Create an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance - ApsaraDB RDS

You can create an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance in the ApsaraDB RDS console or by calling an API operation. This topic describes how to create an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance in the ApsaraDB RDS console.

Prerequisites

If you use a Resource Access Management (RAM) user to create an RDS instance, the AliyunRDSFullAccess and AliyunBSSOrderAccess policies must be attached to the RAM user. For more information, see Use RAM for resource authorization.

Procedure

you can click Try New Version or Return To Old Version to switch between the new and old versions of the buy page.

New version of the ApsaraDB RDS buy page

Open the ApsaraDB RDS buy page.

Select a Billing Method.

Note

You can create a Pay-as-you-go RDS instance and then change the billing method from pay-as-you-go to subscription after you confirm that the RDS instance meets your requirements.
After a serverless RDS instance is created, you cannot change its billing method to pay-as-you-go or subscription. Select a billing method with caution.

Billing Method	Recommendation	Advantage
Subscription	If you want to use an RDS instance for a long period of time, select Subscription (pay a lump sum) and select a Subscription Duration in the lower-left corner of the page.	For long-term use, the subscription billing method is more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go billing method. You are offered lower prices for longer subscription durations.
Pay-as-you-go	If you want to use an RDS instance for a short period of time, select Pay-as-you-go (billed by hour).	You can release a pay-as-you-go RDS instance at any time. The billing of a pay-as-you-go RDS instance stops immediately after you release the RDS instance.
Serverless	If you need to process scheduled tasks, your business fluctuates, or you want a fully managed or maintenance-free database, select Serverless. For more information, see Introduction to serverless RDS instances and Create a serverless RDS instance.	If you select serverless, you are charged based on your consumption of resources for workloads. This can help reduce costs.

Note

You can view the price in the lower-right corner of the page. The price is displayed only after you configure all required parameters.

Select a Region in which you want to create the RDS instance.
Important
After an RDS instance is created, you cannot change the region of the RDS instance.
We recommend that you create the RDS instance in the region where your Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance resides. If the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in different regions, these instances cannot communicate over an internal network. In this case, these instances cannot deliver optimal performance.
Note
- If you want to connect your ECS instance to your RDS instance over an internal network, make sure that the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in the same region and the same virtual private cloud (VPC).
- If you want to connect your RDS instance from a device other than an ECS instance, such as a local server or a computer, you can create the RDS instance in a region that is close to the device. Then, you can connect to the RDS instance by using its public endpoint.

Select a database Engine, Edition, and Storage Type.

Select a database Engine.
This topic describes how to create an RDS instance that runs SQL Server. Select Microsoft SQL Server. The following SQL Server versions are supported: 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2022.

Select an Edition.

Edition	Description	Feature
Basic Edition	The database system consists of only a primary RDS instance. Computing is separated from storage. Read-only RDS instances are not supported.	RDS Basic Edition is cost-effective and is suitable for learning and testing. Note RDS instances that run RDS Basic Edition require a long period of time to restart or recover from faults.
High-availability Edition (recommended)	The database system consists of a primary RDS instance and a secondary RDS instance. These instances work in high availability (HA) mode and support automatic failover. The secondary RDS instance cannot be accessed. Read-only RDS instances are not supported.	RDS High-availability Edition is suitable for more than 80% of business scenarios in production environments.
Cluster Edition (recommended)	The database system consists of a primary RDS instance and a secondary RDS instance. These instances work in high availability (HA) mode and support automatic failover. The secondary RDS instances can be accessed. This increases the read capability of your database system.	You can create one to seven read-only RDS instances to linearly scale the read capability of your database system. However, read-only RDS instances do not participate in the election of the primary RDS instance or failover. You can manage costs in a flexible manner. Secondary RDS instances are readable.

Note

The available editions vary based on the region and database engine that you select. Serverless RDS instances support only RDS High-availability Edition.

Select a Storage Type.
ESSDs are supported. We recommend that you select Disk Encryption to further protect your data. For more information, see Disk encryption. For more information about storage types, see Storage types.

