Create an RDS SQL Server instance

Prerequisites

If you use a Resource Access Management (RAM) user to create an RDS instance, the AliyunRDSFullAccess and AliyunBSSOrderAccess policies must be attached to the RAM user. For more information, see Use RAM for resource authorization.

Procedure

1. Go to the ApsaraDB RDS instance creation page.

2. Select a Billing Method.

   Billing method	Recommendation	Benefits
   Subscription	For long-term workloads, select Subscription and specify a Subscription Duration in the lower-left corner of the page.	The subscription billing method is more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go billing method. The longer the subscription duration, the higher the discount.
   Pay-as-you-go	For short-term or development workloads, select Pay-as-you-go. You are billed on an hourly basis.	You can release the instance at any time to stop billing.

   Note

   You can create a Pay-as-you-go instance first. After verifying that the instance meets your requirements, you can change the billing method from pay-as-you-go to subscription.

3. Select the Region where you want to create the ApsaraDB RDS instance.

   Important

   You cannot change the region after the instance is created. Select the region with caution.

   We recommend that you create your ApsaraDB RDS instance in the same region as your ECS instance. Otherwise, your ECS instance can connect to the ApsaraDB RDS instance only over the public network, which can degrade performance.

   Note

   • To allow your ECS instance to connect to your ApsaraDB RDS instance over the internal network, make sure they are in the same region and the same VPC.

   • If you want to connect to the ApsaraDB RDS instance from a device other than an ECS instance, such as an on-premises server or a personal computer, select a region that is geographically close to the device. You can then connect to the instance by using its public endpoint.

4. Select a database engine, edition, and Storage Type.

   1. Select a database engine.

      This topic uses SQL Server as an example. Select Microsoft SQL Server. The supported versions include 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2022.

   2. Select an edition. The available editions depend on the region and database engine you select.

      Edition	Description	Features
      Basic edition	Uses a single-node architecture where compute and storage resources are separated. Does not support read-only instances.	Cost-effective. Ideal for learning or testing. Note Basic edition instances take longer to recover from failures or restart.
      High-availability edition (Recommended)	Uses a primary/standby architecture that supports automatic failover. The standby node is not accessible. Does not support read-only instances.	Highly available. Suitable for production environments and over 80% of use cases.
      Cluster edition (Recommended)	Uses a primary/standby architecture that supports automatic failover. The standby node is accessible for read operations, which improves read performance.	Supports adding one to seven read-only instances for linear read scaling. However, read-only instances do not participate in primary node election or failover. Allows for flexible cost management. Supports readable standby nodes.

   3. Select a Storage Type.

      Two storage types are supported: ESSDs and premium ESSDs. Premium ESSDs are compatible with all features of ESSDs, except for the instance hibernation feature, and also support an I/O performance bursting feature. When this feature is enabled, instances with premium ESSDs can provide higher I/O capabilities during significant business fluctuations and frequent peak loads.

      Note

      We recommend that you select Disk Encryption to further protect your data. For more information, see Disk encryption.

5. Configure network settings for the instance. The Network Type is always VPC.

   1. Select a VPC.

      We recommend that you select the same VPC as your ECS instance. If the ECS and ApsaraDB RDS instances are in different VPCs, they cannot communicate over the internal network.

      Note

      ECS instances can communicate with ApsaraDB RDS instances over the internal network even if they are connected to different vSwitches within the same VPC.

   2. Specify whether to Add to Whitelist.

      If you add the CIDR block to the whitelist, ECS instances in the same VPC can access the ApsaraDB RDS instance.

      Note

      If you select No, you can manually configure a whitelist after the instance is created.

6. Select the availability zone, vSwitch, and Deployment Method for the instance.

   • Selecting an availability zone

     An availability zone is an independent physical zone within a region. For example, the China (Hangzhou) region has Availability Zone H, I, and J.

     • There are no significant differences among availability zones in the same region.

     • Network latency is lower when an ECS instance accesses an ApsaraDB RDS instance in the same availability zone compared to one in a different availability zone within the same region, but the difference is minimal.

   • Selecting a vSwitch

     A vSwitch is a fundamental network component of a VPC. It can connect different cloud resources. When you create a cloud resource in a VPC, you must specify the vSwitch to which the resource connects.

