Elastic Compute Service (ECS) has limits on its product features, service performance, and related quotas. Some of these limits can be increased. Before you use ECS, it is important to understand these limits so you can plan accordingly. By requesting quota increases or working around fixed limits, you can ensure that ECS meets your business needs. This topic describes the limits of ECS and explains how to increase some of them.
Table dimension
You can view the tables in this topic to understand the specific limits. The columns in the tables are described as follows:
Restriction item: The product feature, service performance, or related quota that has a limit.
NoteA quota is the maximum amount of a cloud resource or the maximum number of operations that a single Alibaba Cloud account can use.
Limits: The restrictions on the current item.
If the restriction item is an ECS quota, it has a quota ID. You can use the quota ID to query the current maximum value of the quota.
How to increase quota: The method to increase the limit for the restriction item.
If a limit cannot be increased, you need to plan your resources to work around the limit. If a limit can be increased, you can request a quota increase.
Instances
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
vCPU quotas | The maximum number of vCPUs for an instance family that a single Alibaba Cloud account can have in a specific region and for a specific billing method (subscription, pay-as-you-go, or spot). For more information, see vCPU quotas. | |
GPU and vGPU quotas | The maximum number of GPUs or vGPU instances for an instance family that a single Alibaba Cloud account can have in a specific region and for a specific billing method (subscription, pay-as-you-go, or spot). For more information, see GPU and vGPU quotas. | |
Maximum number of subscription instances that a single Alibaba Cloud account can purchase at a time in a specific region | To view the quota, use the quota ID | Not applicable |
Convert pay-as-you-go to subscription |
| Not applicable |
Convert subscription to pay-as-you-go | Converting a subscription instance to a pay-as-you-go instance generates a refund. This consumes your monthly refund limit. If you exceed the limit, you cannot perform more refunds. This means you cannot convert more subscription instances to pay-as-you-go. For more information, see Convert a subscription instance to a pay-as-you-go instance. Note The refund limit is displayed on the conversion page. The limit resets on the first day of the next month. | Not applicable |
Instance families that support secondary virtualization | Only ECS Bare Metal Instances and Super Computing Clusters support secondary virtualization. Other instance families do not support installing virtualization software or secondary virtualization. | Not applicable |
Sound card applications | Sound card applications are not supported. | Not applicable |
Attaching external hardware devices | You cannot directly attach external hardware devices, such as hardware dongles, USB flash drives, external hard drives, or bank U-Keys. You can try using software dongles or dynamic passwords for secondary authentication. | Not applicable |
Multicast protocol | The multicast protocol is not supported. To implement one-to-many communication similar to multicast, use unicast point-to-point communication instead. | Not applicable |
Website ICP filing | To apply for an ICP filing for a website or an app, you must purchase a subscription ECS instance with a duration of three months or more. Each ECS instance can be used for ICP filings for a maximum of five websites or apps. For more information, see Check the server for ICP filing. | Not applicable |
License | The licenses of some software or applications must be bound to the hardware information of the ECS instance. Migrating an ECS instance may change its hardware information, which can invalidate the license. | Not applicable |
vCPU quotas
GPU and vGPU quotas
Images
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
Maximum number of custom images that a single Alibaba Cloud account can have in a specific region | To view the quota, use the quota ID | |
Maximum number of users with whom a single custom image can be shared | To view the quota, use the quota ID | |
Limits on images and instance types | Instance types with 4 GiB or more of memory cannot use 32-bit images. | Not applicable |
For more information, see Overview.
Block storage
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
Number of system disks per instance | 1 unit | Not applicable |
Number of data disks per instance | The maximum number of disks that can be attached to an instance varies by instance type. For more information, see Instance families. Note The maximum number of disks that can be attached to an instance is determined by its type. You can query this limit by calling the DescribeInstanceTypes operation. When you create an instance, you can specify a maximum of 1 system disk and 64 data disks. The actual number is subject to what is displayed in the console. If you need more data disks, you can attach them after the instance is created. | Not applicable |
Disk capacity quota for a single Alibaba Cloud account in a specific region and zone | The capacity quota varies by disk type. You can view the quota for each disk type. For more information, see View or increase block storage quotas. | |
Capacity of a single basic disk | 5 GiB to 2,000 GiB | Not applicable |
Capacity of a single standard SSD | 20 GiB to 32,768 GiB | Not applicable |
Capacity of a single ultra disk | 20 GiB to 32,768 GiB | Not applicable |
Capacity of a single ESSD |
| Not applicable |
Capacity of a single ESSD AutoPL disk | 1 GiB to 65,536 GiB | Not applicable |
Single ESSD Entry disk | 10 GiB to 32,768 GiB | Not applicable |
Capacity of a single regional ESSD | 1 GiB to 65,536 GiB | Not applicable |
Capacity of a single local SSD | Depends on the instance type, ranging from 5 GiB to 7,152 GiB | Not applicable |
Total capacity of local SSDs per instance | Depends on the instance type, with a maximum of 8 × 7,152 GiB | Not applicable |
Capacity of a single elastic ephemeral disk | 64 GiB to 8,192 GiB | Not applicable |
Capacity limit for a single system disk |
Note When a basic disk (a previous-generation disk product that is being phased out) is used as a system disk, its maximum capacity is 500 GiB. | Not applicable |
Whether you can attach new local disks to an instance with local disks | Not allowed. | Not applicable |
Whether instances with local disks support configuration changes | Only bandwidth changes are allowed. | Not applicable |
Mount point range for Linux system disks |
| Not applicable |
Mount point range for Linux data disks | The naming of mount points varies with the number of attached data disks:
| Not applicable |
Block storage is calculated in binary units. These units represent data sizes in base 1024. For example, 1 GiB = 1,024 MiB.
For more information about block storage, see Overview.
Snapshots
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
Number of manual snapshots that can be retained for a single disk |
| Not applicable |
Number of automatic snapshots that can be retained for a single disk |
| Not applicable |
Number of archived snapshots that can be retained for a single disk | 10,000 | Not applicable |
Number of automatic snapshot policies that a single Alibaba Cloud account can retain in a single region | 100 | Not applicable |
Number of automatic snapshot policies that can be set for a single disk |
| Not applicable |
Number of concurrent snapshots that can be created for a single disk |
| Not applicable |
Number of concurrent archived snapshots that can be created for a single disk | 10 | Not applicable |
Block storage types |
| Not applicable |
Download or export snapshots | You cannot download or export created snapshots. You can create custom images from snapshots and export the custom images to your on-premises device. | Not applicable |
Constraints on creating manual and automatic snapshots |
| Not applicable |
For more information about snapshots, see Overview.
SSH key pairs
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
SSH key pair quota for a single Alibaba Cloud account in a single region | 500 | Not applicable |
Image types that support SSH key pairs | Only Linux is supported. | Not applicable |
For more information, see Manage SSH key pairs.
Public bandwidth
The total peak bandwidth limit for all pay-as-you-go and spot instances that use the pay-by-bandwidth billing method under a single Alibaba Cloud account in a single region:
NoteIf you need a higher bandwidth limit, you can view and request to increase the quota using the quota ID
q_internet-bandwidth-pay-by-bandwidth-of-postpaid-instance. For more information, see View or increase ECS quotas.Region Name
Limit
China (Beijing), China (Shanghai), China (Hangzhou), and China (Shenzhen)
50 Gbps
China (Hong Kong) and Singapore
20 Gbps
Other
10 Gbps
Starting from November 27, 2020, the peak bandwidth for creating and changing the configuration of ECS instances is affected by account-level rate limiting policies:
NoteIf you need a higher peak bandwidth, submit a ticket.
In a single region, the total actual peak bandwidth of all pay-by-traffic ECS instances under a single Alibaba Cloud account cannot exceed 5 Gbps.
In a single region, the total actual peak bandwidth of all pay-by-bandwidth ECS instances under a single Alibaba Cloud account cannot exceed 50 Gbps.
Limits on the peak bandwidth and public IP address replacement for a single instance:
ImportantFor the pay-by-traffic billing method, the inbound and outbound peak bandwidth values are upper limits and are not guaranteed. During periods of resource contention, the peak bandwidth may be limited. If your business requires guaranteed bandwidth, use the pay-by-bandwidth billing method.
