High-performance Classic Load Balancer (CLB) instances provide guaranteed performance. This topic provides answers to some frequently asked questions about high-performance CLB instances.
- What is a high-performance CLB instance?
- Can I change the specification of a high-performance CLB instance?
- How are the fees for high-performance CLB instances calculated?
- How do I choose among the specifications?
- Am I charged specification fees for existing shared-resource CLB instances?
- Why is a high-performance CLB instance unable to reach the performance limit defined in the specification?
- Are shared-resource CLB instances still available for purchase?
- Am I charged a specification fee for an internal-facing CLB instance?
- What do I do if I need more high-performance CLB instances?
- Why does the instance type remain unchanged after I upgrade a shared-resource CLB instance to a high-performance CLB instance?
What is a high-performance CLB instance?
A high-performance CLB instance provides guaranteed performance. Shared-resource CLB instances share resources with each other and their performance is not guaranteed.
The following table describes the differences between shared-resource CLB instances and high-performance CLB instances.
| Feature | Shared-resource CLB instance | High-performance CLB instance |
|---|---|---|
| Resource allocation | Shared resources | Exclusive resources |
| Service uptime guaranteed by terms of service level agreement | Not supported | 99.95% |
| IPv6 | × | √ |
| Server Name Indication (SNI) for multiple certificates | × | √ |
| Blacklists and whitelists | × | √ |
| Associating with elastic network interfaces (ENIs) | × | √ |
| Adding secondary IP addresses of ENIs that are associated with Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances | × | √ |
| HTTP-to-HTTPS redirection | × | √ |
| Consistent hashing | × | √ |
| TLS security policies | × | √ |
| HTTP2 | × | √ |
| Websocket(S) | × | √ |
You can move the pointer over the question mark that corresponds to the specification of a high-performance CLB instance to view the performance metrics, as shown in the following figure.
The following section describes the metrics of high-performance CLB instances:
- Maximum number of connections
The maximum number of concurrent connections that a CLB instance supports. When the number of existing concurrent connections reaches the upper limit, new connection requests are dropped.
- Connections per second (CPS)
The number of new connections that are established per second. When the CPS value reaches the upper limit, new connection requests are dropped.
- Queries per second (QPS)
The number of HTTP or HTTPS queries (requests) that can be processed per second. This metric is specific to Layer 7 listeners. When the QPS value reaches the upper limit, new connection requests are dropped.
The following table describes the specifications of high-performance CLB instances provided by Alibaba Cloud. The available specifications vary based on the region. You can go to the buy page of the CLB console to view the available specifications in each region.
| Specification | Maximum connections | CPS | QPS | How to purchase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small I (slb.s1.small) | 5,000 | 3,000 | 1,000 | Available for purchase from the official website of Alibaba Cloud. |
| Medium I (slb.s2.small) | 50,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 | Available for purchase from the official website of Alibaba Cloud. |
| Medium II (slb.s2.medium) | 100,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | Available for purchase from the official website of Alibaba Cloud. |
| Large I (slb.s3.small) | 200,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 | Available for purchase from the official website of Alibaba Cloud. |
| Large II (slb.s3.medium) | 500,000 | 50,000 | 30,000 | Available for purchase from the official website of Alibaba Cloud. |
| Super Large I (slb.s3.large) | 1,000,000 | 100,000 | 50,000 | Available for purchase from the official website of Alibaba Cloud. |
Can I change the specification of a high-performance CLB instance?
Yes, you can change the specification of a high-performance CLB instance in the console.
- You can change only shared-resource CLB instances to high-performance CLB instances. You cannot change high-performance CLB instances to shared-resource CLB instances.
- Changing a shared-resource CLB instance to a high-performance CLB instance does not
negatively affect your workloads, or change the IP address of the CLB instance.
Note However, we recommend that you change a shared-resource CLB instance to a high-performance CLB instance during off-peak hours. You can also configure DNS resolution to replace your current load balancing service before you change the CLB instance.
- The IP addresses of CLB instances are not affected when you change instance specifications.
