This topic provides answers to some commonly asked questions about Cloud Data Transfer (CDT).
FAQ about service features
Does CDT support centralized billing for subscription services?
Can I use data transfer plans to offset the fee of data transfers in CDT?
FAQ about operations
FAQ about bills
Will original Alibaba Cloud services continue to generate bills after CDT is activated?
How do I query the bills of monthly free 200 GB Internet data transfers?
FAQ about service features
Does CDT support centralized billing for subscription services?
No. CDT allows you to aggregate the Internet data transfers of various Alibaba Cloud services and supports tiered pricing. The larger the amount of Internet data transfers, the lower the unit price. CDT also supports the pay-by-data-transfer metering method for Alibaba Cloud services that provide cross-region access. CDT supports only the pay-as-you-go billing method.
Can data transfers incurred by Alibaba Cloud services that provide cross-region access be billed based on tiered pricing?
No.
What is tiered pricing?
You can use CDT to aggregate and bill the Internet data transfers of multiple Alibaba Cloud services in each region that provide access to the Internet based on tiered pricing. CDT provides multiple price tiers for Internet data transfers. The unit prices vary based on price tiers. You can multiply the amount of the used Internet data transfers by the unit price of the Internet data transfers in the corresponding tier, and then sum the fees calculated based on the tiered prices.
For more information, see Examples of tiered pricing.
Can I use data transfer plans to offset the fee of data transfers in CDT?
CDT allows you to use data transfer plans to offset the fee of data transfers that fall into only Tier 1 (0 TB to 10 TB).
FAQ about operations
Are other settings required after I activate CDT?
No. CDT separates resource use and management from resource billing. You are not charged if you only activate CDT. After CDT is activated (the billing of some Alibaba Cloud services needs to be switched to CDT manually), CDT bills the data transfers that are incurred by all existing and new pay-by-data-transfer instances.
Does CDT support features such as throttling, instance upgrading, and instance downgrading?
No. CDT centrally bills Alibaba Cloud services, whereas the Alibaba Cloud services provide resource management features. For example, CDT does not limit the maximum public bandwidth of an Alibaba Cloud service. The public bandwidth is managed in the Alibaba Cloud service. After CDT takes effect for the Alibaba Cloud service, the maximum public bandwidth remains unchanged.
Can CDT be activated in multiple accounts?
No.
FAQ about bills
Will original Alibaba Cloud services continue to generate bills after CDT is activated?
After CDT is activated, CDT centrally bills the data transfers that are incurred by Alibaba Cloud services, whereas the Alibaba Cloud services generate other types of bills such as the bills of bandwidth, instance usage, and configurations.
How do I query the bills of monthly free 200 GB Internet data transfers?
Log on to the Expenses and Costs console.
In the left-side navigation pane of the Expenses and Costs console, choose .
On the Billing Details tab, select cloud data transfer-internet from the Product Details drop-down list and click Search.
In the bills for Internet data transfers in CDT, the unit price of the monthly free 200 GB Internet data transfers is 0. Internet data transfers exceeding 200 GB per month are normally charged according to tiered pricing in CDT.
Important200 GB Internet data transfers per month consist of two parts:
20 GB per month: It can be used in global regions, including regions in the Chinese mainland.
180 GB per month: It can be used only in regions outside the Chinese mainland.