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Billing FAQ

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This topic summarizes billing and purchase questions for ApsaraDB RDS.

Cost-saving questions

Why does my subscription ApsaraDB RDS instance still incur daily charges, and how can I avoid them?

Subscription fees cover only the charges for the instance type and storage capacity. Additional fees apply if you use read-only instances, SQL Audit, paid performance monitoring, or excessive backup storage. For more information, see Billable items. ApsaraDB RDS provides savings plans that offset all pay-as-you-go billable items in ApsaraDB RDS and help you reduce costs. For more information, see General-purpose savings plan.

Log on to the Alibaba Cloud Management Console and, on the Fee > Expenses and Costs page, choose Bills > Bill Details page to view billable items.

You can avoid pay-as-you-go charges or reduce pay-as-you-go costs in the following ways:

  • Backup storage exceeding the free quota: see Reduce backup size and fees for a solution.

  • Database Proxy: A database proxy provides automatic read/write splitting. Enabling the proxy incurs pay-as-you-go charges, so evaluate whether to enable it based on your needs. For more information, see What are database proxies?.

  • Cross-region Backup and SQL Audit: (Recommended) Purchase an ApsaraDB RDS savings plan to offset these charges. For more information, see General-purpose savings plan.

    Note

    ApsaraDB RDS provides storage plans that offset SQL Audit (SQL Explorer) usage and help you reduce costs. For more information, see Storage plans. After you upgrade to the SQL Explorer and Audit feature of DAS Enterprise Edition, storage plans can no longer offset the charges.

  • Read-only Instance, and Clone Instance: These billable items support subscription billing. (Recommended) Select Subscription as the billing method.

  • Performance Monitoring: Use a free monitoring frequency of once every 60 seconds or once every 300 seconds.

Why is the total bill much higher than expected after I purchase a subscription instance?

Subscription fees cover only the charges for the instance type and storage capacity of the instance itself. Pay-as-you-go ApsaraDB RDS instances in the same account are billed hourly for the instance type and storage capacity. These charges can make the total bill far exceed the subscription purchase price.

To investigate, on the Bill Details page in the Billing Center, view the billing method and charge details of each instance to confirm whether pay-as-you-go instances incur additional fees.

Release a pay-as-you-go instance when you no longer use it to stop the charges. If you still need the instance, convert it to subscription to reduce long-term costs.

Are pay-as-you-go instances charged when they are not in use?

Pay-as-you-go instances continue to occupy computing and storage resources even when they are not in use, so they are still charged hourly. If you will not use an instance for an extended period, save your data and release the instance. If you will not use an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL or ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance for an extended period, pause the instance. After the instance is paused, its computing resources are released, instance type fees are no longer charged, and only data storage fees apply. For more information, see Pause an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance or Pause an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance.

How is a configuration change for a subscription instance billed?

For more information, see Change instance specifications.

Is there a charge for requesting a public endpoint?

Internet traffic for pay-as-you-go and subscription instances is currently free, including outbound and inbound traffic. Bandwidth is currently unlimited.

How can I reduce pay-as-you-go costs?

  • Purchase General-purpose savings plan to offset all pay-as-you-go billable items in ApsaraDB RDS, including instance types, data storage, backup storage, geo-redundancy, SQL Audit, second-level monitoring, and dedicated proxies.

  • Purchase Storage plans to offset instance storage, backup storage (long-term backups and cross-region backups), and SQL Audit usage.

How do I check whether backup fees are charged?

  • To check whether backup fees are currently charged, view the Usage Statistics section on the Basic Information page of the instance. If backup usage already exceeds the free quota, backup fees are being charged. In the Backup Usage section of the instance, you can view current data backup and log backup usage and the free quota (for example, a total of up to 81920 M is free). Click View Details to view the backup usage details.

  • To check whether backup fees were charged in the past, go to the Detailed Bills page and look for bills whose Billable Item is instance backup.

How can I reduce backup size and fees?

How do I release an instance that I no longer use? Can subscription instances be released?

See Release an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance.

Subscription instances cannot be released, but you can unsubscribe and receive a refund. Refunds fall into three cases: five-day unconditional refunds, refunds outside the five-day unconditional window, and refunds for renewal orders that have not taken effect. For the detailed rules, see Unsubscription rules.

How do I check when a feature was enabled?

  • On the My Orders page, you can check the Paid/Activated At of the feature.

  • You can use ActionTrail to view the operation history of an instance. You can also check when a feature was enabled in ActionTrail, on the View Event Details page. Event details include the following fields: Event Time (for example, 2023-04-10 16:15:18), Event Name (for example, CreateDBInstance), Event Source (for example, rds-inc-share.aliyuncs.com), Region, Operator (the Alibaba Cloud account), Source IP Address, among others. The Related Resources section lists the resource type and resource name. Use the Event Time field to confirm when the feature was created or enabled.

Questions about instance purchases and billing methods

Why is there no response after I create an instance, and why is no instance in the Creating state shown in the instance list?