Configure the network of the RDS instance. The Network Type parameter is set to VPC.
1. Select a VPC.
  We recommend that you select the VPC in which your ECS instance resides for the RDS instance. If the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in different VPCs, these instances cannot communicate over an internal network.
  Note
  You can connect the RDS instance and the ECS instance over an internal network even if the instances use different vSwitches in the same VPC.
2. Specify whether to Add to Whitelist the CIDR block of the VPC.
  If you select Yes for the Add to Whitelist parameter, the ECS instances that reside in the selected VPC can access the RDS instance.
  Note
  If you select No, you can manually configure a whitelist after the RDS instance is created.
Select a zone, a vSwitch, a network, and a Deployment Method for the RDS instance.
- Select a zone
  A zone is an independent physical area within a region. For example, the China (Hangzhou) region contains Zone H, Zone I, and Zone J.
  - All zones in a region provide the same services.
  - If the RDS instance resides in the same zone as the ECS instance on which your application is deployed, these instances can deliver optimal performance. If the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in different zones in the same region, the performance of the RDS instance and the ECS instance is slightly lower than the performance of the RDS instance and the ECS instance that reside in the same zone.
- Select a vSwitch
  A vSwitch is a basic network device that connects different cloud resources. When you create a cloud resource in a VPC, you must specify a vSwitch to which the cloud resource is connected.
  You can select an existing vSwitch or click Create VSwitch to create a vSwitch. For more information about how to configure the parameters, see Create and manage a vSwitch.
- Select a deployment method
  - Multi-zone Deployment (recommended): The primary and secondary RDS instances reside in different zones within the same region. This deployment method provides cross-zone disaster recovery.
    If you set the Deployment Method parameter to Multi-zone Deployment, you must select a Primary Zone And Network and a Secondary Zone And Network for the RDS instance.
  - Single-zone Deployment: The primary and secondary RDS instances reside in the same zone.
    If you set the Edition parameter to Basic Edition, you can set the Deployment Method parameter only to Single-zone Deployment.
  Note
  For an RDS instance that consists of primary and secondary RDS instances, we recommend that you set the Deployment Method parameter to Multi-zone Deployment. This way, the RDS instance can provide cross-zone disaster recovery.
  If Sold Out is displayed in the upper-right corner of a zone, you must select a different zone.

Select an Instance Type.

Select an instance Type (general-purpose, dedicated, or shared). The available instance types vary based on the RDS edition and database engine. Refer to the available instance types in the ApsaraDB RDS console.

Type	Description	Feature
General-purpose	A general-purpose RDS instance exclusively occupies the allocated memory and I/O resources. A general-purpose RDS instance shares CPU and storage resources with other general-purpose RDS instances that are deployed on the same host.	RDS instances of the general-purpose instance type are cost-effective.
Dedicated	A dedicated RDS instance exclusively occupies the allocated CPU, memory, storage, and I/O resources. Note The dedicated host instance family is the highest configuration of the dedicated instance family. A dedicated host RDS instance occupies all CPU, memory, storage, and I/O resources of the host on which the RDS instance is deployed.	A dedicated RDS instance delivers higher performance and higher stability. Note An RDS instance that runs RDS Basic Edition does not support the dedicated instance type.
Shared	A shared RDS instance exclusively occupies the allocated memory and storage resources. A shared RDS instance shares CPU resources with other RDS instances that are deployed on the same host.	A shared RDS instance is cost-effective but delivers moderate stability.

Specify the CPU cores, memory capacity, and maximum number of connections.
Note
For more information about instance types, see Primary ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance types.

Select a Storage Capacity.
The storage capacity is provisioned to store data files, system files, log files, and transaction files in the RDS instance. The valid values of the Storage Capacity parameter vary based on the instance type and storage type that you select. You can adjust the storage capacity at a step size of 5 GB.
Note
The storage capacity of some RDS instances that use local SSDs is associated with the instance type. This limit does not apply to RDS instances that use ESSDs or standard SSDs.
Optional. If you set the Billing Method parameter to Subscription, configure the Subscription Duration parameter based on your business requirements.
- Baseline Price: The list price of a subscription RDS instance without any discounts.
- Preferential Monthly Fee: The monthly price that is calculated based on the baseline price of a subscription RDS instance.
  Note
  The fee is calculated based only on the list price of the RDS instance, which does not include coupons or promotions.
- Price: You can move the pointer over View Details on the right side of the page to view the estimated total price that is calculated based on the subscription duration and the baseline price of the RDS instance.

Configure custom parameters. If you do not have special requirements, you can retain the default values.

