This topic describes the billing rules, billing cycle, payments, and billing examples of PrivateLink.
Billable items and pricing
Billable items of PrivateLink include instance fees and data transfer fees.
Instance fees: You are charged an instance fee for each zone in which an endpoint is deployed. An endpoint can be deployed in multiple zones, and you are charged for each zone. For example, an endpoint is deployed in three zones. In this case, you are charged instance fees for three zones.
Data transfer fees: You are charged for the total amount of inbound and outbound data transferred over the elastic network interfaces (ENIs) that are associated with an endpoint. In this example, you are charged for the total amount of inbound and outbound data transferred over the three endpoint ENIs that are deployed in the three zones.
The following table describes the billable items and pricing of PrivateLink.
Billable item | Unit price | Billing method | Description |
Instance fee | USD 0.01/hour | Pay-as-you-go | You are charged based on the number of zones in which an endpoint is deployed. If you use an endpoint for less than 1 hour, the usage duration is rounded up to 1 hour. |
Data transfer fee | USD 0.01/GB | Pay-as-you-go | You are charged based on the total amount of inbound and outbound data transferred over an endpoint. |
You can specify whether the service consumer or service provider settles the bills of PrivateLink. For more information, see the Payments section of this topic.
Billing cycle
You are charged for PrivateLink during the following time period:
The billing starts when an endpoint is connected to an endpoint service.
The billing for data transfers stops when the endpoint is disconnected from the endpoint service. The billing for instances stops when the endpoint is deleted.
A disconnected endpoint is considered as an idle endpoint. Each Alibaba Cloud account can have up to 10 idle endpoints. If the upper limit is reached, you cannot create more endpoints.
Payments
The service consumer and service provider can use different Alibaba Cloud accounts. You can specify whether the service consumer or the service provider settles the bills when you create an endpoint service.
By default, the Alibaba Cloud account that is used to create the endpoint settles the bills.
For example, a customer creates an endpoint and ENIs in two zones. The endpoint is connected to an endpoint service. The service consumer is specified to settle the bills. The total amount of outbound and inbound data transferred within one month is 100 GB. In this example, one month is equivalent to 30 days. Total fees for the month: USD 14.4 + USD 1 = USD 15.4
Instance fees = USD 0.01/hour × 24 hours × 30 days × 2 zones for the endpoint = USD 14.4
Data transfer fees = USD 0.01/GB × 100 GB = USD 1
You can also specify that the service provider settles the bills. In this case, the Alibaba Cloud account that creates the endpoint service settles the bills. The bills include the fees of all endpoints that are associated with the endpoint service.
For example, a service provider creates an endpoint service that is associated with 100 endpoints, and each endpoint is deployed in two zones. The total amount of inbound and outbound data transferred over the endpoints within one month is 10,240 GB. In this example, one month is equivalent to 30 days. The service provider is specified to settle the bills. Total fees for the month: USD 1,440 + USD 102.4 = USD 1,542.4
Instance fees = USD 0.01/GB × 100 endpoints × 30 days × 24 hours × 2 zones for each endpoint = USD 1,440
Data transfer fees = USD 0.01/GB × 10,240 GB = USD 102.4
You can specify the Alibaba Cloud account that settles the bills when you create an endpoint service. After you specify the payer account, you cannot change it.
Whether the service consumer or service provider settles the bills does not affect how the service is billed. When you use the PrivateLink service, you are charged for the endpoints.
By default, the feature of specifying that the service provider settles the bills is unavailable. To use this feature, log on to the Quota Center console, and click Privileges in the left-side navigation pane. On the Products with Privileges page, click PrivateLink in the Networking section. On the Privileges page, search for the quota ID
privatelink_whitelist/epsvc_payer_mode, and then click Apply in the Actions column.
Overdue payments
To prevent service disruptions caused by endpoint expiration or overdue payments, we recommend that you renew your endpoints or top up your account at the earliest opportunity.
Expiration and overdue payments | Endpoint renewal and account top-up |
If a payment is overdue for the endpoints that you created for PrivateLink, the system sends text message and email notifications to the account to which the endpoints belong. A payment is considered overdue if the bill is generated but no payment is made for the bill.
| To complete the overdue payments, top up your Alibaba Cloud account.
|