There are two possible reasons why an instance in the Creating state is not displayed:

  • Incorrect region

    The region that you are viewing may differ from the region that you selected when you created the instance. Switch the region in the upper-left corner of the page.

  • Insufficient resources in the zone

    Zone resources are allocated dynamically, so the zone may not have enough resources after you place the order. Instance creation then fails, and the instance is not displayed in the instance list. Try a different zone. A refund is issued after the creation fails. You can view the refund in the Order List.

Why do entry-level instance types provide higher maximum connections and IOPS than enterprise-level instance types with the same CPU and memory?

Entry-level instance types belong to shared or general-purpose instance families, and enterprise-level instance types belong to dedicated instance families. In actual use, enterprise-level instance types are more stable because they provide dedicated CPU and memory. For details about the differences, see Instance families.

Can I convert between subscription and pay-as-you-go billing?

Yes, you can convert between the two billing methods.

How is excess usage billed after a resource plan expires or its quota is fully used?

The excess usage is automatically billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Why do RDS Cluster Edition and RDS Basic Edition have different storage unit prices for the same storage type?

  1. Different architectures and storage billing methods

RDS Basic Edition uses a single-node architecture without a standby node. Its data reliability depends on the multi-replica mechanism of cloud disks.

RDS Cluster Edition uses an architecture with one primary node and multiple standby nodes. In addition to the multi-replica mechanism of high-performance cloud disks, its high-availability architecture further improves data reliability and system availability. The standby nodes require one or more additional sets of cloud disks.

These architectural differences affect resource scheduling and cost allocation. Storage fees are calculated as follows:

  • RDS Basic Edition: Storage fee = Storage unit price per instance × Storage capacity per instance × Duration

  • RDS Cluster Edition: Storage fee = Storage unit price per node × Storage capacity per node × Number of nodes × Duration

  1. Different pricing considerations

Alibaba Cloud determines storage pricing for each RDS edition based on its features, availability, and operation and maintenance costs. For example, RDS Cluster Edition benefits from lower unit prices for high-performance cloud disks through bulk purchasing or resource pool optimization. RDS Basic Edition, which uses a single-node architecture, has relatively higher storage costs. These factors contribute to the difference in storage unit prices.

Questions about expired or overdue instances

  • Causes and impacts of expiration or overdue payments

    What are the impacts when an instance expires or has overdue payments?

    For more information, see Overdue payments and Renewal policy.

    What happens if other charges on a subscription instance, such as backup storage beyond the free quota or SQL Audit, make my Alibaba Cloud account overdue?

    The subscription instance and the pay-as-you-go billable items in the instance are not affected, but all pay-as-you-go instances in the account enter the overdue state.

    After a subscription instance expires and is no longer needed, must I unsubscribe from it? Are other fees charged if I do not unsubscribe?

    No. After a subscription instance expires, it enters the following states. If you no longer use the instance, no action is required and no additional fees are charged.

    • During days 1 to 7 after the instance expires, the instance is locked and cannot be accessed.

    • During days 8 to 15 after the instance expires, the computing resources of the instance are released and data backups are retained.

    • On day 16 after the instance expires, the data of the instance is no longer retained.

    Are other fees charged while an instance is locked because of overdue payments?

    No other fees are charged while the instance is locked. For the impacts of overdue payments, see Overdue payments.

    Can data be recovered if an instance expired more than 16 days ago and its data was released?

    No. On day 16 after the instance expires, the data is no longer retained and cannot be recovered. If you still need to use the instance, purchase a new instance and deploy the data.

    Which ApsaraDB RDS instances are affected by overdue account payments?

    Overdue account payments cause pay-as-you-go instances to become overdue. For more information, see Overdue payments.

    What does the ApsaraDB RDS error The MySQL server is running with the LOCK_WRITE option so it cannot execute this statement mean?

    This error indicates that the instance is locked. For information about how to unlock the instance, see What do I do if my ApsaraDB RDS instance is in the Locking state?.

  • Operations related to expiration or overdue payments

    Can I change the configuration of an instance that is locked because of overdue payments or expiration?

    No. Unlock the instance before you change its configuration. For detailed steps, see Overdue payments and Renewal policy.

    I renewed an instance that was locked because it expired, but it is still shown as locked. What should I do?

    An instance takes time to unlock after renewal. Wait for the change to take effect, which usually happens within 5 minutes.

    Can I receive the previous purchase discount when renewing an instance?

    The renewal price displayed in the console prevails.

    Will the price difference be refunded if I renew a locked instance and then downgrade its configuration?

    Yes, the price difference is refunded. For the refund rules, see Refund rules for downgrades.

    Can I create or export backups while an instance is locked because it expired or has overdue payments?

    No. You cannot back up an instance or export backup files while the instance is locked. The instance must be in the Running state. Top up your account or renew the instance to unlock it before you back up or export data.

    How do I convert a subscription instance that is locked after expiration to pay-as-you-go?

