Create and manage standard GA instances

Before you create a pay-as-you-go standard Global Accelerator instance, you must understand the following information:

• The first time you use a pay-as-you-go Global Accelerator instance, go to the pay-as-you-go GA activation page and activate Global Accelerator as prompted.

• Pay-as-you-go Global Accelerator instances use the pay-by-data-transfer metering method. You do not need to associate a basic bandwidth plan with pay-as-you-go GA instances. The billing of data transfer over the Global Accelerator network is managed by Cloud Data Transfer (CDT). For more information, see Pay-by-data-transfer.

1. Log on to the GA console.

2. On the Instances page, click Create Standard Pay-as-you-go Instance.

3. In the Basic Instance Configuration step, configure the following parameters and click Next.

   Parameter	Description
   GA Instance Name	Enter a name for the GA instance.
   Instance Billing Method	Pay-As-You-Go is selected by default. You are charged instance fees, Capacity Unit (CU) fees, and data transfer fees for pay-as-you-go standard Global Accelerator instances. For more information about instance fees and CU fees, see Billing of pay-as-you-go GA instances. For more information about data transfer fees, see Pay-by-data-transfer.
   Resource Group	Select the resource group to which the standard Global Accelerator instance belongs. The resource group must be created by the current Alibaba Cloud account in Resource Management. For more information, see Create a resource group.

4. In the Configure Acceleration Area step, select an acceleration area and click Next.

   Click to view the parameters. For more information about acceleration areas, see Overview.

   Parameter	Description
   Acceleration Area	Select one or more regions from the drop-down list and click Add. For more information about areas and regions, see Acceleration areas and regions. If the acceleration area contains regions in the Chinese mainland and the service traffic uses HTTP or HTTPS, you must apply for an Internet Content Provider (ICP) number for the service domain name. For more information, see Manage domain names.
   Assign Bandwidth
   Peak Bandwidth	Specify the maximum bandwidth for the acceleration region. Default value: 200 Mbit/s. Each acceleration region supports a bandwidth range of 2 Mbit/s to 10,000 Mbit/s. The maximum bandwidth is used for bandwidth throttling. The data transfer fees are managed by CDT. Important If you specify a small value for the maximum bandwidth, throttling may occur and packets may be dropped. Specify the maximum bandwidth based on your business requirements.
   IP Protocol	Select the IP version that is used to connect to Global Accelerator. IPv4: assigns IPv4 addresses. The IPv4 addresses are used to accelerate IPv4 services for IPv4 clients. IPv6: assigns IPv6 addresses. The IPv6 addresses are used to accelerate IPv4 services for IPv6 clients. Dual Stack: assigns IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. This allows IPv4 and IPv6 clients to connect to GA at the same time. Note IPv6 clients in the following regions can access Global Accelerator: China (Qingdao), China (Beijing), China (Hangzhou), China (Shanghai), China (Shenzhen), China (Heyuan), China (Guangzhou), China (Chengdu), China (Hong Kong), Singapore, US (Virginia), Germany (Frankfurt), and Thailand (Bangkok). IPv6 clients in the Thailand (Bangkok) region can access only pay-as-you-go Global Accelerator instances. Before you select dual-stack for an acceleration region, take note of the following limits: The GA instance must be a pay-as-you-go standard GA instance. The acceleration region must support IPv6. The ISP line type must be BGP (Multi-ISP). The listener must be an intelligent routing listener.
   ISP Line Type	Select an Internet service provider (ISP) line type for the Global Accelerator instance. BGP (Multi-ISP): provides premium BGP lines across the globe. This is the default line type. BGP lines from different ISPs can be used. The optimal BGP line is automatically selected to ensure network stability. All acceleration regions support BGP (Multi-ISP). BGP Pro: BGP (Multi-ISP) Pro lines optimize data transmission to the Chinese mainland and improve connection quality for international services. Cross-border connections are established by using Chinese mainland ISP services when BGP (Multi-ISP) Pro lines provide services to users in the Chinese mainland (except data centers). This reduces network latency. BGP (Multi-ISP) Pro is available only in the China (Hong Kong) and Japan (Tokyo) regions.

