Instance overview

Public instances

Public instance of the new version

When you activate IoT Platform for the first time with your Alibaba Cloud account, you receive a public instance of the new version to try.

This instance is not activated by default and must be manually activated.

• The instance is free, has no time limit, and includes a fixed resource quota. If your usage exceeds the free quota, you are charged for the excess on a pay-as-you-go basis. For billing rules, refer to the information for the public instance of the previous version.

  • Up to 50 concurrently online devices and a maximum of 500 created devices.

  • Up to 5 TPS for message communication.

  • Up to 5 TPS for message forwarding.

  • Up to 10 OTA upgrades per calendar month.

• If devices remain offline for an extended period after activation, IoT Platform may freeze the instance.

Public instance of the previous version

If you do not see an instance ID on the Public Instance card on the Instance Overview tab of the IoT Platform console, your account is using a public instance of the previous version.

A public instance of the previous version is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis and currently has no time limit.

• Billing for message communication

• Billing for connection duration

• Billing for OTA upgrades

Console display

Enterprise Edition instances

An Enterprise Edition instance is a paid service. You can purchase multiple instances with a single Alibaba Cloud account.

Enterprise Edition instances are available in Standard and Exclusive types, and a legacy MQTT-type.

• Standard and Exclusive Enterprise Edition instances provide a fully managed, enterprise-grade IoT service that allows you to connect devices that use various mainstream protocols without building your own IoT infrastructure.

• MQTT-type Enterprise Edition instances support only MQTT connections and use a custom username and password for device authentication.

  Important

  If you already have an MQTT-type Enterprise Edition instance under your Alibaba Cloud account, you can continue to use it. However, you can no longer purchase new MQTT-type Enterprise Edition instances.

For a detailed description of each Enterprise Edition instance type and its features, see Enterprise instance types and features.

Instance usage

1. Review the features of different instances in Compare public instances and Enterprise Edition instances and Enterprise instance types and features to choose the one that best fits your business needs.

2. Activate the IoT Platform service for free. Then, based on your requirements, either use a public instance of the new version or purchase an Enterprise Edition instance.

3. View and manage your instances.

   1. Set the instance environment: Set the environment to Testing or Production to distinguish and manage devices that are connected to IoT Platform in different environments.

   2. View and configure instance endpoints:

      • Use the instance ID and its endpoint domain when you develop devices, connect AMQP clients to IoT Platform, or call IoT Platform cloud SDKs for public or Enterprise Edition instances.

        • Public instances of the previous version do not use an instance ID. The endpoint domain for each communication protocol is fixed. For more information, see Endpoints and ports for public instances of the previous version.

        • For Enterprise Edition instances and public instances of the new version, find the instance ID and endpoint on the Instance Details page in the IoT Platform console. For more information, see View endpoint information for new public and Enterprise Edition instances.

      • For Enterprise Edition instances, you can bind a fixed IP address to the endpoint domain for MQTT device connections.

      • For Exclusive-type Enterprise Edition instances, you must manually create an independent MQTT endpoint and customize its port number and certificate.

   3. View instance information and resource usage: After you connect devices to your instance, you can view device runtime data and UC usage to monitor resource availability and device status.

      • Public instance of the new version

        Scaling is not supported. If the fixed quota does not meet your business needs, you can upgrade the public instance to an Enterprise Edition instance. For more information, see Upgrade a public instance to an Enterprise Edition instance.

      • Enterprise Edition instance

        If your purchased specifications are insufficient, you can upgrade your instance. If your resources are over-provisioned, you can downgrade your instance. For more information, see Upgrade and downgrade an Enterprise Edition instance.

      • Public instance of the previous version

        Scaling is not supported. If you receive a notification about insufficient resources, migrate new or existing devices to an Enterprise Edition instance.

        For information about the business impact and system modifications required for migration, see Prerequisites.

   4. Enable high-precision second-level monitoring: Monitor the real-time changes in device upstream and downstream message TPS and message forwarding TPS to track trends in device message volume.

   5. Configure alert rules: Set up alert rules for instance resource metrics. When a rule is triggered, the system notifies a specified contact group. This allows your team to intervene promptly and prevent business disruption.

Next steps

1. After you activate and configure your instance, connect your devices to IoT Platform for centralized management, data collection and analysis, remote control, and security. To learn how to connect devices, see Device connection guide.

2. After devices are connected, use topics to send and receive messages, enabling communication between your server, IoT Platform, and devices. For more information, see What is a Topic?.

References

• Overdue payments and instance expiration disrupt device-related services. To learn about the impacts and how to respond, see Overdue payments and renewals.

• For limitations on device connection, device management, message communication, message forwarding, and data services, see Limits.

• For a list of all supported regions, their corresponding cities, and region IDs, see Regions.

• For more information about IoT Platform features such as device connection, device management, message forwarding, and monitoring, see Features.

• For typical use cases and instructions on migrating from a public instance of the previous version, see Migration use cases.

• Configure alert rules to monitor runtime data for your instance, including device connections, network status, message traffic, Data Forwarding, Thing Model communication, and OTA upgrades. These alerts keep you informed of device operational status. For more information, see Real-time monitoring

Related videos

Video guide for device connection: This video shows how to connect directly-connected devices, gateways, and sub-devices to an IoT Platform instance.

FAQ

• For common questions about billing for IoT Platform services and instances, see Billing FAQ.

• For common questions about selecting and using instances to manage devices and services, see FAQ about IoT Platform instances.

• For common questions about connecting devices to an instance, see:

  • FAQ about connecting devices to IoT Platform

  • FAQ about device authentication

  • FAQ about Link SDK

  • FAQ about MQTT connections

• For common questions about communication between devices and IoT Platform, see:

  • FAQ about Thing Models

  • FAQ about message communication