This topic lists frequently asked questions about CloudBox. You can use this topic to find answers and troubleshoot issues.
What is the relationship between a CloudBox zone and a public cloud zone?
Who is responsible for the physical security of a CloudBox in my data center?
How does Alibaba Cloud maintain the CloudBox infrastructure?
If the network connection to a CloudBox is lost, are the ECS instances in the CloudBox affected?
What are the requirements for purchasing a CloudBox?
The CloudBox hardware is deployed as a full rack in your on-premises data center. Your on-premises data center must meet specific rack, environment, network, and power requirements to deploy a CloudBox. After you purchase a CloudBox, Alibaba Cloud will schedule an on-site survey and a delivery date with you. You must also assign relevant personnel, such as network and power engineers, to work with Alibaba Cloud engineers. For more information, see Deployment requirements.
What are the fees for purchasing a CloudBox?
When you purchase a CloudBox, the following resources are billable:
(Required) Compute resources
(Required) Block storage resources
(Optional) Object Storage Service (OSS) resources
(Optional) Smart Access Gateway (SAG) bandwidth
The fees include the usage of resources such as compute and storage, along with infrastructure deployment and operations and maintenance (O&M). For more information, see Billing overview.
How many CloudBox instances can an account have?
An account can have a maximum of 50 CloudBox instances in a region.
Does each CloudBox correspond to a single rack?
Each CloudBox consists of one or more racks that contain its compute and storage resources.
What is the relationship between a CloudBox zone and a public cloud zone?
A CloudBox corresponds to a CloudBox zone and can be associated with a nearby region. The CloudBox can then connect to Alibaba Cloud services, including those in different public cloud zones, within the same region over the CloudBox network.
Who is responsible for the physical security of a CloudBox in my data center?
CloudBox follows the same shared responsibility model as the Alibaba Cloud public cloud. Alibaba Cloud is responsible for the security of the CloudBox infrastructure, the data within the CloudBox, and the cloud platform. You are responsible for the security of the programs that run in the CloudBox. However, because the CloudBox is deployed in your on-premises data center, you are also responsible for the security of the physical environment and related infrastructure. You must also ensure that network connectivity between the CloudBox and the Alibaba Cloud public cloud is available.
How does Alibaba Cloud maintain the CloudBox infrastructure?
When a CloudBox is connected to the public cloud and its resources are managed from the console, Alibaba Cloud monitors it as part of the public cloud. Alibaba Cloud also automatically performs software upgrades and applies patches. If physical maintenance is required, Alibaba Cloud will schedule an on-site appointment with you for hardware maintenance.
What data is sent back to the public cloud over the connection between a CloudBox and the public cloud?
Monitoring metrics related to ECS instances and block storage in the CloudBox are sent back to the public cloud. This data includes operational health data, instance status, and monitoring data from the underlying physical servers. This data helps Alibaba Cloud promptly update security patches and instance monitoring information in the CloudBox. This ensures a stable service experience.
Where are snapshots stored?
Snapshots are stored in OSS in the same region as the CloudBox.
If you do not purchase OSS within your CloudBox, snapshots are stored in the public cloud's OSS in the same region.
If the network connection to a CloudBox is lost, are the ECS instances in the CloudBox affected?
No, they are not. ECS instances that are already created in the CloudBox continue to run. However, you cannot manage the ECS instances from the Alibaba Cloud console. Maintain reliable network connectivity for your CloudBox to ensure a stable service experience.
How do I use a local image to create an ECS instance?
To use a local image to create an ECS instance in a CloudBox, follow these steps:
Import the local image to ECS to generate a custom image. For more information, see Import an image.
Use the custom image to create an image cache. For more information, see Create an image cache.
Use the custom image with the associated image cache to create an ECS instance in the CloudBox. For more information, see Procedure.