This topic describes the billable items, billing methods, and refund information for dedicated block storage clusters.
Dedicated Block Storage Cluster is currently available in the following regions: China (Hangzhou), China (Shanghai), China (Beijing), China (Zhangjiakou), China (Ulanqab), China (Shenzhen), China (Heyuan), Indonesia (Jakarta), Germany (Frankfurt), and China South 1 Finance.
Billable items
The cost of a dedicated block storage cluster is calculated as follows: Cluster Capacity × Subscription Duration × Unit Price of Disk Type. The following table describes each item.
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Billable item |
Description |
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Cluster capacity |
Billing is based on the capacity in TiB. If you create a dedicated block storage cluster in the ECS console, the system converts GiB to TiB for cost calculation. 1 TiB = 1024 GiB. |
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Subscription duration |
The minimum subscription duration is 6 months and the maximum is 3 years. The actual options available in the console prevail. |
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Unit price by disk type |
Different cluster types support different disk types. The created disks have unique product attributes. The unit price is twice that of a public cloud disk. The actual price in the console prevails.
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Billing method
Dedicated block storage clusters support only the subscription billing method.
Billing for cluster scale-out
After you scale out a cluster, the expiration date of the added capacity is the same as the cluster's expiration date by default. The scale-out cost is calculated as follows: Added Capacity × Remaining Subscription Duration of the Cluster × Unit Price of Disk Type.
For example, assume you have a 60 TiB dedicated block storage cluster that expires on December 31, 2021. On July 1, 2021, you add 12 TiB of capacity. At this time, the cluster has 6 months remaining in its subscription. The scale-out cost is calculated as follows: 12 × 6 × Unit Price of Disk Type.
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If the remaining subscription duration is not a whole number of months, such as 40 days, the scale-out cost is calculated as follows: Added Capacity × Remaining Subscription Duration (40/30 = 1.33 months) × Unit Price of Disk Type.
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If the remaining subscription duration is less than one month, you cannot scale out the cluster. You must first renew the cluster to ensure its available time is more than one month before you can scale it out.
Billing for disk migration
After a disk is migrated, the billing changes as follows:
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Migrate to a dedicated block storage cluster: The billing method of the dedicated block storage cluster applies. The disk itself is not billed.
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Migrate to the public cloud: The billing method for pay-as-you-go public cloud disks applies.
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For more information about pay-as-you-go costs, see Pay-as-you-go.
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For more information about disk billing, see Elastic Block Storage billing.
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Renewal
You can renew dedicated block storage clusters manually or automatically.
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For manual renewals, you can select a renewal duration from 1 month to 3 years.
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For auto-renewal, the renewal period matches the initial subscription duration. For example, if you subscribe for 12 months, your subscription is automatically renewed for another 12 months.
Resource handling after expiration
Before a dedicated block storage cluster expires, the console prompts you to transfer the disk resources.
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If you do not need to renew the cluster or retain the data on its disks after it expires, you can allow the cluster to expire. The disks are then automatically released.
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If you do not plan to renew the cluster but need to retain the data on its disks, you must migrate the disks from the dedicated block storage cluster to the public cloud using the console. For more information, see Migrate disks in a dedicated block storage cluster.
Refunds
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If you select an incorrect zone, specification, or capacity when you purchase a dedicated block storage cluster, you can contact Alibaba Cloud within one day of the purchase to request a refund and make a new purchase.
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Refunds are available only after you have used the cluster for more than six months. For more information, see Refund rules and procedures.