5. In the Configure listener step, configure the required parameters and click Next.

   Click to view the configurations of listeners of different routing types. For more information, see Routing types.

   Intelligent routing listener (formerly known as standard listener)

   Custom routing listener

   Parameter	Description
   Listener Name	Enter a name for the listener.
   Routing Type	Select the routing type. In this example, Intelligent Routing is selected. Intelligent routing listeners automatically select a nearby and healthy endpoint group based on the network latency and forward client requests to the optimal endpoint in the endpoint group.
   Protocol	Select a protocol for the listener. Valid values: TCP UDP HTTP HTTPS For more information, see Listener protocols.
   TCP or UDP
   Port	Specify a port for the listener to receive and forward requests to endpoints. Valid values: 1 to 65499. You can specify up to 30 ports for each listener. Separate multiple listener ports with commas (,). For example, you can enter 80,90,8080. If you want to specify a port range, use a hyphen (-). Example: 80-85. Note TCP, HTTP, and HTTPS listeners must use different ports. UDP listeners and HTTP/3 listeners must use different ports. You can specify more than 300 consecutive listener ports for a listener in specific regions. For more information, see Advanced listeners.
   Advanced Settings	Configure the Client Affinity and Idle Connection Timeout Period parameters.
   Client Affinity	Specify whether to enable client affinity. If you select Source IP Address from the drop-down list, client affinity is enabled. After client affinity is enabled, requests from a specific client IP address are forwarded to the same endpoint. If you select Disabled from the drop-down list, client affinity is disabled. After client affinity is disabled, requests from a specific client IP address may be forwarded to different endpoints.
   Idle Connection Timeout Period	Specify the timeout period of an idle connection. If no data is transmitted during the timeout period, GA closes the current connection. When a new request is received, GA establishes a new connection. The valid values vary based on the listener protocol: Valid values for TCP listeners: 10 to 900. Default value: 900. Unit: seconds. Valid values for UDP listeners: 10 to 20. Default value: 20. Unit: seconds. Note If your standard GA instance does not support configuring the timeout period of idle connections for intelligent routing listeners, the instance may be using an earlier version. To configure the timeout period of idle connections for intelligent routing listeners, contact your account manager to upgrade your GA instance.
   HTTP or HTTPS
   Maximum HTTP Version	Select the maximum HTTP version supported by GA. You must select Maximum HTTP Version only if you set Protocol to HTTPS. HTTP/1.1: Compared with HTTP/1.0, HTTP/1.1 supports persistent connections and pipelines, but may encounter head-of-line blocking issues. HTTP/2 (default): HTTP/2 is based on TCP and supports multiplexing and header compression to improve the concurrency of a single connection. HTTP/3: HTTP/3 uses the UDP-based QUIC protocol to resolve head-of-line blocking issues. HTTP/3 supports error recovery and flow control to improve the stability and efficiency of transmission. The latest HTTP/3 version is h3, which is compatible with Google Chrome 87 or later. If you use another browser, make sure that the browser supports HTTP/3. GA supports forward compatibility for HTTP. For example, if you select HTTP/3 and the client does not support HTTP/3, GA allows the client to send HTTP/2 or HTTP/1.1 requests. Note By default, the feature to select the maximum HTTP version is unavailable. To use the feature, contact your account manager. You cannot select HTTP/3 for subscription Global Accelerator instances. TLS Security Policies takes effect only for non-HTTP/3 connections. HTTP/3 connections use the built-in default security policy.
   Port	Specify a port for the listener to receive and forward requests to endpoints. Valid values: 1 to 65499. You can configure only one listener port for each HTTP or HTTPS listener. Note TCP, HTTP, and HTTPS listeners must use different ports. UDP listeners and HTTP/3 listeners must use different ports.
   Server Certificate	Select the server certificate that you obtained. This parameter is required only when you set Protocol to HTTPS. Server certificates ensure that data transmission over GA is encrypted. For more information about how to purchase a certificate, see Select and purchase a certificate and Apply for a certificate. Note If the required service-linked role does not exist when you configure a server certificate for a Global Accelerator instance, the system automatically creates the service-linked role. For more information, see AliyunServiceRoleForGaSsl.
   TLS Security Policies	Select the TLS security policy required by your service. You need to configure a TLS security policy only if you set Protocol to HTTPS. TLS Security Policies takes effect only for non-HTTP/3 connections. HTTP/3 connections use the built-in default security policy. A TLS security policy contains TLS protocol versions and cipher suites that are available for HTTPS. For more information about TLS security policies, see TLS security policies.
   Advanced Settings	Configure the Client Affinity, Idle Connection Timeout Period, Connection Request Timeout, and Custom HTTP Headers parameters.
   Client Affinity	Specify whether to enable client affinity. If you select Source IP Address from the drop-down list, client affinity is enabled. After client affinity is enabled, requests from a specific client IP address are forwarded to the same endpoint. If you select Disabled from the drop-down list, client affinity is disabled. After client affinity is disabled, requests from a specific client IP address may be forwarded to different endpoints.
   Idle Connection Timeout Period	Specify the timeout period of an idle connection. If no request is received during the timeout period, GA closes the current connection. When a new request is received, GA establishes a new connection. Valid values: 1 to 60. Default value: 15. Unit: seconds. To specify a longer timeout period for pay-as-you-go GA instances, go to Quota Center. Note If your standard GA instance does not support configuring the timeout period of idle connections for intelligent routing listeners, the instance may be using an earlier version. To configure the timeout period of idle connections for intelligent routing listeners, contact your account manager to upgrade your GA instance.
   Connection Request Timeout	Specify the timeout period of a request. If the backend server does not respond within the timeout period, GA returns the HTTP 504 error code to the client. Valid values: 1 to 180. Default value: 60. Unit: seconds. You can specify a longer timeout period for pay-as-you-go GA instances. To increase the quota, go to Quota Center. Note If your standard GA instance does not support configuring the request timeout period for intelligent routing listeners, the instance may be using an earlier version. To configure the request timeout period for intelligent routing listeners, contact your account manager to upgrade your GA instance.
   Custom HTTP Headers	Select the HTTP headers that you want to add. Obtain the GA instance ID by using the GA-ID header Obtain the information about the acceleration region by using the GA-AP header Obtain the listening protocol of the GA instance by using the GA-X-Forward-Proto header Obtain the listening port of the GA instance by using the GA-X-Forward-Port header Obtain client IP addresses by using the X-Real-IP header

