This topic describes the concept 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
When you create or purchase an Alibaba Cloud resource, you must select a 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, you must consider the factors that are described in the following table.
Factor | Description |
Geographical location | A region that is closer to the geographical location of your users provides lower latency and higher access speed. 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 network service to connect cloud services, ignore this item.
|
Access from Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances that are located in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong (China), and Macao (China) to ECS instances that are located in other countries and regions | ECS instances that are located in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong (China), and Macao (China) may experience high network latency and even packet loss when the instances use public IP addresses to access ECS instances that are located in other countries and regions. We recommend that you deploy ECS instances that require mutual access in the same region. |
Resource price | You can select a region based on your budget. The prices of resources may vary based on regions. For more information, see the product page or buy page of your resource. |
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
When you create or purchase an Alibaba Cloud resource, select a zone in which you want to deploy the resource. The resource is zone-specific, and you cannot directly change the zone of the resource after the resource is created or purchased. To change the zone of an ECS instance, you can migrate the instance across zones. For more information, see Change instance types across zones.
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.
In the figure, Region 1 has three zones and Region 2 has three zones.
Supported regions and zones
This section lists all the regions and zones of Alibaba Cloud. For more information, see Alibaba Cloud's Global Infrastructure.
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.
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)
ImportantThe 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