ApsaraDB for SelectDB isolates computing capacity at the cluster level. Each instance can run multiple clusters to handle separate workloads—for example, dedicating one cluster to writes and another to reads.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, ensure that you have:
An Alibaba Cloud account. If you do not have an account, go to the Alibaba Cloud official website to create one.Alibaba Cloud official website
An existing ApsaraDB for SelectDB instance in your account
Sufficient Alibaba Cloud account balance to cover pay-as-you-go charges, if you plan to create a pay-as-you-go clustersufficient
The AliyunSelectDBFullAccess policy attached to your Resource Access Management (RAM) user account, if you are creating the cluster as a RAM user. For more information, see Grant permissions to a RAM user
Billing
Cluster fees depend on the billing method of the cluster and the instance it belongs to.
Subscription instance
| Cluster billing method | How fees are calculated |
|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly fee for the same specification × (remaining days until expiration ÷ 30). Remaining days are calculated as a decimal precise to 12 places. For example, 31 days and 10 hours equals 31.416666666667 days. |
| Pay-as-you-go | Sum of hourly fees for the cluster. |
For pricing details, see Billable items and pricing.
Pay-as-you-go instance
Clusters are billed each hour. Only pay-as-you-go clusters can be created in a pay-as-you-go instance. For pricing details, see Billable items and pricing.
Create a cluster
After the cluster is created, it is assigned a VPC address accessible over ports 8040 and 8060 for HTTP operations such as Stream Load data imports and metric collection. Access through this address is controlled by the IP address whitelist of the instance. Add the client IP address to the whitelist before connecting. For more information, see Configure an IP address whitelist.
Log on to the ApsaraDB for SelectDB console.
In the top navigation bar, select the region where the instance resides.
In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances. On the Instances page, find the target instance and click its instance ID to open the Instance Details page.
In the left-side pane, click Cluster Management.
Click Create Cluster.
In the Create Cluster panel, configure the following parameters.
Parameter Description Instance The instance to which the cluster belongs. Read-only. Cluster Name A unique name for the cluster. The name must start with a letter (case-insensitive), contain only letters, digits, and underscores ( _), and be no longer than 64 characters.Billing Method The billing method for the cluster. Subscription: Cost-effective for long-term use. Longer subscription terms receive larger discounts. The expiration date of a subscription cluster matches the instance expiration date. Pay-As-You-Go: Suited for short-term use such as testing. Delete the cluster when it is no longer needed to stop charges. NoteSubscription instances support both billing methods. Pay-as-you-go instances support only Pay-As-You-Go clusters.
Cluster Computing Resources The number of vCPUs and memory allocated to the cluster. vCPUs range from 4 to 1,024. Memory is automatically set to 4× the vCPU count (in GB). 1 CCU equals 1 vCPU and 4 GB of memory. To increase the quota beyond 1,024 vCPUs, contact Alibaba Cloud technical support. Cache Size per Node (GB) The local cache used to store hot data and accelerate reads and writes. The valid range depends on the cluster's vCPU count: for clusters with 4–32 vCPUs, the minimum is 100 GB and the range is [50 × vCPU count, 500 × vCPU count] GB; for clusters with 64 or more vCPUs, the minimum is 100 GB × vCPU count ÷ 32. Terms of Service Select the checkbox to agree to the Terms of Service. Click OK and complete the payment as prompted.
Cluster states
After clicking OK, monitor the cluster state on the Cluster Management page. Creation takes 1–10 minutes.
| State | Description |
|---|---|
| Creating | The cluster is being provisioned. Refresh the page to view the creation progress. |
| Running | The cluster is ready to use. |
What's next
Configure an IP address whitelist — Add client IP addresses so you can connect to the cluster.
Billable items and pricing — Review the full pricing details for clusters.