   Note

   • Custom routing listeners are in invitational preview. To use custom routing listeners, contact your account manager. After your application is approved, you can use custom routing listeners.

   • If the accelerated IP addresses use IPv6, you cannot use custom routing listeners.

   Parameter	Description
   Listener Name	Enter a name for the listener.
   Routing Type	Select the routing type. In this example, Custom Routing is selected. Custom routing listeners generate a port mapping table based on the listener port range, the port ranges of the destination endpoint groups, and the IP addresses of endpoints (vSwitches). This way, traffic is routed to the specific IP addresses and ports of the specified vSwitches. For more information about how to configure a custom routing listener, see Add and manage a custom routing listener.
   Port	Specify a port for the listener to receive and forward requests to endpoints. Valid values: 1 to 65499. Separate multiple listener ports with commas (,). For example, you can enter 80,90,8080. You can use a hyphen (-) to specify a port range. Example: 80-85. Note The ports of different custom routing listeners on a GA instance must be different. Ports 25, 250, 4789, and 4790 are system-reserved ports. When a port mapping table is generated, the system-reserved ports are ignored. You cannot configure port 6081 for pay-as-you-go Global Accelerator instances. The port range that you specify for the listener determines the sum of the number of ports in the endpoint group that is associated with the listener and the number of IP addresses in the vSwitch. The number of ports in the endpoint group multiplied by the number of IP addresses of all vSwitches in the endpoints must be less than or equal to the number of listener ports We recommend that you specify a larger port range for the listener.

