This topic provides answers to commonly asked questions about cloud boxes for troubleshooting.
What is the relationship between a cloud box zone and an Alibaba Cloud zone?
Who is responsible for the physical security of cloud boxes in my data center?
How does Alibaba Cloud maintain the infrastructure of a cloud box?
Are the ECS instances in a cloud box affected if the network connected to the cloud box is closed?
What are the requirements for purchasing a cloud box?
The hardware of a cloud box is deployed in your data center in the form of a rack. The data center must meet the requirements for the rack, environment, network, and power supply. After you purchase a cloud box, Alibaba Cloud engineers make an appointment with you on the dates to perform an on-site engineering survey and deliver the order. You must appoint relevant personnel such as network engineers and electrical engineers to cooperate with Alibaba Cloud engineers. For more information, see Deployment requirements.
What am I charged if I purchase a cloud box?
You need to pay for the following resources:
(Required) Computing resources
(Required) Elastic Block Storage (EBS) resources
(Optional) Object Storage Service (OSS) resources
(Optional) Smart Access Gateway (SAG) bandwidth
Fees include the costs of computing and storage resources, infrastructure deployment, and O&M. For more information, see Overview.
How many cloud boxes can I create within an account?
You can create up to 50 cloud boxes in the same region within an account.
Does each cloud box correspond to a rack?
Each cloud box can have one or more racks to store the infrastructures of computing and storage resources.
What is the relationship between a cloud box zone and an Alibaba Cloud zone?
A cloud box corresponds to a cloud box zone and can be associated with the nearest region. This way, the cloud box can access the Alibaba Cloud public cloud services in all the zones within the associated region over the network of the cloud box.
Who is responsible for the physical security of cloud boxes in my data center?
Cloud boxes follow the responsibility sharing model of Alibaba Cloud public cloud. Alibaba Cloud is responsible for the security of cloud box infrastructures, data in cloud boxes, and cloud platform, and you are responsible for the security of applications running on cloud boxes. Because the cloud boxes are deployed in your data center, you are also responsible for the security of the physical environment in which the cloud boxes are located and the infrastructures of the cloud boxes. You also need to ensure that the network connections between the cloud boxes and Alibaba Cloud public cloud are accessible.
How does Alibaba Cloud maintain the infrastructure of a cloud box?
When you connect a cloud box to the Alibaba Cloud public cloud and manage resources by using the Alibaba Cloud Management Console, Alibaba Cloud monitors the cloud box as part of the Alibaba Cloud public cloud and automatically performs software upgrades and patching. If physical maintenance is required, Alibaba Cloud schedules on-site hardware maintenance with you.
Which data is returned to the Alibaba Cloud public cloud over the connection between a cloud box and the Alibaba Cloud public cloud?
Metric data related to Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances and EBS devices in the cloud box is returned to the Alibaba Cloud public cloud, including health data, and monitoring data of instance status and underlying physical machines. These metrics help Alibaba Cloud update information in the cloud box, such as security patches and status of instances, at the earliest opportunity. This way, you can obtain a better service experience.
Where are snapshots of ECS instances in a cloud box stored?
Snapshots of ECS instances in a cloud box are stored in OSS buckets in the same region as the cloud box.
If you have not activated OSS in the cloud box, the snapshots are stored in OSS buckets in the same region as the Alibaba Cloud public cloud.
Are the ECS instances in a cloud box affected if the network connected to the cloud box is closed?
No, the ECS instances that have been created in the cloud box normally run. However, you can no longer manage the ECS instances by using the Alibaba Cloud Management Console. We recommend that you maintain the network reliability of the cloud box for a better user experience.