     Select an existing vSwitch or click Create vSwitch to create a new one. For information about parameter configurations, see Create and manage a vSwitch.

   • Selecting a deployment method

     • Multi-zone Deployment (Recommended): The primary and standby nodes are located in different availability zones within the same region, which provides cross-zone disaster recovery.

       If you set Deployment Method to Multi-zone Deployment, you must select the Zone and Network of Primary Node and the Zone and Network of Secondary Node for the instance.

     • Single-zone Deployment: The primary and standby nodes are located in the same availability zone.

       If you select the basic edition, you can only choose Single-zone Deployment.

     Note

     • For instances with primary and standby nodes, we recommend that you select Multi-zone Deployment to enable cross-zone disaster recovery.

     • If the target availability zone is marked as Sold Out in the top-right corner, select a different availability zone.

7. Select an Instance Type.

   1. Select a Category (general-purpose, dedicated, or shared). The available instance types vary depending on the instance edition and version. The options displayed in the console prevail.

      Category	Description	Features
      General-purpose	Dedicated: memory and I/O Shared: CPU and storage	Cost-effective
      Dedicated	Dedicated: CPU, memory, storage, and I/O Note The dedicated-host type is the top-tier configuration of the dedicated category. It exclusively uses the CPU, memory, storage, and I/O resources of an entire physical server.	Provides superior and stable performance Note The basic edition does not support dedicated instance types.
      Shared	Dedicated: memory, storage Shared: CPU	Cost-effective for workloads with lower stability requirements

   2. Select a specific instance type based on parameters such as the number of CPU cores, memory size, and maximum number of connections.

      Note

      For a list of specifications, see Primary ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance types.

8. Select a Storage Capacity.

   The storage capacity includes the space for data, system files, log files, and transaction files. The available range of storage capacity depends on the instance type and storage type that you select. You can adjust the storage capacity in 5 GB increments.

   Note

   The storage capacity of some instances with local SSDs is coupled with their instance type. This limitation does not apply to ESSDs or SSD cloud disks.

9. (Optional) If you selected Billing Method for Subscription , you also need to set the Duration.

   Different subscription durations offer different discounts. You can hover over Price next to View Details to view the cost breakdown.

10. Configure more custom parameters. Keep the default values unless you have specific requirements.

    Parameter	Description
    Port	You can set the port when you create an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance. The port number must be in the range of 1000 to 5999.
    Release Protection	If the Billing Method is set to Pay-as-you-go, you can enable Release Protection for the instance to prevent accidental release. For more information, see Enable or disable release protection.
    Resource Group	Select the default or a custom resource group for easier instance management.
    Instance Name	Customize the instance name for easy identification.
    Character Set Collation Rule	You can set the character set collation during instance creation or modify it later. The default value is Chinese_PRC_CI_AS. You can also modify the character set collation as needed after the instance is created.
    Tags	If you have a large number of instances, you can add tags to them for easier organization and management. For more information, see Filter instances by tag.

11. In the upper-right corner of the page, select the number of instances to purchase.

    The default value is 1. You can purchase up to 20 instances at a time. Select the quantity based on your business requirements.

12. Confirm the order information, quantity, and subscription duration (for subscription instances only), then click Pay Now and complete the payment.

    Note

    • For subscription instances, we recommend that you select Enable Auto-renewal to avoid service interruptions caused by an expired subscription.

    • For monthly purchases, the auto-renewal period is one month. For yearly purchases, the auto-renewal period is one year. The actual period depends on the order. You can cancel auto-renewal at any time. For more information, see Renew an expired resource and Enable auto-renewal.

13. View the instance.

    Go to the Instances page, select the instance's region, and find the newly created instance based on its Creation Time.

    Note

    You can go to the Task Hub page to view the instance creation progress. It takes about 1 to 10 minutes to create an instance. After the instance is created, refresh the Instances page to view it.

Next steps

1. Create databases and accounts

2. Connect to an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance

FAQ

References

• To create an ApsaraDB RDS instance by calling an API operation: CreateDBInstance

• To quickly create an instance: Quickly create and use an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance

• Video tutorial: Create an ApsaraDB RDS instance

• To create an instance that runs a different database engine, see the following topics:

  • Create an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance

  • Create an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance

  • Create an ApsaraDB RDS for MariaDB instance