This topic provides answers to commonly asked questions about Simple Application Server billing.
What are the billable items of Simple Application Server?
The billable items for Simple Application Server include plan configuration fees, data disk fees, and excess data transfer fees. For more information, see Billable items.
Am I charged for creating snapshots and custom images?
Creating snapshots and custom images for a simple application server is free of charge. However, the following limits apply:
Snapshots:
You can create up to three snapshots for each simple application server.
The number of snapshots in an Alibaba Cloud account cannot exceed three times the number of your simple application servers, up to a maximum of 15 snapshots.
Custom images: The number of custom images in an Alibaba Cloud account cannot exceed three times the number of your simple application server instances, up to a maximum of 15 custom images.
Which plans does Simple Application Server support?
Simple Application Server offers a variety of cost-effective plans for computing resources. For more information about the plans, see the buy page in the console. Plan prices may vary by region. The prices that are displayed on the buy page are final.
Can I change the plan for a simple application server?
Yes, but you can only upgrade to a higher-specification plan. You cannot downgrade a server after it is upgraded. Before you change the plan, create a snapshot of the server's disk to back up data. For more information, see Upgrade a server configuration.
How do I renew a simple application server?
You can renew a simple application server on its overview page or on the Expenses and Costs page. For more information, see Renewal policy. Enable auto-renewal to prevent service disruptions. If you do not renew an expired server, it will be released.
Does Simple Application Server support the pay-as-you-go billing method?
No, it does not. Simple Application Server supports only the subscription billing method.
How is excess data transfer billed?
For simple application server instances whose plans include a monthly data transfer quota, only outbound Internet traffic that exceeds the free monthly quota incurs additional pay-as-you-go fees.
For simple application server instances whose plans do not include a monthly data transfer quota, no fees are charged for inbound or outbound Internet traffic.
For more information, see Billable items.
What does peak bandwidth in a plan mean?
Peak bandwidth is the maximum instantaneous traffic that can be allocated to a simple application server. The peak bandwidth can vary among different plans. The value that is displayed on the buy page in the console is final.
Is the peak bandwidth limit applied only after the monthly data transfer quota is used up?
No, it is not. The bandwidth is limited to the peak bandwidth as soon as you purchase the server.
If my account has an overdue payment but my server's plan has not expired, will the server be stopped?
If your data transfer does not exceed the plan's quota, the server will not be stopped due to an overdue payment. However, if you exceed the data transfer quota, the excess traffic is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. In this case, if your Alibaba Cloud account has an overdue payment, the server is automatically stopped, which may affect your services. For more information, see Expiration and overdue payments.