A savings plan reduces your data transfer costs by committing to a fixed hourly spend on Enterprise Edition transit routers. This topic explains how to calculate your spending commitment, purchase a savings plan, and view the fees it offsets.
Who should use a savings plan
Savings plans apply to Enterprise Edition transit routers only. They offset data transfer fees incurred when transit routers forward network traffic.
You commit to a fixed spend each hour. Savings plans are ideal for workloads with flat traffic, flat peak traffic, or long-term subscriptions where hourly data transfer stays predictable.
We recommend that you observe the traffic fluctuations of your Enterprise Edition transit routers, determine a proper traffic tier, and then calculate the spending commitment.
Calculate the spending commitment
Use the following formula to determine the spending commitment for each commitment term:
Spending commitment = Data transfer (GB) x Unit price (USD/GB) x Discount factor
The commitment term is 1 hour. The spending commitment must be a positive integer in USD, with a minimum of USD 1. If the result is not an integer, round it up or down to the nearest integer.
The unit prices, discounts, and other data in the following example are for demonstration purposes only. For actual pricing and discount information, see the pricing page.
For ease of calculation, the data in this example is rounded to two decimal places. The actual results may vary. Refer to the data displayed on the page when you use the product.
Example
A company deployed an Enterprise Edition transit router in each of the China (Hangzhou), China (Shenzhen), and China (Zhangjiakou) regions. All the transit routers are forwarding network traffic. The following figure shows the traffic fluctuation status of the transit routers within 7 days. Assume that the commitment term is 1 hour. The following figure shows the total amount of data transfer of all the transit routers within a commitment term.
The traffic fluctuation status shows that the transit routers must forward at least 250 GB of data during each commitment term. The company can use a savings plan to offset the fee of at least 250 GB of data transfer during each commitment term. Assume that the company chooses 100% upfront payment when it purchases a savings plan.
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Step 1: Calculate the raw spending commitment
Spending commitment within each commitment term = 250 GB x USD 0.02 per GB x 0.612 = USD 3.06.
Because the spending commitment must be an integer, USD 3.06 is rounded down to USD 3.
NoteIf the calculation result is not an integer, round it up or down to the nearest integer.
In this example, if the spending commitment is rounded up to USD 4, then: USD 4/0.612/USD 0.02 per GB = 326.80 GB. The savings plan can offset the fee of 326.80 GB of data transfer during each commitment term. The preceding figure shows that the amount of data transfer during each commitment term is less than 270 GB. The fee of 270 GB of data transfer is closer to USD 3 than USD 4. Fewer resources are wasted if USD 3.06 is rounded down to USD 3.
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Step 2: Determine how much data transfer the plan offsets
USD 3/0.612/USD 0.02 per GB = 245.10 GB. The savings plan can offset the fee of 245.10 GB of data transfer during each commitment term.
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Step 3: Calculate the hourly savings
245.10 GB x USD 0.02 per GB - USD 3 = USD 1.90. The bill of each commitment term is reduced by USD 1.90.
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Step 4: Estimate yearly savings
Assume that a total of 44,239 GB of data is forwarded within 7 days. The amount of data transfer is used to predict the amount of data transfer within 365 days. Then, the total amount of data transfer fee within 365 days can be reduced by 36.07%.
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USD 1.90 x 24 hours per day x 365 days = USD 16,644. The data transfer fee within 365 days is reduced by USD 16,644.
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If no savings plans are applied, the total data transfer fee within 365 days is: 44,239 GB x USD 0.02 per GB x (365 days/7 days) = USD 46,134.96.
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USD 16,644/USD 46,134.96 = 36.07%. The data transfer fee is reduced by 36.07% after the savings plan is applied.
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Purchase a savings plan
Log on to the CEN console.
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In the left-side navigation pane, click Savings Plans.
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On the Savings Plans page, click Buy Now.
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On the Savings Plan for Transit Router page, set the following parameters, click Buy Now, and then complete the payment.
Parameter
Description
Savings Plan Type
Default value: General-purpose.
Committed Consumption Amount
The fixed amount you commit to spend per commitment term. Minimum value: USD 1. Must be a positive integer.
Installment Payment
The type of upfront payment. Valid values:
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No Upfront: No upfront payment is required. Bills are generated for each commitment term until the savings plan expires.
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100% Upfront: You pay the full amount upfront. A certain amount of data transfer fee is offset during each commitment term until the savings plan expires.
Duration
Default value: 1 Year.
Committed Consumption Cycle
Default value: By Hour.
Activation Time
The time when the savings plan takes effect. Valid values:
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Immediately activate
The savings plan takes effect at the start of the next commitment term. For example, if you purchase at 13:45 on June 29, 2023 and select Immediately activate, the savings plan takes effect at 14:00 on June 29, 2023.
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Activate at a specified time (by hour)
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View the fees offset by a savings plan
You can view the fees offset by a savings plan on the Savings Plans billing page. You can view the amount of fees offset by the savings plan, the details about the use of the savings plan, the usage of the savings plan, and the offset rate of the savings plan.