CloudBox has specific usage requirements and service limits that differ from Alibaba Cloud public cloud. Review these limits before you deploy and when you plan capacity or network topology.
For limits that apply to cloud services used with CloudBox (such as ECS, OSS, or SLB), see the documentation for each service.
Usage notes
You purchase and use CloudBox as a service. The hardware belongs to Alibaba Cloud.
Cloud boxes can be deployed only in data centers that meet delivery conditions. Before you submit an order in the CloudBox console, review the delivery conditions. After you submit an order, Alibaba Cloud engineers conduct an on-site survey and provide renovation suggestions. For more information, see Deployment requirements.
After a cloud box is deployed, do not physically move the rack without a written authorization from Alibaba Cloud.
General limits
| Resource | Limit | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud box racks | Up to 50 | Per region, per account |
| Rack relocation | Cannot be moved across regions | — |
| Servers | Cannot purchase custom servers or use existing servers | — |
| Racks and switches | Cannot use existing racks or existing switches | — |
Behavior during a network outage
If the network connection between a cloud box and Alibaba Cloud public cloud is interrupted, the following restrictions apply:
Not available:
Data exchange between the cloud box and Alibaba Cloud public cloud — including snapshot uploads, system upgrades, Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance migration to public cloud, and management through the Alibaba Cloud Management Console
Object Storage Service (OSS) in the cloud box
Failover for ECS instances
CloudBox API operations
Still available:
Communication between ECS instances and disks within the cloud box
Communication between the cloud box and on-premises devices
ECS instances
| Feature | Limit |
|---|---|
| Migration to public cloud | Cold migration only, for instances in the Running state. Cannot migrate instances that failed to run. Hot migration is not supported. |
| Failover | Not supported when the number of failed instances exceeds the number of instances that can be created using the instance types in the CloudBox compute stock keeping units (SKUs). |
| Instance type changes | Instance families in CloudBox compute SKUs are fixed. Cannot change the instance type of an ECS instance. |
| Private IP address | Cannot change the private IP address of an ECS instance. |
EBS
| Feature | Limit |
|---|---|
| Block storage cluster | Each cloud box corresponds to one block storage cluster. Cannot delete the cluster or reduce its capacity. |
| Disk category | Only one disk category per cloud box. Cannot change disk specifications. |
| Disk type | standard SSDs and PL0 Enhanced SSDs (ESSDs) only. |
| Disk attachment | Disks can be attached only to ECS instances in the same cloud box. |
| Disk resizing | Expand capacity in increments of 12 TiB. Existing rack capacity is used first. If the requested size exceeds existing rack capacity, new racks are required. To check whether your current racks have available capacity, go to the resizing page or contact your customer service manager. |
| Disk encryption | Not supported. |
OSS
| Feature | Limit |
|---|---|
| Bucket quantity | Up to 100 buckets per Alibaba Cloud account in CloudBox. |
| Storage type | Standard storage only. Buckets and objects must use the Standard type. |
| Encryption | Server-side encryption with SSE-OSS only. SSE-KMS is not supported. |
| Access | Internal endpoint only. The public endpoint is not available. To transfer OSS data between CloudBox and Alibaba Cloud public cloud, establish a network connection between them and use ossimport. For more information, see Overview. |
Network
Elastic IP addresses (EIPs)
Cannot directly associate elastic IP addresses (EIPs) with ECS instances or Server Load Balancer (SLB) instances in a cloud box.
The EIP of a CloudBox can join only shared bandwidth packages that belong to the same CloudBox.
SLB
| Feature | Limit |
|---|---|
| Load balancer types in a cloud box | Can create Classic Load Balancer (CLB) instances only. Cannot create Application Load Balancer (ALB) or Network Load Balancer (NLB) instances. |
| Attaching public cloud SLB to cloud box ECS | Cannot attach NLB, ALB, or CLB instances from Alibaba Cloud public cloud to ECS instances in a cloud box. |
| Attaching CloudBox CLB to public cloud ECS | Cannot attach CLB instances in a cloud box to ECS instances in Alibaba Cloud public cloud. |
| Network ACLs | Not supported. |
| Listener protocols | Layer 4 TCP and UDP listeners only. |
VPC and vSwitches
A virtual private cloud (VPC) that contains CloudBox vSwitches has these limits:
Cannot activate multicast.
Cannot create an IPv4 gateway.
Cannot create a VPC peering connection.
Cannot create CloudBox vSwitches if an IPv4 gateway already exists in the VPC.
CloudBox vSwitches also do not support:
Traffic mirroring — elastic network interface (ENI) traffic in CloudBox vSwitches cannot be mirrored.
Flow logs.
IPv6 CIDR blocks.
VPN gateway, NAT gateway, and PrivateLink
Cannot create a VPN gateway for CloudBox vSwitches.
Cannot create a NAT gateway for CloudBox vSwitches.
Cannot create PrivateLink endpoint services or endpoints for CloudBox vSwitches.
Express Connect
| Feature | Limit |
|---|---|
| Virtual Border Router (VBR) connectivity | VBRs in a cloud box can connect only to VPC router interfaces that belong to the same cloud box. Cannot connect to VPC router interfaces in other cloud boxes or Alibaba Cloud regions. |
| Bandwidth | Default maximum is 20 Gbit/s per cloud box. To increase the limit, purchase bandwidth plans. For more information, see Scale out a CloudBox. |
Cloud Enterprise Network (CEN)
Virtual Border Routers (VBRs) in a cloud box cannot be attached to a CEN instance.
Cannot create a VPC connection under an enterprise edition transit router using a CloudBox vSwitch. You can create a VPC connection under an enterprise edition transit router through a cloud vSwitch and add it to an enterprise edition CEN instance.
Snapshot
| Feature | Limit |
|---|---|
| Snapshot scope | Snapshots can be used only in the cloud box where they are stored. |
Image
| Feature | Limit |
|---|---|
| Image scope | Images from a cloud box can be used only in the region where the cloud box resides — either in Alibaba Cloud public cloud or in other cloud boxes in the same region. |
Deployment sets
| Feature | Limit |
|---|---|
| Deployment set scope | ECS instances in a cloud box can be deployed in a deployment set only within the region where the cloud box resides. |