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    The Beginner's Guide:Regions and zones

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    The Beginner's Guide:Regions and zones

    Last Updated:Sep 29, 2024

    This topic describes the concepts of Alibaba Cloud regions and zones, the relationship between regions and zones, and the regions and zones supported by Alibaba Cloud. This topic also describes how to select regions and zones.

    Regions

    Concept

    Regions are geographical locations where Alibaba Cloud data centers are deployed. Regions are typically named after the cities where the data centers are deployed. For example, the data centers of the Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) region reside in Kuala Lumpur.

    Select a region

    Important

    When you create or purchase an Alibaba Cloud resource, you must select the region in which you want to deploy the resource. After the resource is created or purchased, you cannot change the region of the resource.

    When you select a region, take note of the following items.

    Item

    Description

    Geographic location

    Services deployed in a region that is geographically closer to your users are more responsive when your users access the services.

    We recommend that you select a region based on your requirements for network latency.

    Communication between cloud services over an internal network

    Important

    If you have purchased a cloud networking service to connect your cloud services, ignore this item.

    • If you do not need your cloud services to communicate with each other over an internal network, the services do not need to be deployed in the same region.

    • If you need your cloud services to communicate with each other over an internal network, deploy the services in the same region.

    Resource price

    You can select a region based on your budget.

    The prices of resources may vary based on the region. For more information, see product pages or resource buy pages.

    Zones

    Concept

    Zones are isolated locations in a region. Each zone has its own independent power supply and network. For example, the China (Beijing) region has 12 zones, including Beijing Zone A and Beijing Zone B. The network latency between resources in the same zone is low, which allows your users to access your services faster.

    Select a zone

    Important

    When you create or purchase an Alibaba Cloud resource, you must select the zone in which you want to deploy the resource. After the resource is created or purchased, you cannot change the zone of the resource.

    Zones within the same region are interconnected over an internal network. Each zone is independent of each other, which provides effective fault isolation. Incidents in one zone do not affect operations in another zone. We recommend that you appropriately distribute your services across multiple zones based on your requirements for disaster recovery and network latency.

    • If your application requires high disaster recovery capabilities, we recommend that you deploy instances in different zones within the same region.

    • If your application requires low latency, we recommend that you deploy instances within the same zone.

    Relationship between regions and zones

    A region consists of multiple zones. Zones in the same region are interconnected over a low-latency internal network. Zones in each region are completely isolated from zones in other regions.

    The following figure shows the relationship between regions and zones.

    Important

    In the figure, Region 1 has three zones and Region 2 has three zones.

    image

    Supported regions and zones

    This section lists all the regions and zones of Alibaba Cloud. For more information, see Alibaba Cloud's Global Infrastructure.

    Important

    This section lists all regions and zones that are supported by Alibaba Cloud. The regions and zones supported by each cloud service may vary. For more information about the regions and zones supported by a specific cloud service, see the documentation of the cloud service.

    The following tables list all regions and zones of Alibaba Cloud.

    Alibaba Cloud public cloud

    • Regions and zones in China

      Region name

      Region ID

      Number of zones

      Zone name

      Zone ID

      China (Qingdao)

      cn-qingdao

      2

      Qingdao Zone B

      cn-qingdao-b

      Qingdao Zone C

      cn-qingdao-c

      China (Beijing)

      cn-beijing

      12

      Beijing Zone A

      cn-beijing-a

      Beijing Zone B

      cn-beijing-b

      Beijing Zone C

      cn-beijing-c

      Beijing Zone D

      cn-beijing-d

      Beijing Zone E

      cn-beijing-e

      Beijing Zone F

      cn-beijing-f

      Beijing Zone G

      cn-beijing-g

      Beijing Zone H

      cn-beijing-h

      Beijing Zone I

      cn-beijing-i

      Beijing Zone J

      cn-beijing-j

      Beijing Zone K

      cn-beijing-k

      Beijing Zone L

      cn-beijing-l

      China (Zhangjiakou)

      cn-zhangjiakou

      3

      Zhangjiakou Zone A

      cn-zhangjiakou-a

      Zhangjiakou Zone B

      cn-zhangjiakou-b

      Zhangjiakou Zone C

      cn-zhangjiakou-c

      China (Hohhot)