6. In the Configure an endpoint group step, configure the endpoint group and the endpoints, and then click Next.

   Click to view the configurations of endpoint groups and endpoints. For more information about endpoint groups and endpoints, see Overview.

   Endpoint groups of intelligent routing listeners

   Endpoint groups of custom routing listeners

   Parameter	Description
   Region	Select the region where the endpoint group is deployed.
   Endpoint Configuration	Endpoints are destinations of client requests. To add an endpoint, specify the following parameters: Backend Service Type: If your backend server is deployed on Alibaba Cloud, you can select Alibaba Cloud Public IP Address, ECS, ENI, CLB, ALB, NLB, or OSS. If your backend server is not deployed on Alibaba Cloud, you can select Custom IP Address or Custom Domain Name. Note If your standard GA instance does not support ALB instances, ECS instances in VPCs, CLB instances in VPCs, NLB instances, or ENIs as endpoints, your instance may be of an earlier version. Contact your account manager to upgrade your GA instance. UDP listeners do not support ALB instances as endpoints. To ensure that your GA instance is connected to an endpoint, you must configure an access control policy for the endpoint based on the connection type. Internet connection: The access control policies of the endpoint, such as security group rules or firewall settings, must allow the public IP address of the endpoint. Private connection: The access policies of the endpoint, such as security group rules or firewall settings, must allow the CIDR block of the vSwitch to which the endpoint belongs. The number of idle private IP addresses of the vSwitch must be equal to or greater than eight. The public IP addresses of endpoints associated with a GA instance are unique and are not shared with other GA instances. For information about how to view the public IP address of an endpoint, see View the public IP address of an endpoint. If no service-linked roles exist when you specify Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances, elastic network interfaces (ENIs), Classic Load Balancer (CLB) instances, Application Load Balancer (ALB) instances, Network Load Balancer (NLB) instances, or Object Storage Service (OSS) buckets as endpoints, the system automatically creates the corresponding service-linked role. For more information, see AliyunServiceRoleForGaVpcEndpoint, AliyunServiceRoleForGaAlb, AliyunServiceRoleForGaOss, and AliyunServiceRoleForGaNlb. Backend Services: Enter the IP address, domain name, or instance ID of the backend server. Weight: Specify a weight for the endpoint. Valid values: 0 to 255. GA distributes network traffic to endpoints based on the weights. Warning If you set the weight of an endpoint to 0, Global Accelerator stops distributing network traffic to the endpoint. Proceed with caution. You can click + Add Node to add more endpoints. You can create up to four endpoints in each endpoint group. If you want to add more endpoints, go to the Quota Management page and increase the quota. For more information, see Manage GA quotas.
   Preserve Client IP	Specify whether to preserve client IP addresses. If you enable this feature, the backend server can obtain client IP addresses. For more information, see Preserve client IP addresses.
   Backend Service Protocol	Select the protocol that is used by the backend service. The Backend Service Protocol parameter is available only when you configure an endpoint group for an HTTP or HTTPS listener. HTTP(default) HTTPS Note If the listener protocol is HTTP, this parameter is automatically set to HTTP and cannot be modified. If you select HTTPS for Backend Service Protocol, the backend service supports the following TLS versions: TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, TLS 1.2, and TLS 1.3. In addition, GA automatically negotiates with the backend service on which TLS version to use. By default, TLS 1.3 is disabled. To use TLS 1.3, contact your account manager.
   Protocol Version	Select the protocol version used by the backend service. The IP Version parameter is available only when you select HTTPS for Backend Service Protocol. HTTP/1.1 (default) HTTP/2 After you enable HTTP/2 origin fetch, backend HTTPS services can benefit from the advantages of HTTP/2 to greatly improve service performance, reduce network latency and overheads, and improve access experience. This protocol version is suitable for backend services that support HTTP/2. If your backend services support only HTTP/2, you must select HTTP/2. Note By default, the IP Version parameter is disabled. To enable this parameter, contact your account manager. If you select HTTP/2, the following limits apply: WebSocket is not supported. HTTP/2 Server Push is not supported. Google Remote Procedure Call (gRPC) requests that use HTTP/2 cannot be accelerated.
   Port Mapping	If the listener port and the port that is used by the endpoint to provide services are different, you must configure this parameter. The Port Mapping parameter is available only when you configure an endpoint group for an HTTP or HTTPS listener. Listener Port: Enter the listener port. Endpoint Port: Enter the port over which the endpoint provides services. If the listener port and the port that the endpoint uses to provide services are the same, you do not need to add a port mapping. GA automatically distributes client requests to the listener port of the endpoint.
   Traffic Distribution Ratio	Set the traffic distribution ratio for the endpoint group. The Traffic Distribution Ratio parameter is available only when you configure an endpoint group for a TCP or UDP listener. Valid values: 0 to 100. Note For information about how to specify traffic distribution ratios, see Distribute traffic across endpoint groups in different scenarios. A value of 0 specifies that no traffic is forwarded to the endpoint group. A value of 100 specifies that all traffic is forwarded to the endpoint group.
   Health Check	Specify whether to enable the health check feature. After you enable this feature, you can use health checks to check the status of endpoints. For more information about the health check feature, see Enable and manage health checks. Note If your GA instance uses UDP listeners, you can enable the health check feature for an endpoint only if the endpoint is associated with a TCP, HTTP, or HTTPS service. Otherwise, the endpoint is marked as unhealthy.
   Health Check Protocol	Select the protocol that you want to use for health checks. Valid values: TCP, HTTP, and HTTPS. A TCP health check probes whether a server port is healthy at the network layer by sending SYN packets to the port. An HTTP health check probes whether an endpoint is healthy by simulating HTTP GET requests sent from a browser.
   Port	Specify the port of the endpoint to which probe packets are sent for health checks. Valid values: 1 to 65535.
   Health Check Interval	Set the interval between two consecutive health checks. Unit: seconds. Valid values: 1 to 50. Default value: 2.
   Path	Specify the path that is used for health checks. By default, GA sends a GET request to the default homepage of the backend service. If you do not want to use the default homepage for health checks, you can manually specify a URI. Note This parameter is supported only for HTTP and HTTPS health checks.
   Healthy Threshold	The number of consecutive health check failures that must occur before a healthy endpoint is considered unhealthy, or the number of consecutive health check successes that must occur before an unhealthy endpoint is considered healthy. Valid values: 2 to 10. Default value: 3.
   Tag	Specify a tag for the endpoint group. You must configure the Tag Key and Tag Value parameters. For more information, see Manage tags.
   Cross-border Acceleration Settings	Read Compliance Commitments Regarding Cross-border Data Transfers and select Agree to the Preceding Compliance Agreement. This parameter is required only if your service requires cross-border acceleration between the Chinese mainland and regions outside the Chinese mainland or between different countries and regions.