Parameter	Description
Port	You can initialize the port when you create the RDS instance. Valid values: 1000 to 5999.
Release Protection	If you set the Billing Method parameter to Pay-as-you-go, you can enable Release Protection for the pay-as-you-go RDS instance. This prevents the pay-as-you-go RDS instance from being accidentally released. For more information, see Enable or disable release protection.
Resource Group	Use the default resource group or select a custom resource group based on your business requirements.
Instance Description	Enter a description for easy identification.
System Collation	You can set the system collation when you create the RDS instance. The default value is Chinese_PRC_CI_AS. You can also modify the collation after the RDS instance is created.
Tag	You can add tags to distinguish multiple RDS instances to facilitate instance management. For more information, see Filter RDS instances by tag.
Privileged Account	You can select Set Now, enter an account name and a password, and create a privileged account. You can also click Configure Later and manually create a privileged account after the RDS instance is created. Important Each RDS instance can have only a single privileged account. The privileged account cannot be deleted.

In the upper-right corner of the page, configure the Quantity parameter.
The default value is 1. You can purchase up to 20 instances at a time. Specify the number of instances based on your business requirements.
Confirm the order information, quantity, and subscription duration (only for subscription RDS instances), select Service Agreement, click Pay Now, and complete the payment. The console displays Payment Successful or Activated.
Note
For a subscription RDS instance, we recommend that you select Auto-Renewal to prevent service interruptions due to overdue payments.
The auto-renewal cycle is one month for monthly subscription and one year for yearly subscription. The actual auto-renewal cycle in the order prevails. You can disable auto-renewal at any time. For more information, see Renewal management and Auto-renewal.
View the RDS instance.
Go to the Instances page, select the region in which the RDS instance resides from the top navigation bar, and find the RDS instance based on the Creation Time.
Note
ApsaraDB RDS requires 1 to 10 minutes to create an RDS instance. You can refresh the page to view the RDS instance.

Old version

Step 1: Basic Configurations

Open the ApsaraDB RDS buy page of the old version.

Select a Billing Method.

Note

You can create a Pay-as-you-go RDS instance and then change the billing method from pay-as-you-go to subscription after you confirm that the RDS instance meets your requirements.
After a serverless RDS instance is created, you cannot change its billing method to pay-as-you-go or subscription. Select a billing method with caution.

Billing Method	Recommendation	Advantage
Subscription	If you want to use an RDS instance for a long period of time, select Subscription (pay a lump sum) and select a Subscription Duration in the lower-left corner of the page.	For long-term use, the subscription billing method is more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go billing method. You are offered lower prices for longer subscription durations.
Pay-as-you-go	If you want to use an RDS instance for a short period of time, select Pay-as-you-go (billed by hour).	You can release a pay-as-you-go RDS instance at any time. The billing of a pay-as-you-go RDS instance stops immediately after you release the RDS instance.
Serverless	If you need to process scheduled tasks, your business fluctuates, or you want a fully managed or maintenance-free database, select Serverless. For more information, see Introduction to serverless RDS instances and Create a serverless RDS instance.	If you select serverless, you are charged based on your consumption of resources for workloads. This can help reduce costs.

Note

You can view the price in the lower-right corner of the page. The price is displayed only after you configure all required parameters.

Select a Region in which you want to create the RDS instance.
Important
After an RDS instance is created, you cannot change the region of the RDS instance.
We recommend that you create the RDS instance in the region where your ECS instance resides. If the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in different regions, these instances cannot communicate over an internal network. In this case, these instances cannot deliver optimal performance.
Note
- If you want to connect your ECS instance to your RDS instance over an internal network, make sure that the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in the same region and the same VPC.
- If you want to connect your RDS instance from a device other than an ECS instance, such as a local server or a computer, you can create the RDS instance in a region that is close to the device. Then, you can connect to the RDS instance by using its public endpoint.

Select a database Engine, Edition, and Storage Type.

Select a database Engine.
This topic describes how to create an RDS instance that runs SQL Server. Select Microsoft SQL Server. The following SQL Server versions are supported: 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2022.

Select an Edition.