How are the fees for high-performance CLB instances calculated?
Total fees for an Internet-facing CLB instance = Instance fee + Data transfer fee or bandwidth fee + Specification fee
The following section describes the metrics of high-performance CLB instances. The performance guaranteed varies based on the specification.
- Maximum number of connections
The maximum number of connections that can be established to a CLB instance. When the number of existing concurrent connections reaches the upper limit, new connection requests are dropped.
- Connections per second (CPS)
The maximum number of new connections that can be established to a CLB instance per second. When the actual number reaches the upper limit, new connection requests are denied.
- Queries per second (QPS)
The maximum number of HTTP or HTTPS requests that can be processed per second. This metric is specific to Layer 7 listeners. When the actual number reaches the upper limit, new requests are denied.
| Region | Specification | Maximum number of connections | CPS | QPS | Unit price in the Chinese mainland and China (Hong Kong) (USD/hour) | Unit price outside China (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese mainland and China (Hong Kong) | Specification 1: Small I (slb.s1.small) | 5000 | 3000 | 1000 | 0.01 | 0.012 |
| Specification 2: Medium I (slb.s2.small) | 50,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 0.05 | 0.06 | |
| Specification 3: Medium II (slb.s2.medium) | 100,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 0.10 | 0.12 | |
| Specification 4: Large I (slb.s3.small) | 200,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 0.20 | 0.24 | |
| Specification 5: Large II (slb.s3.medium) | 500,000 | 50,000 | 30,000 | 0.31 | 0.37 | |
| Specification 6: Super Large I (slb.s3.large) | 1,000,000 | 100,000 | 50,000 | 0.51 | 0.61 |
For more information about pay-as-you-go CLB instances, see Pay-as-you-go.
How do I choose among the specifications?
The specification fee is calculated based on the usage. We recommend that you select the highest specification (slb.s3.large) available to ensure service availability at zero extra cost. However, if the capacity of slb.s3.large significantly exceeds your business requirements, you can select a more appropriate specification, for example, slb.s3.medium.
Am I charged specification fees for existing shared-resource CLB instances?
No, you are not charged specification fees for existing shared-resource CLB instances.
You are charged specification fees only if you upgrade the shared-resource CLB instances to high-performance CLB instances. After the free trial for high-performance CLB instances ends, you are charged specification fees if you use high-performance CLB instances.
Why is a high-performance CLB instance unable to reach the performance limit defined in the specification?
This issue can be explained by the cask theory.
High-performance CLB instances do not guarantee that the three metrics can reach the upper limits of a specification at the same time. If one of the metrics reaches the upper limit, the instance performance is limited.
For example, you purchase a high-performance CLB instance of the slb.s3.small specification. When the QPS value reaches 20,000, new connection requests are dropped by the CLB instance even if the number of concurrent connections has not reached 200,000.
Are shared-resource CLB instances still available for purchase?
No, shared-resource CLB instances are no longer available for purchase.
Am I charged a specification fee for an internal-facing CLB instance?
You are not charged a specification fee for a shared-resource internal-facing CLB instance. You are charged a specification fee for a high-performance internal-facing CLB instance.
The specification fee for an internal-facing CLB instance is calculated in the same way as the specification fee for an Internet-facing CLB instance. You are not charged instance fees or data transfer fees when you use internal-facing CLB instances.
What do I do if I need more high-performance CLB instances?
If the highest quota that you can apply for on the Quota Management page cannot meet your business requirements, you can apply for the slb_privilege_allow_more_guaranteed_performance_instances privilege. This privilege allows you to own more high-performance CLB instances but does not allow you to own more shared-resource CLB instances. For more information, see Quota management.
Why does the instance type remain unchanged after I upgrade a shared-resource CLB instance to a high-performance CLB instance?
If you change the metering method (pay-by-bandwidth or pay-by-data-transfer) when you upgrade a shared-resource CLB instance to a high-performance CLB instance, the new instance type and the new metering method take effect at 00:00:00 the next day.