DocsICP FilingConsole
Documentation
Home Page ApsaraDB for SelectDB Getting Started Step 1: Create a SelectDB instance

Step 1: Create a SelectDB instance

Updated at:
Copy as MD
Product
My Favorites

This topic describes how to quickly create a pay-as-you-go ApsaraDB for SelectDB instance to help you get started with SelectDB.

Prerequisites

If you are new to SelectDB, we strongly recommend reading Introduction to ApsaraDB for SelectDB (for beginners) to learn about its features, basic concepts, and billing methods. This helps avoid confusion.

Usage notes

  • A pay-as-you-go instance is a postpaid product. Before you create an instance, ensure your Alibaba Cloud account balance is at least CNY 100.

  • An instance can contain one or more BE clusters. When you create an instance, it contains a single cluster that uses the same billing method as the instance. To scale out, you can create a new cluster in the instance.

Step 1: Prepare an Alibaba Cloud account

  1. Prepare an Alibaba Cloud account.

    If you already have an Alibaba Cloud account and have activated Application Real-Time Monitoring Service (ARMS), skip this step.

    1. Go to the Alibaba Cloud official website to register an Alibaba Cloud account.

    2. Activate ARMS. For details, see Activate ARMS.

  2. (Recommended) Prepare a RAM user.

    Important

    To avoid the security risks of sharing your Alibaba Cloud account's password or AccessKey pair, we recommend creating a RAM user and grant only the necessary permissions. This practice follows the principle of least privilege and enhances the security of your cloud resources. For more information about RAM users, see What is a RAM user?.

    If you will be using your root Alibaba Cloud account or already have an authorized RAM user, skip this step.

    1. Create a RAM user. For instructions, see Create a RAM user.

    2. Grant permissions: To create a SelectDB instance, a RAM user must have the AliyunSelectDBFullAccess permission to manage SelectDB. For instructions on granting permissions, see Grant permissions to a RAM user.

Step 2: Create an instance

SelectDB supports two billing methods: Pay-as-you-go and Subscription. The following list describes their use cases and features:

  • Pay-as-you-go: Suitable for short-term use or for testing SelectDB. You can release the instance at any time to stop billing.

  • Subscription: Suitable for long-term use of SelectDB. This method is more cost-effective than pay-as-you-go.

    Note

    You can convert a pay-as-you-go instance to a subscription instance, but not the other way around.

This topic describes how to quickly create a pay-as-you-go SelectDB instance. To create a subscription instance or to learn more about configuration parameters, see Create an instance.

  1. Go to the ApsaraDB for SelectDB product page and click ApsaraDB for SelectDB (Pay-as-you-go) to open the purchase page.

  2. On the purchase page, configure the instance parameters.

    Parameter

    Description

    Region and Zone

    An appropriate region and zone help improve the access speed for SelectDB instances. The shorter the distance between the geographic location of your business and the region where the instance is located, the faster you can access the SelectDB instance.

    Important

    You cannot change the region after anSelectDB instance is created, so choose carefully. If your applications are deployed on Alibaba Cloud, we recommend selecting the same region for your instance.

    Minor Engine Version

    The purchase page offers stable and the latest kernel versions. The stable version is selected by default. We recommend keeping the default selection unless you have specific requirements.

    For the mapping between SelectDB kernel versions and Apache Doris versions, see Kernel release notes.

    Deployment architecture

    The deployment architecture of an instance determines its disaster recovery capabilities.

    • Same-City redundancy: Resources are deployed across multiple zones to provide zone-level disaster recovery. If a single zone fails, services fail over to another available zone. This ensures that no metadata or persisted data is lost.

    • Locally Redundant Storage: Resources are deployed in a single zone. This option is more cost-effective but does not provide cross-zone disaster recovery.

    Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)

    A Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is a logically isolated virtual network that you can provision in the cloud. A VPC is limited to a single region but spans all zones within that region.

    If no VPC is available in your account, go to the VPC console to create one.

    Important

    You cannot change the VPC of a SelectDB instance after it is created. Configure this setting carefully. If your business is deployed on Alibaba Cloud, we recommend that you select the same VPC for your instance.

    Private network switch

    A vSwitch is a fundamental network device within a VPC that connects different cloud resource instances.

    If no vSwitch is available, go to the VPC console to create one.

    Cluster Computing Resources

    The performance and cost of computing resources depend on their specifications. Choosing the right resources helps reduce costs and ensure business stability. The default configuration on the purchase page is 8 vCores and 32 GiB of memory.

    When you create an instance, a pay-as-you-go cluster is created by default. The computing resources described here apply to this default cluster.

    Cluster cache size

    The cache stores hot data to improve the read and write performance of SelectDB. The available range for the cache size depends on the selected computing resources.

    When you create an instance, a pay-as-you-go cluster is created by default. The cache size described here applies to this default cluster.

    Instance storage capacity

    You do not need to configure this parameter when you create a pay-as-you-go instance.

    Storage space stores the full dataset. You are billed hourly based on your actual usage.

    FE node count and specifications

    FE (Frontend) nodes manage metadata and handle query scheduling. The node count and specifications determine the availability and concurrent processing capacity of the instance.

    Node count

    • 1: Suitable for development and testing. No high availability guarantee. A node failure will cause service interruption.

    • 3 or more (odd number): Recommended for production environments. Provides high availability. A single node failure does not affect service continuity.

    Node specifications (reference metrics: QPS / concurrent connections)

    • 4 Cores: <200 QPS / <1,000 connections. Suitable for development, testing, or low-frequency queries.

    • 8 Cores: 200–1,000 QPS / 1,000–5,000 connections. Suitable for BI dashboards, ad-hoc analysis, and medium-concurrency ETL. Recommended as the production baseline.

    • 16 Cores: >1,000 QPS / >5,000 connections. Suitable for real-time dashboards, high-concurrency point queries, and multi-tenant mixed workloads.

    FE node count and specifications can be adjusted after creation. For details, see Adjust the FE configuration.

  3. Click Buy now and complete the payment as prompted.

    It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to create the instance. Go to the Instances page and refresh the list to view the new SelectDB instance.

Next steps

Step 2: Connect to the SelectDB instance and create a database and a table

Related topics

Previous：ApsaraDB for SelectDB overviewNext：Step 2: Connect to SelectDB and create a database and table