Edition	Description	Feature
Basic Edition	The database system consists of only a primary RDS instance. Computing is separated from storage. Read-only RDS instances are not supported.	RDS Basic Edition is cost-effective and is suitable for learning and testing. Note RDS instances that run RDS Basic Edition require a long period of time to restart or recover from faults.
High-availability Edition (recommended)	The database system consists of a primary RDS instance and a secondary RDS instance. These instances work in high availability (HA) mode and support automatic failover. The secondary RDS instance cannot be accessed. Read-only RDS instances are not supported.	RDS High-availability Edition is suitable for more than 80% of business scenarios in production environments.
Cluster Edition	The database system consists of a primary RDS instance and a secondary RDS instance. These instances work in high availability (HA) mode and support automatic failover. The secondary RDS instances can be accessed. This increases the read capability of your database system.	You can create one to seven read-only RDS instances to linearly scale the read capability of your database system. However, read-only RDS instances do not participate in the election of the primary RDS instance or failover. You can manage costs in a flexible manner. Secondary RDS instances are readable.

Note

The available editions vary based on the region and database engine that you select. Serverless RDS instances support only RDS High-availability Edition.

Select a Storage Type.
ESSDs are supported. We recommend that you select Disk Encryption to further protect your data. For more information, see Disk encryption. For more information about storage types, see Storage types.

Select a zone and a Deployment Method for the RDS instance.
- Select a zone
  A zone is an independent physical area within a region. For example, the China (Hangzhou) region contains Zone H, Zone I, and Zone J.
  - All zones in a region provide the same services.
  - If the RDS instance resides in the same zone as the ECS instance on which your application is deployed, these instances can deliver optimal performance. If the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in different zones in the same region, the performance of the RDS instance and the ECS instance is slightly lower than the performance of the RDS instance and the ECS instance that reside in the same zone.
- Select a deployment method
  - Multi-zone Deployment (recommended): The primary node and secondary node are located in different zones within the same region, providing cross-zone disaster recovery.
    If Deployment Method is set to Multi-zone Deployment, you need to select the Zone of Primary Node and Zone of Secondary Node for the instance.
  - Single-zone Deployment: The primary node and backup node are located in the same zone.
    If you select Basic Edition for the instance series, you can only select Single-zone Deployment.
  Note
  For instances that contain primary and secondary nodes, we recommend that you select Multi-zone Deployment to implement cross-zone disaster recovery for the instance.
  If Sold Out is displayed in the upper-right corner of a zone, you must select a different zone.

Select Instance Type.

Select Classification (General-purpose, Dedicated, or Shared). The available instance types vary based on the RDS edition and database engine. Refer to the available instance types in the ApsaraDB RDS console.

Classification	Description	Features
General-purpose	A general-purpose RDS instance exclusively occupies the allocated memory and I/O resources. A general-purpose RDS instance shares CPU and storage resources with other general-purpose RDS instances that are deployed on the same host.	General-purpose RDS instances are cost-effective.
Dedicated	A dedicated RDS instance occupies all the allocated CPU, memory, storage, and I/O resources. Note The dedicated host instance family is the highest configuration of the dedicated instance family. A dedicated host RDS instance occupies all CPU, memory, storage, and I/O resources of the host on which the RDS instance is deployed.	A dedicated RDS instance delivers higher performance and higher stability. Note An RDS instance that runs RDS Basic Edition does not support the dedicated instance type.
Shared	A shared RDS instance exclusively occupies the allocated memory and storage resources. A shared RDS instance shares CPU resources with other RDS instances that are deployed on the same host.	A shared RDS instance is cost-effective but delivers moderate stability.

Configure detailed specifications, including the CPU cores, memory capacity, and maximum number of connections.
Note
For more information about the available instance types, see List of primary ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance types.

Select Storage Capacity.
The storage capacity is provisioned to store data files, system files, log files, and transaction files in the RDS instance. The valid values of the Storage Capacity parameter vary based on the instance type and storage type that you select. You can adjust the storage capacity at a step size of 5 GB.
Note
The storage capacity of some local SSDs is bound to the instance type. This limit does not apply to ESSD or standard SSD. For more information, see Primary instance types.
(Optional) If Billing Method is set to Subscription, you need to set the Subscription Duration. Select a duration based on your actual needs.
In the lower-right corner of the page, click Next: Instance Configuration.

Step 2: Instance configuration

Configure the instance network. Network Type is fixed as VPC.
1. Select a VPC and a vSwitch of Primary Node.
  We recommend that you select the VPC in which your ECS instance resides for the RDS instance. If the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in different VPCs, these instances cannot communicate over an internal network.
  Note
  - You can connect the RDS instance and the ECS instance over an internal network even if the instances use different vSwitches in the same VPC.
  - If you selected Multi-zone Deployment in the Basic Resources step, you also need to select a vSwitch of Secondary Node.
2. Select whether to Add to Whitelist the VPC CIDR block.
  If you select Yes for the Add to Whitelist parameter, the ECS instances that reside in the selected VPC can access the RDS instance.
  Note
  If you select No here, you can manually configure the whitelist after the instance is created.
3. Configure the Port.
  You can initialize the port when you create the RDS instance. Valid values: 1000 to 5999.

