Retirement of standard SSDs for select ApsaraDB RDS instances
Alibaba Cloud provides enhanced SSDs at different performance levels (PLs). Enhanced SSDs (ESSD) of PL1 are designed based on a new generation of distributed block storage architecture. ESSDs require the same price in most regions, but deliver higher IOPS, higher throughput, and more stable I/O performance than standard SSDs. Since June 30, 2021, Alibaba Cloud gradually phases out specific ApsaraDB RDS instance configuration options with standard SSDs. This makes it easier to select the configurations of ApsaraDB RDS instances.
Affected products and retirement dates
Affected product | Retirement date |
ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL with standard SSDs | January 17, 2022 |
ApsaraDB RDS for MariaDB with standard SSDs | January 17, 2022 |
ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL with standard SSDs | July 6, 2022 |
ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server with standard SSDs | August 8, 2022 |
This retirement applies only to standard SSDs. Local SSDs are not affected.
Impacts and suggestions
New instances: You can no longer select standard SSDs as the storage type when you create the following ApsaraDB RDS instances:
ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL
ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL
ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server
ApsaraDB RDS for MariaDB
NoteDue to a phased retirement, the standard SSD option may have remained visible for a period after June 30, 2021. We recommend selecting ESSDs for better performance.
Existing instances: The storage type for existing instances remains unchanged. If your instance uses standard SSDs, we recommend upgrading to PL1 ESSDs for higher read/write performance.
NoteUpgrading the storage type may incur fees, depending on the region of your instance. You can view any applicable fees when you change instance configurations.
Database engine
Upgrade actions
ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL, ApsaraDB RDS for MariaDB
Change the instance storage type to PL1 ESSD. For more information, see Change instance configurations.
The storage type is automatically upgraded to PL1 ESSD when you perform any of the following operations:
In certain cases, some zones may have insufficient resources or temporarily suspend the sale of ESSDs. For zones where ESSDs are unavailable, you must first upgrade the minor engine version and then migrate the instance to a zone where ESSDs are available before you can upgrade the storage type.
ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL
Change the instance storage type to PL1 ESSD. For more information, see Change instance configurations.
The storage type is automatically upgraded to PL1 ESSD when you perform any of the following operations:
In certain cases, some zones may have insufficient resources or temporarily suspend the sale of ESSDs. For zones where ESSDs are unavailable, you can migrate the instance to a zone where ESSDs are available, and then upgrade the storage type.
ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server
Change the instance storage type to PL1 ESSD. For more information, see Change instance configurations.
The storage type is automatically upgraded to PL1 ESSD when you upgrade the major database version or upgrade an instance from the Basic Edition to the High-availability Edition. For more information, see Upgrade the database version.
In certain cases, some zones may have insufficient resources or temporarily suspend the sale of ESSDs. For zones where ESSDs are unavailable, you can migrate the instance to a zone where ESSDs are available, and then upgrade the storage type.
Performance comparison between enhanced SSDs of PL1 and standard SSDs
ESSDs of PL1 require the same price as standard SSDs in most regions but deliver higher performance. The following table describes the specific performance differences.
Metric | PL1 ESSD | Standard SSD |
Maximum capacity per disk (GiB) | 64,000 | 6,000 |
Maximum IOPS | 50,000 | 25,000 |
Maximum throughput (MB/s) | 350 | 300 |
IOPS formula | min{1,800 + 50 × Capacity, 50,000} | min{1,800 + 30 × Capacity, 25,000} |
Throughput formula (MB/s) | min{120 + 0.5 × Capacity, 350} | min{120 + 0.5 × Capacity, 300} |
Average random write latency | 0.2 ms | 0.5 to 2 ms |