   Parameter	Description
   Region	Select the region where you want to deploy the endpoint group.
   Port Mapping Range and Protocol	Specify the Port Range and Protocol parameters. You can set Protocol to TCP or UDP. You can also select both TCP and UDP. The port ranges and protocols of backend services are mapped to the port range of the listener that is associated with the endpoint group. You can click + Add to add more entries. You can specify up to 20 entries at a time. Note The product of the number of ports of the endpoint group that is associated with a custom routing listener and the number of IP addresses of all vSwitches that serve as endpoints must be less than or equal to the number of listener ports: Number of ports of the endpoint group × Number of IP addresses of all vSwitches that serve as endpoints ≤ Number of listener ports.
   Endpoints	Click Add Endpoint. In the Add Endpoint dialog box, configure the following parameters and click OK. Backend Service Type: You can select only vSwitch. Backend Service: Select the vSwitch to which traffic is forwarded. Subnet Traffic: Select an access policy for subnet traffic. Allow All Traffic: GA forwards all traffic to the specified backend service. Deny All Traffic: GA does not forward traffic to the specified backend service. This is the default value. Allow Traffic from Specific vSwitch IP Address and Port: Specify the destination that can receive client requests, which is the IP address and port of an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance. You must select a mode specifying traffic destinations. List Mode: Enter an IP address and port. You can select the All Ports check box. You can click + Add to add IP addresses and ports. You can add up to 20 entries at the same time. Batch Mode: Enter IP addresses and port ranges based on the instructions. You can also download a template, enter IP addresses and port ranges, and then upload the template. You can add up to 100 entries at the same time.
   Cross-border Acceleration Settings	Read Compliance Commitments Regarding Cross-border Data Transfers and select Agree to the Preceding Compliance Agreement. This parameter is required only if your service requires cross-border acceleration between the Chinese mainland and regions outside the Chinese mainland or between different countries and regions.

