Subscription is a prepaid billing method that allows you to reserve resources in advance and benefit from significant discounts, leading to substantial cost savings. This topic describes suitable scenarios for subscription ECS resources, the consequences of subscription ECS instance expiration, the refund policy, and additional details.
Scenarios
We recommend purchasing subscription resources if your business exhibits the following characteristics:
You can predict the resource usage period.
Resource usage is relatively stable.
There is a need for long-term resource utilization.
For instance, web and database services that operate continuously.
Applicable billable items
Subscription supports the following resources:
ECS instance type
Images associated with subscription ECS instances
Cloud disks associated with subscription ECS instances
Public bandwidth for subscription ECS instances
Impacts of resource expiration
After an instance expires, it may be stopped. The system sends you notifications for renewing the instance. Renew your instance at your earliest convenience to ensure service availability. If you have other questions, submit a ticket
If auto-renewal is not enabled for a subscription instance, the instance stops providing services at some point between 00:00:00 on the expiration date and 00:00:00 the following day.
You cannot enable auto-renewal for an expired subscription instance.
The table below describes the states of resources for an expired subscription instance.
Resource Type |
Within 15 Days After Expiration |
15 Days After Expiration |
Resource Type |
Within 15 Days After Expiration |
15 Days After Expiration |
Computing resources (vCPUs and memory) |
The computing resources are retained, but the instance stops providing services. After an instance is stopped, you cannot connect to it or access websites hosted on it, which may result in service disruptions. |
The computing resources are released. |
Image |
The image is unavailable. |
The image is unavailable. |
Block Storage |
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Public IP |
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If auto-renewal is enabled for a subscription instance but renewal fails, the instance stops providing services at some point between 00:00:00 on the 15th day after expiration and 00:00:00 on the 16th day after expiration.
The table below describes the states of resources for such an expired subscription instance.
Resource Type |
Within 15 Days After Expiration |
15 Days After Expiration |
30 Days After Expiration |
Resource Type |
Within 15 Days After Expiration |
15 Days After Expiration |
30 Days After Expiration |
Computing resources (vCPUs and memory) |
The computing resources are retained, and the instance functions normally. When an instance functions normally, you can start or stop it and connect to it using management terminals or other methods. |
The computing resources are retained, but the instance stops providing services. After an instance is stopped, you cannot connect to it or access websites hosted on it, which may result in service disruptions. |
The computing resources are released. |
Image |
The image is available. |
The image is unavailable. |
The image is unavailable. |
Block Storage |
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|
Public IP |
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After an instance expires, the Instance page displays a Data Retention button under the Operation column. Before the instance is released, you can create a custom image or snapshots for each cloud disk to preserve data.
Change the billing method from subscription to pay-as-you-go
If the subscription billing method does not align with your business requirements, you can switch the billing method from subscription to pay-as-you-go for more flexibility and potential cost recovery. For detailed instructions, see change the billing method from subscription to pay-as-you-go.
Impacts of overdue payments
Overdue payments in your account allow you to use your subscription resources normally but restrict you from performing chargeable operations such as purchasing instances, upgrading configurations, or renewing resources. For further details, see overdue payments.