      cn-huhehaote

      2

      Hohhot Zone A

      cn-huhehaote-a

      Hohhot Zone B

      cn-huhehaote-b

      China (Ulanqab)

      cn-wulanchabu

      3

      Ulanqab Zone A

      cn-wulanchabu-a

      Ulanqab Zone B

      cn-wulanchabu-b

      Ulanqab Zone C

      cn-wulanchabu-c

      China (Hangzhou)

      cn-hangzhou

      8

      Hangzhou Zone B

      cn-hangzhou-b

      Hangzhou Zone E

      cn-hangzhou-e

      Hangzhou Zone F

      cn-hangzhou-f

      Hangzhou Zone G

      cn-hangzhou-g

      Hangzhou Zone H

      cn-hangzhou-h

      Hangzhou Zone I

      cn-hangzhou-i

      Hangzhou Zone J

      cn-hangzhou-j

      Hangzhou Zone K

      cn-hangzhou-k

      China (Shanghai)

      cn-shanghai

      11

      Shanghai Zone A

      cn-shanghai-a

      Shanghai Zone B

      cn-shanghai-b

      Shanghai Zone C

      cn-shanghai-c

      Shanghai Zone D

      cn-shanghai-d

      Shanghai Zone E

      cn-shanghai-e

      Shanghai Zone F

      cn-shanghai-f

      Shanghai Zone G

      cn-shanghai-g

      Shanghai Zone K

      cn-shanghai-k

      Shanghai Zone L

      cn-shanghai-l

      Shanghai Zone M

      cn-shanghai-m

      Shanghai Zone N

      cn-shanghai-n

      China (Nanjing - Local Region)

      cn-nanjing

      1

      Nanjing - Local Region Zone A

      cn-nanjing-a

      China (Fuzhou - Local Region)

      cn-fuzhou

      1

      Fuzhou - Local Region Zone A

      cn-fuzhou-a

      China (Wuhan - Local Region)

      cn-wuhan-lr

      1

      Wuhan - Local Region Zone A

      cn-wuhan-lr-a

      China (Shenzhen)

      cn-shenzhen

      6

      Shenzhen Zone A

      cn-shenzhen-a

      Shenzhen Zone B

      cn-shenzhen-b

      Shenzhen Zone C

      cn-shenzhen-c

      Shenzhen Zone D

      cn-shenzhen-d

      Shenzhen Zone E

      cn-shenzhen-e

      Shenzhen Zone F

      cn-shenzhen-f

      China (Heyuan)

      cn-heyuan

      2

      Heyuan Zone A

      cn-heyuan-a

      Heyuan Zone B

      cn-heyuan-b

      China (Guangzhou)

      cn-guangzhou

      2

      Guangzhou Zone A

      cn-guangzhou-a

      Guangzhou Zone B

      cn-guangzhou-b

      China (Chengdu)

      cn-chengdu

      2

      Chengdu Zone A

      cn-chengdu-a

      Chengdu Zone B

      cn-chengdu-b

      Hong Kong (China)

      cn-hongkong

      3

      Hong Kong Zone B

      cn-hongkong-b

      Hong Kong Zone C

      cn-hongkong-c

      Hong Kong Zone D

      cn-hongkong-d

    • Regions and zones outside China

      Region name

      Region ID

      Number of zones

      Zone name

      Zone ID

      Singapore

      ap-southeast-1

      3

      Singapore Zone A

      ap-southeast-1a

      Singapore Zone B

      ap-southeast-1b

      Singapore Zone C

      ap-southeast-1c

      Australia (Sydney) (Closing down)

      ap-southeast-2

      2

      Sydney Zone A

      ap-southeast-2a

      Sydney Zone B

      ap-southeast-2b

      Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)

      ap-southeast-3

      2

      Kuala Lumpur Zone A

      ap-southeast-3a

      Kuala Lumpur Zone B

      ap-southeast-3b

      Indonesia (Jakarta)

      ap-southeast-5

      3

      Jakarta Zone A

      ap-southeast-5a

      Jakarta Zone B

      ap-southeast-5b

      Jakarta Zone C

      ap-southeast-5c

      Philippines (Manila)