7. In the Configuration Review step, check the configurations and click Submit.

   Note

   It takes 3 to 5 minutes to create a Global Accelerator instance.

1. Log on to the GA console.

2. On the Instances page, click Create Standard Subscription Instance.

3. On the Create Standard Instance (Subscription) page, set the following parameters, click Buy Now, and then complete the payment.

   Parameter	Description
   Instance Specification	Select the specification of the standard Global Accelerator instance. For more information about the specifications of standard Global Accelerator instances, see Overview of standard GA instances.
   Accelerated IP Address Type	Select the type of accelerated IP address of the standard Global Accelerator instance. You need to specify this parameter only for GA instances of the Large Ⅰ specification or higher. EIP (default): If you select EIP, the custom access mode is used. You can select an access point based on your business requirements. Each access point provides a separate elastic IP address (EIP). Anycast EIP: If you select Anycast EIP, the automatic access mode is used. You do not need to specify an acceleration area. GA provides an Anycast EIP that is shared among multiple regions across the globe. Note By default, you cannot use Anycast EIPs as accelerated IP addresses. To use Anycast EIPs as accelerated IP addresses, go to the Quota Center console, find the quota named GA supports anycast, and then click Apply in the Actions column. For more information, see the "Adjust quotas" section of the Manage GA quotas topic. To use Anycast EIPs, the Global Accelerator instances and basic bandwidth plans must meet the following requirements: Global Accelerator instances: Select subscription standard Global Accelerator instances whose specifications are Large Ⅰ or higher and whose bandwidth metering method is pay-by-bandwidth. Basic bandwidth plans: You must select the premium bandwidth type and the pay-by-data-transfer metering method. By default, basic bandwidth plans that use the pay-by-data-transfer metering method are not available. To use these plans, contact your account manager. For more information, see the "Accelerated IP addresses" section of the Overview topic.
   Bandwidth Billing Method	Select a bandwidth metering method. By default, Pay-By-Bandwidth is selected. You are charged for bandwidth plans. After you purchase a GA instance whose bandwidth metering method is pay-by-bandwidth, you must associate a basic bandwidth plan with the GA instance. For more information about the bandwidth plan billing rules, see Subscription basic bandwidth plans.
   Subscription Duration	Select the subscription duration of the standard GA instance. To enable auto-renewal for the GA instance, select Auto-renewal. (Make sure that your account balance is sufficient.).
   GA Instance Name	Enter a name for the Global Accelerator instance.
   Resource Group	Select the resource group to which the standard Global Accelerator instance belongs. The resource group must be created by the current Alibaba Cloud account in Resource Management. For more information, see Create a resource group.
   Coupon	Specify whether to use coupons. By default, Do Not Use Coupons is selected. You can also select a coupon from the drop-down list.

4. Optional: Return to the GA console. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Standard Instance > Instances. On the Instances page, view the standard Global Accelerator instance that you purchased.

What to do next

After you create a subscription standard Global Accelerator instance, you must perform the following operations before you can use the GA instance:

1. Associate a basic bandwidth plan with the GA instance

2. Add an acceleration area

3. Add and manage intelligent routing listeners or Add and manage custom routing listeners

4. Create and manage the endpoint groups of intelligent routing listeners or Create and manage the endpoint groups of custom routing listeners