which causes an increase in the above fees.

Reduce/save backup fees

  • Reduce backup size

    You can reduce the backup frequency to decrease the number of backup sets, or shorten the backup retention period to allow the system to automatically delete existing backups (manual deletion of backup sets is not supported).

  • Increase the free backup quota

    The free quota is related to storage space. Expanding the storage space can increase the free backup quota of an instance. For example, when the backup method is snapshot backup, if you expand the instance storage space from 150 GB to 300 GB, the free quota will increase from 300 GB to 600 GB.

FAQ

  • Q: The automatic backup of my RDS instance has exceeded the free quota and is now being charged. How can I turn off the backup feature?

    A: The default backup feature of RDS is enabled by default and cannot be turned off. However, you can modify the automatic backup policy to delete existing backups or reduce the generation of new backups.

  • The backup retention period of my RDS instance is shortened from x days to y days. Why does the size of backup files remain unchanged?

    If no backup files are retained for more than y days, no backup files are deleted and the size of backup files remains unchanged after you shorten the backup retention period.

  • Q: Where can I view the total backup size and free backup quota for my RDS SQL Server instance?

    A: You can view this in the Basic Information > Instance Resources > Backup Usage section on the instance details page in the console.

  • Q: Why is the total snapshot backup size larger than the actual data file size?

    A: Snapshot backups are calculated based on cloud disk storage blocks rather than actual data file size. When calculating snapshot backup size, the system counts the total capacity of all non-empty storage blocks. Since cloud disk storage blocks are allocated in fixed sizes (such as 4 MB), when data is written in a scattered manner (for example, 3 MB of data may occupy 2, 3, or even more storage blocks), the number of non-empty blocks increases. In such cases, the total snapshot backup size may be larger than the actual data size.