This topic provides answers to some frequently asked questions about billing for storage plans.
Purchase and usage
Do I need to purchase a storage plan after I purchase a cluster?
You can determine whether to purchase a storage plan for your cluster based on your business requirements. After you purchase a storage plan, the storage plan automatically offsets the storage usage of clusters in the same region until the storage capacity of the plan is exhausted. For more information, see Combination with storage plans.
What storage plan do I purchase if no predefined options exactly match my current needs? For example, my services require 4 TB of storage, but the available options are 1 TB, 3 TB, and 5 TB.
We recommend that you first purchase a 1 TB storage plan and a 3 TB storage plan. When the amount of stored data reaches approximately 4 TB, you can purchase a new storage plan. Alternatively, you can upgrade the current storage plans. For more information, see Upgrade a storage plan.
Do storage plans take effect immediately after I purchase them? Does this affect the normal running of clusters?
Storage plans are effective immediately after you purchase them and do not affect the normal running of clusters.
Can a storage plan be used to offset the storage fees of multiple clusters that belong to different accounts?
No.
Storage plan sharing
Can multiple clusters share a storage plan?
Yes. A storage plan can be shared by all clusters in the regions that are specified by the Plan Type parameter. You can specify Chinese Mainland or Outside Chinese Mainland for the Plan Type parameter. For more information, see Purchase a storage plan.
Can a storage plan be shared among clusters that use different engines?
Yes, clusters that use different engines can share a storage plan. A storage plan can be shared by PolarDB for MySQL, PolarDB for PostgreSQL, and PolarDB for PostgreSQL (Compatible with Oracle) clusters.
Storage usage offset
What storage usage can be covered by storage plans?
A storage plan can be used to cover the following storage usage, up to the limit of the storage plan's capacity:
Cluster storage usage:
Storage that is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis consumed by PolarDB Enterprise Edition clusters
Storage usage of backups of PolarDB Enterprise Edition clusters, such as:
Level-1 backups beyond the free quota
Level-2 backups
Log backups beyond the free quota
Cold data archived to OSS
In what order of priority is a storage plan used? Can I apply a storage plan to clusters first?
A storage plan is used in the following order:
PolarDB Enterprise Edition clusters > PolarDB Standard Edition clusters
PolarDB Enterprise Edition clusters: Cluster storage usage (PSL5 and PSL4) > Level-1 backup storage usage beyond the free quota > OSS usage for cold data > Level-2 backup storage usage > Log backup storage usage beyond the free quota If multiple clusters have the same priority, the clusters are ordered based on the creation time. Fees for clusters that are created earlier are offset first.
For more information about how to use storage plans to offset storage fees, see What are storage plans and compute plans.
Renewal and upgrade
What do I do if the capacity of my storage plan is insufficient or exhausted? Can I purchase another storage plan of the same type?
Yes, you can purchase another storage plan of the same type if the capacity of your storage plan is insufficient or exhausted. Alternatively, you can upgrade the current storage plan. For more information, see Upgrade a storage plan.
How is the storage usage beyond the storage plan's capacity billed? Does this impact the business?
The storage usage that exceeds the capacity of the storage plan is billed based on the pay-as-you-go billing method. For more information, see Overview. This does not impact your business.
How do I renew my storage plan if the storage plan is about to expire?
You can renew the storage plan in the Expenses and Costs console. For more information, see Renew a storage plan.
What happens when the capacity of a storage plan is insufficient to cover the storage of level-1 backups beyond the free quota?
If the remaining capacity of the storage plan is insufficient to offset the storage fees of level-1 backups, you are charged for excess storage usage on a pay-as-you-go basis. You can purchase a new storage plan. Alternatively, you can upgrade the current storage plan. For more information, see Upgrade a storage plan.