    An expired subscription instance cannot be converted directly to pay-as-you-go. Renew the instance for a short period to unlock it, and then change the billing method. When you convert from subscription to pay-as-you-go, the system refunds the price difference. For more information, see Refund policy for converting from Subscription to Pay-as-you-go.

    After I renew and unlock an expired instance, do I need to make other configurations? Does the instance automatically return to normal?

    During days 1 to 7 after the instance expires, the instance is locked and cannot be accessed. If you manually renew the instance during this period, it immediately returns to normal and no other configuration is required.

    After an expired instance is released and rebuilt from the recycle bin, is the data in the new instance exactly the same as the data in the released instance?

    The data is exactly the same as the data in the original instance, but information such as the connection endpoint and instance ID changes.

    After an instance is released, why does it cost more to rebuild the instance from the recycle bin?

    After an instance is released, you can create a new instance from the recycle bin and restore the data of the original instance to the new instance. When you rebuild an instance and restore data from the recycle bin, you cannot select an instance type, version, or storage type that is no longer available for purchase. Changes to the instance type, version, or storage type of the new instance change the price. The price displayed in the console prevails.

    What permissions does a RAM user need to renew an ApsaraDB RDS instance?

    Grant the RAM user the Billing Center permissions AliyunBSSFullAccess, AliyunBSSReadOnlyAccess, AliyunBSSOrderAccess, AliyunBSSRenewFullAccess, and AliyunBSSRenewReadOnlyAccess, as well as the ApsaraDB RDS permission AliyunRDSFullAccess.

    How do I migrate data from a locked instance to another instance by using DTS?

    DTS does not support data migration while an instance is locked. Unlock the instance before you migrate the data. For information about how to unlock an instance, see What do I do if my ApsaraDB RDS instance is in the Locking state?.

    How do I restore an expired subscription instance?

    After a subscription instance expires, the restoration method depends on how long the instance has been expired:

    • During days 1 to 7 after the instance expires, the instance is locked and cannot be accessed. You can renew the instance to unlock it. For more information, see Renewal policy.

    • During days 8 to 15 after the instance expires, the computing resources of the instance are released and data backups are retained. You can restore the instance. For detailed steps, see Rebuild an RDS instance.

    • On day 16 after the instance expires, the data of the instance is no longer retained and cannot be recovered. If you still need to use the instance, purchase a new instance and deploy the data.

    How do I downgrade the instance configuration while renewing a subscription that is about to expire?

    Downgrading the configuration while renewing an instance is not supported. Downgrade the configuration first, and then renew the instance.

    What should I do if I cannot write data because the instance is locked?

    You cannot write data while the instance is in the Locked state. Unlock the instance before you perform operations. For information about how to unlock an instance, see What do I do if my ApsaraDB RDS instance is in the Locking state?.

    I received a text message saying that an RDS instance needs renewal, but I cannot find the instance after I log on to the RDS console. What should I do?

    You can troubleshoot the issue as follows:

    • Confirm that you are logged on with the account that owns the target instance. The instance may belong to a different account.

    • In the RDS console, switch the region. You can view the target instance only in the region where the instance resides.

    • In the left-side navigation pane of the RDS console, click Recycle Bin to check whether the instance expired more than 8 days ago and entered the recycle bin.

    • If the instance expired more than 16 days ago, the instance has been released, the data has been removed, and the data cannot be recovered.

    After I renew a subscription instance that was locked because it expired, how do I convert it to pay-as-you-go?

    After you renew the instance, wait until the instance is in the Running state before you change the billing method. For more information, see Convert ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL from subscription to pay-as-you-go.

    Where in the console can I view instances that are about to expire?

    At the top of the RDS Management Console, choose Fee > Renewal Management to view the products that are about to expire. You can renew instances on this page.

    How do I apply for a contract before renewal?

    Do not pay when you renew the instance. An unpaid order is generated. Then, apply for an electronic contract on the Contract Management page and select the unpaid order.

    How do I change the contact for text message notifications about instance expiration?

    Add a contact

    1. Log on to the Alibaba Cloud console, click your profile picture in the upper-right corner, and then click Addresses and Contacts in the left-side navigation pane.

    2. On the Contact tab, click Add Contact.

    3. In the Add Contact dialog box, enter the new contact information and click OK.

    Modify a contact

    1. In the left-side navigation pane of the Message Center, choose Message Receiving Management> Basic Receiving Management.

    2. Select SMS notifications for the following message types and modify the Message Recipient. By default, the message recipient is the account contact.

    Will a free trial automatically end after it expires, and will it generate additional fees?

    • The free trial product uses the subscription mode.

      After the product trial expires, the instance is automatically shut down and released. The instance cannot be recovered after it is released. Back up your data in advance.

    • The free trial product uses the Serverless mode.

      After the product trial expires, the instance continues to run and incurs fees. If you no longer need the instance, promptly release the instance manually.The instance cannot be recovered after it is released. Back up your data in advance.

    Go to the My Trials page to view trial information for all products in trial, such as expiration dates and trial progress. For more information about free trials, see Free Trial FAQ.

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