Configure more custom parameters. If you have no special requirements, you can retain the default values.

Parameter	Description
Release Protection	If Billing Method is set to Pay-as-you-go, you can enable Release Protection for the pay-as-you-go instance to prevent accidental release. For more information, see Enable or disable release protection.
Resource Group	You can use the default resource group or select a custom resource group based on your business requirements.
Instance Description	Enter a description for easy identification.
Tag	You can add tags to distinguish multiple RDS instances to facilitate instance management. For more information, see Filter instances by tag.
Privileged Account	You can select Set Now, enter the account name and password to create a privileged account. You can also click Configure Later and manually create the account after the instance is created. Important Each RDS instance can have only one privileged account. The privileged account cannot be deleted.

In the lower-right corner of the page, click Next: Confirm Order.

Step 3: Confirm order

Confirm Parameter Configuration, Quantity, and Subscription Duration (subscription instances only), select Terms of Service, click Pay Now, and complete the payment.
Note
For subscription instances, we recommend that you select Auto-renewal to prevent service interruptions caused by expired instances.
The auto-renewal cycle is one month for monthly subscription and one year for yearly subscription. The actual auto-renewal cycle in the order prevails. You can disable auto-renewal at any time. For more information, see Renewal management/Resource renewal introduction and Auto-renewal.
View the instance.
Go to the Instance List, select the region where your instance is located at the top, and find the instance you just created based on the Creation Time.
Note
Creating an RDS instance takes 1 to 10 minutes. You can refresh the page to view the RDS instance.

What to do next

FAQ

How do I view the total number of RDS instances within my Alibaba Cloud account?

Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. On the Overview page, you can view the total number of RDS instances that run different database engines within your Alibaba Cloud account. On this page, you can also view the regions in which the RDS instances are created and the number of running RDS instances in each region.

After I create an RDS instance, why am I unable to find the RDS instance?

Possible cause	Description	Suggestion
Incorrect region	The RDS instance does not reside in the region that you selected in the top navigation bar of the ApsaraDB RDS console.	In the top navigation bar, select the region in which the RDS instance resides.
Insufficient resources	The zone that you selected cannot provide sufficient resources. If the RDS instance cannot be created, you can go to the Orders page in the Billing Management console to view the refunded fees.	Select a different zone and try again.
RAM policies that do not allow users to create unencrypted RDS instances	RAM policies that do not allow users to create unencrypted RDS instances are attached to a RAM user. If you use the credentials of the RAM user to create an RDS instance that uses local disks, the RDS instance cannot be created. When you create an RDS instance that uses local disks, you cannot enable cloud disk encryption. If you use the credentials of the RAM user to create an RDS instance that uses cloud disks and you do not enable cloud disk encryption for the RDS instance, the RDS instance cannot be created. For more information, see Use RAM policies to manage the permissions of RAM users on ApsaraDB RDS instances.	When you create an RDS instance, select the standard SSD or ESSD storage type, select Cloud Disk Encryption, configure the Key parameter, and then try again.

Do serverless RDS instances support all features of regular RDS instances?

Serverless RDS instances do not support the following features: time zone change, character set change, self-managed domain connection, transparent data encryption (TDE), SSL encryption, cloud disk encryption, major engine version upgrade, or minor engine version update.
Although serverless RDS instances use the pay-as-you-go billing method, serverless RDS instances are billed based on RDS Capacity Units (RCUs). Therefore, you cannot change the billing method of serverless RDS instances from pay-as-you-go to subscription.
Read-only serverless RDS instances are not supported. You can create a primary RDS instance that runs RDS Cluster Edition and create read-only RDS instances for the primary RDS instance. For more information, see Create an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance and Overview of read-only ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instances.
You cannot create system admin accounts and host accounts on a serverless RDS instance. For more information, see Accounts and permissions.

References

Create an RDS instance through API: Create an RDS instance
Quick creation of an instance: Quickly create and use an RDS SQL Server instance
For creating instances of other engines, see: