This topic describes how to build websites on Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances.
Procedure
Prepare an ECS instance.
Different types of websites have different requirements on instance configurations. Prepare an appropriate instance based on the website scale and the number of potential visitors. In most cases, you can configure only basic configurations for instances to be used by small websites. For information about how to create an ECS instance, see Create an instance on the Custom Launch tab.
To learn about instance families and how to select instance types, see Overview of instance families and Best practices for selecting instance types.
You can upgrade or downgrade an instance based on your business requirements. For more information, see Instance families that support instance type changes.
Configure rules for a security group to which the instance belongs.
By default, ports 22 and 3389 that are required to connect to an instance are enabled when you create a security group. For this step, make sure that the ports are enabled to allow inbound traffic. If the ports are not enabled, manually configure security group rules to allow inbound traffic on the ports. For more information, see Add a security group rule.
Deploy a website.
Select a method to deploy your website. For more information, see Summary of website building methods.
Purchase a domain name.
Enter a domain name that you want to purchase on the domain name purchase page. If the domain name is available, you can purchase it. For more information, see Register a domain name on Alibaba Cloud.
For information about the differences between the .com and .net suffixes, see Domain name differences.
Apply for an Internet Content Provider (ICP) filing for the domain name.
ImportantIf the instance that hosts your website is located in a region in the Chinese mainland, you must apply for an ICP filing for your domain name. Otherwise, you can skip this step.
Prepare for the ICP filing.
For information about ICP filing regulations, see ICP filing regulations of the MIIT for different regions. For information about the preparations for ICP filings, see Overview.
Apply for the ICP filing.
Configure domain name resolution settings. For more information, see Get started with Alibaba Cloud DNS. After you configure domain name resolution settings, external users can visit your website by using the domain name.
To map the domain name to an IP address, add an A record. For more information, see Add a DNS record.
(Optional) Enable secure HTTPS access.
SSL Certificates Service allows you to redirect HTTP traffic that is destined for your websites or mobile applications to HTTPS traffic at minimal costs. You can use SSL certificates to authenticate users and encrypt data. For more information, see What is Certificate Management Service? If you purchase and download an SSL certificate, the methods to install the certificate on servers vary based on the server environment. For more information, see Installation overview.
After you perform the preceding steps, a website is built on your own. You can use the domain name to visit the website and check whether the services work as expected.
Billing
In ECS, compute resources (vCPUs and memory), images, block storage devices, public bandwidth, and snapshots are the resources that you need to pay for.
For information about the billing rules, see Billing overview.
For information about the pricing, see the Pricing tab on the Elastic Compute Service product page.
FAQ
For answers to some frequently asked questions about using ECS instances or building websites, see FAQ.
References
You can select Alibaba Cloud services and configurations based on your business requirements before cloud migration. For more information, see Architecture Consulting Service.
You can migrate your business from a self-managed data center or a hosted data center to Alibaba Cloud, and request technical support from Alibaba Cloud for cloud migration. For more information, see Cloud migration solutions.