A larger amount of data on a disk requires a longer period of time to create a snapshot for the disk and upload the snapshot to Object Storage Service (OSS). The instant access feature allows you to access snapshots within seconds of snapshot creation, instead of after the snapshots are uploaded to OSS.
Feature upgrade
Starting 11:00 on October 12, 2023, you are no longer charged for the instant access storage of snapshots or for enabling the instant access feature.
Alibaba Cloud Elastic Compute Service (ECS) Snapshot is upgraded. By default, new snapshots of Enterprise SSD (ESSD) series disks including ESSD disks, ESSD AutoPL disks, ESSD Entry disks, and Regional ESSDs disks are instantly available after creation without the need for additional configurations, regardless of whether the snapshots are created manually or automatically. The new version of the instant access feature differs from the old version of the feature. For information about the differences between the old and new versions of the instant access feature, see the Old version vs. new version section in this topic.
For more information, see [Alibaba Cloud] [ECS Snapshot] [Price Reduction Notice for Instant Access Feature].
Old version vs. new version
If you have snapshots for which the old version of the instant access feature is enabled, you can continue to use the old version of the feature for the snapshots until the feature expires or is disabled.
Determine the version of the instant access feature
You can check the status of the instant access feature to determine the version of the feature.
New version: In the snapshot list, Enabled is displayed in the Instant Access column.
Old version: In the snapshot list, the expiration time of the instant access feature is displayed in the Instant Access column. Example: Oct 20, 2023, 11:07:07 Remaining Before Expiration.
Differences between the old and new versions
Item | Old version | New version |
Billing |
| The instant access feature is provided free of charge. |
Supported snapshot type | Manual snapshots. | Manual and automatic snapshots. |
How to enable the feature | You can manually enable the instant access feature and specify a validity period for the feature. | The instant access feature is automatically enabled. |
How to disable the feature | You can manually disable the instant access feature. For more information, see the Disable the instant access feature section of this topic. | The instant access feature cannot be disabled. |
Initialization of disks for which instant access snapshots are created | Unsupported. | Supported. |
Maximum number of instant access snapshots that can be retained per disk | 10. | The same as the maximum number of snapshots that can be retained per disk. For more information, see the Snapshot limits section of the "Limits" topic. |
Limits
The instant access feature can be used only for ESSD series disks including ESSD disks, ESSD AutoPL disks, ESSD Entry disks, and Regional ESSDs disks.
The following table describes whether specific operations can be performed on the instant access snapshots of ESSD series disks based on the creation progress of the snapshots. A check mark (✓) indicates that an operation can be performed. A cross mark (×) indicates that an operation cannot be performed.
Snapshot creation progress
Roll back a disk by using a snapshot
Create a disk from a snapshot
Copy a snapshot
Share a snapshot
Create an image from a snapshot
Available
Progress of Upload to OSS: less than 100%
✓
Can be used to create ESSD series disks including ESSD disks, ESSD AutoPL disks, ESSD Entry disks, and Regional ESSDs disks.
×
✓
×
Available
Progress of Upload to OSS: 100%
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
ImportantIf the Progress of Upload to OSS value for a snapshot is less than 100%, the disk from which the snapshot is created does not have the zone-redundant storage (ZRS) capability. If a fault occurs in the zone in which the disk resides, you may be unable to use the instance access snapshot to create or roll back the disk.
Enable or disable instant access
Enable the instant access feature
You can enable the instant access feature only when you manually create a snapshot for a disk. For information about how to create snapshots, see Create a snapshot for a disk.
New version of the instant access feature: is automatically enabled.
Old version of the instant access feature: can be manually enabled and be disabled.
Disable the instant access feature
The old version of the instant access feature can be disabled. The new version of the instant access feature cannot be disabled.
When you enable the instant access feature, specify a validity period for the feature. The feature is automatically disabled when the validity period that you specify ends.
After a snapshot is created, you can disable the instant access feature by performing the following operations:
In the left-side navigation pane, choose .
In the top navigation bar, select the region and resource group to which the resource belongs.
Find the snapshot for which you want to disable the instant access feature. In the Actions column, choose
> Disable Instant Access. In the Disable Instant Access message, click OK.