Restriction item
Limit
How to increase quota
Peak inbound bandwidth for a single instance
If the purchased outbound peak bandwidth is 10 Mbit/s or less, Alibaba Cloud allocates 10 Mbit/s of inbound bandwidth.
If the purchased outbound peak bandwidth is greater than 10 Mbit/s, Alibaba Cloud allocates inbound bandwidth equal to the purchased outbound peak bandwidth.
Not applicable
Peak outbound bandwidth for a single instance
Pay-by-traffic:
Subscription instances: 200 Mbit/s
Pay-as-you-go instances: 100 Mbit/s
Pay-by-bandwidth: 200 Mbit/s
NoteThe public bandwidth limit for a single ECS instance also depends on the instance type. You can view the Baseline Network Bandwidth metric in the Instance families list. The total public bandwidth of a single instance will not exceed this limit.
Some instance types, such as ecs.t6-c4m1.large, ecs.t6-c2m1.large, ecs.t6-c1m1.large, and ecs.t6-c1m4.large, are limited by the baseline network bandwidth to a peak of 80 Mbit/s.
Not applicable
Limit on replacing the public IP address of a single instance
You can replace the public IP address of a new instance within six hours of its creation. An instance's public IP address can be replaced a maximum of three times.
Not applicable
For more information about public bandwidth, see Public bandwidth.
Elastic network interfaces
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
Maximum number of ENIs (secondary ENIs) that a single Alibaba Cloud account can create in a specific region | To view the quota, use the quota ID | |
VPC and zone limits for attaching ENIs to an instance | The instance and the attached ENI must be in the same VPC and the same zone.
| Not applicable |
Maximum number of ENIs that can be attached to a single instance | The number of ENIs that can be attached to an instance is determined by the instance type. For more information, see the Elastic Network Interface column in Instance families. | Not applicable |
For more information about elastic network interfaces (ENIs), see Overview.
Prefix lists
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
Maximum number of prefix lists for a single Alibaba Cloud account in a single region | 100 | Not applicable |
Maximum number of entries in a single prefix list | 200 | Not applicable |
Maximum number of associated resources for a single prefix list | 1,000 | Not applicable |
For more information, see Overview.
Security groups
Restriction item | Basic security group limits | Enterprise security group limits |
Maximum number of security groups for a single Alibaba Cloud account in a specific region | To view or increase the quota, use the quota ID | Same as for basic security groups |
Number of security groups that can be associated with a single ENI | 10 | Same as for basic security groups |
Maximum number of rules (inbound and outbound) for all security groups associated with a single ENI | 1,000 | Same as for basic security groups |
Maximum number of rules per security group that specify another security group as the authorization object | 20 | 0. You cannot add rules with a security group as the authorization object to an enterprise security group. You also cannot use an enterprise security group as the authorization object in other security group rules. |
Number of ECS instances that a security group in a VPC can contain | This number is not fixed. It depends on the number of private IP addresses that the security group can contain. | No limit |
Maximum number of private IP addresses that a security group in a VPC can contain per Alibaba Cloud account in a region | 6,000 Note
| 65,536 Note The number of used IP addresses represents the total number of ENIs associated with a security group, including both primary and secondary network interfaces of an instance. |
Public access port | For security reasons, port 25 on ECS instances is restricted by default. To send emails, you must use an SSL-encrypted port, such as port 465. | Same as for basic security groups |
For more information about security groups, see Overview.
Reserved instances
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
Total number of regional reserved instances for a single Alibaba Cloud account across all regions | 20 | |
Number of zonal reserved instances for a single Alibaba Cloud account in a single zone | 20 | |
Reserved instance types | gn6i and t5 instance families do not support regional reserved instances, splitting, or merging. Note The instance types available for purchase with reserved instances are subject to what is displayed on the purchase page. | Not applicable |
Resource types that can be offset |
| Not applicable |
For more information about reserved instances, see What is a reserved instance?.
Savings plans
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
Number of savings plans a single Alibaba Cloud account can purchase | 200 | Not applicable |
Resource types that can be offset |
| Not applicable |
For more information about savings plans, see What is a savings plan?.