      ap-southeast-6

      1

      Manila Zone A

      ap-southeast-6a

      Thailand (Bangkok)

      ap-southeast-7

      1

      Bangkok Zone A

      ap-southeast-7a

      Japan (Tokyo)

      ap-northeast-1

      3

      Tokyo Zone A

      ap-northeast-1a

      Tokyo Zone B

      ap-northeast-1b

      Tokyo Zone C

      ap-northeast-1c

      South Korea (Seoul)

      ap-northeast-2

      1

      Seoul Zone A

      ap-northeast-2a

      US (Silicon Valley)

      us-west-1

      2

      Silicon Valley Zone A

      us-west-1a

      Silicon Valley Zone B

      us-west-1b

      US (Virginia)

      us-east-1

      2

      Virginia Zone A

      us-east-1a

      Virginia Zone B

      us-east-1b

      Germany (Frankfurt)

      eu-central-1

      3

      Frankfurt Zone A

      eu-central-1a

      Frankfurt Zone B

      eu-central-1b

      Frankfurt Zone C

      eu-central-1c

      UK (London)

      eu-west-1

      2

      London Zone A

      eu-west-1a

      London Zone B

      eu-west-1b

      UAE (Dubai)

      me-east-1

      1

      Dubai Zone A

      me-east-1a

      SAU (Riyadh - Partner Region)

      Important

      The SAU (Riyadh - Partner Region) region is operated by a partner.

      me-central-1

      2

      Riyadh Zone A

      me-central-1a

      Riyadh Zone B

      me-central-1b

    Alibaba Finance Cloud

    • Regions and zones in China

      Region name

      Region ID

      Region

      Number of zones

      Zone name

      Zone ID

      China East 1 Finance

      cn-hangzhou-finance

      Hangzhou

      7

      China East 1 Finance Zone B

      cn-hangzhou-finance-b

      China East 1 Finance Zone C

      cn-hangzhou-finance-c

      China East 1 Finance Zone D

      cn-hangzhou-finance-d

      China East 1 Finance Zone H

      cn-hangzhou-finance-h

      China East 1 Finance Zone I

      cn-hangzhou-finance-i

      China East 1 Finance Zone J

      cn-hangzhou-finance-j

      China East 1 Finance Zone K

      cn-hangzhou-finance-k

      China East 2 Finance

      cn-shanghai-finance-1

      Shanghai

      6

      China East 2 Finance Zone A

      cn-shanghai-finance-1a

      China East 2 Finance Zone B

      cn-shanghai-finance-1b

      China East 2 Finance Zone F

      cn-shanghai-finance-1f

      China East 2 Finance Zone G

      cn-shanghai-finance-1g

      China East 2 Finance Zone K

      cn-shanghai-finance-1k

      China East 2 Finance Zone Z

      cn-shanghai-finance-1z

      China South 1 Finance

      cn-shenzhen-finance-1

      Shenzhen

      4

      China South 1 Finance Zone A

      cn-shenzhen-finance-1a

      China South 1 Finance Zone B

      cn-shenzhen-finance-1b

      China South 1 Finance Zone D

      cn-shenzhen-finance-1d

      China South 1 Finance Zone E

      cn-shenzhen-finance-1e

      China North 2 Finance (Preview)

      cn-beijing-finance-1

      Beijing

      2

      China North 2 Finance (Preview) Zone K

      cn-beijing-finance-1k

      China North 2 Finance (Preview) Zone L

      cn-beijing-finance-1l

    • Regions and zones outside China

      None.

    Alibaba Gov Cloud

    • Regions and zones in China

      Region name

      Region ID

      Region

      Number of zones

      Zone name

      Zone ID

      China North 2 Ali Gov 1

      cn-north-2-gov-1

      Beijing

      5

      China North 2 Ali Gov Zone A

      cn-north-2-gov-1a

      China North 2 Ali Gov Zone B

      cn-north-2-gov-1b

      China North 2 Ali Gov Zone C

      cn-north-2-gov-1c

      China North 2 Ali Gov Zone D

      cn-north-2-gov-1d

      China North 2 Ali Gov Zone E

      cn-north-2-gov-1e

    • Regions and zones outside China

      None.