Storage capacity units
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
Maximum capacity of an SCU that can be purchased at a time | 50 TiB | |
Maximum number of SCUs that can be purchased in a single region | 100 | Not applicable |
Product types supported by SCUs |
| Not applicable |
Offset type | Only pay-as-you-go bills can be offset. Pay-as-you-go bills for disks of spot instances cannot be offset. | Not applicable |
Effective time | You can set an effective time, but it cannot be more than six months after the creation time. | Not applicable |
Create and manage SCUs using an API | Not supported. | Not applicable |
For more information about SCUs, see Storage Capacity Unit (SCU).
Launch templates
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
Maximum number of launch templates that a single Alibaba Cloud account can have in a specific region | To view the quota, use the quota ID | |
Maximum number of versions for a single launch template that a single Alibaba Cloud account can have in a specific region | To view the quota, use the quota ID | |
Launch template parameters | When you create a launch template, all parameters are optional. However, if the launch template does not include necessary parameters, such as instance type and image, you must provide them when you use the template to create an instance. | Not applicable |
Modify a created launch template | You cannot modify a launch template after it is created. You can change configuration parameters by creating a new version of the launch template. For more information, see Manage launch template versions. | Not applicable |
For more information, see Overview.
Deployment sets
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
Maximum number of deployment sets that a single Alibaba Cloud account can have in a specific region | To view the quota, use the quota ID | |
Number of instances that a single deployment set can contain | The number of instances a deployment set can contain depends on the deployment strategy you choose. For more information, see Deployment strategies. | Not applicable |
Create a dedicated host in a deployment set | Deployment sets do not support creating dedicated hosts. | Not applicable |
Region and zone limits | An instance and its deployment set must be in the same region. For deployment sets with a low-latency network strategy, all instances must be in the same zone. | Not applicable |
Instance types that can be created in a deployment set | Different deployment strategies support only specific instance families. You can call the DescribeDeploymentSetSupportedInstanceTypeFamily operation and specify a deployment strategy to get the supported instance families. | Not applicable |
Merge deployment sets | Deployment sets cannot be merged. | Not applicable |
For more information, see Deployment sets.
Auto provisioning groups
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
Provision instances across regions | Auto provisioning groups do not support provisioning instances across regions. | Not applicable |
Maximum number of configuration sources that can be specified for a single auto provisioning group | A single auto provisioning group can specify a maximum of one specific version of a launch template as the basic configuration for instances. However, you can extend the instance types in the template to form multiple resource pools. | Not applicable |
Maximum number of resource pools that can be set for a single auto provisioning group | A single auto provisioning group supports a maximum of 20 resource pools (combinations of zones and instance types). | Not applicable |
Maximum number of instances that can be created in a single auto provisioning group | 1000 | Not applicable |
For more information, see Overview.
Cloud Assistant
Restriction | Limit | How to increase the quota |
Maximum number of Cloud Assistant commands for a single Alibaba Cloud account in a specific region | To view the quota, use the quota ID | |
Output size limit for Cloud Assistant tasks for a single Alibaba Cloud account in a specific region | To view the quota, use the quota ID | Not applicable |
Retention period for Cloud Assistant task output for a single Alibaba Cloud account in a specific region | To view the quota, use the quota ID | Not applicable |
Maximum number of activation codes for Cloud Assistant managed instances for a single Alibaba Cloud account in a specific region | To view the quota, use the quota ID | Not applicable |
Maximum number of instances supported for command execution for a single Alibaba Cloud account in a specific region | To view the quota, use the quota ID | |
File size limits for Bat, PowerShell, or Shell scripts and custom parameters after Base64 encoding |
| Not applicable |
Maximum number of custom parameters in a single command | 20 | Not applicable |
Operating system | You can run Cloud Assistant commands only on the following operating systems:
Note
| Not applicable |
For more information about Cloud Assistant, see Overview.
Network connectivity diagnosis
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
Maximum number of diagnostic routes in a single region | 100 | Not applicable |
Maximum number of diagnostic tasks in a single region | 1,000 | Not applicable |
Maximum number of concurrent diagnostic tasks in a single region | 5 | Not applicable |
For more information, see Diagnose network connectivity.
API
Restriction item | Limit | How to increase quota |
API rate limit | An API rate limit is a constraint on the frequency of OpenAPI calls. It is categorized into two types based on the API version and resource type:
|
|
For more information about ECS APIs, see Integration overview.