ApsaraDB RDS:Backup storage fees

Billable items

Billing rules

A free quota on storage is provided for each RDS instance to store backup files. If the total size of the backup files of your RDS instance does not exceed the free quota, no fees are charged. If the total size exceeds the free quota, you are charged an hourly fee for the excess backup storage that you use. The hourly fee is calculated by using the following formula: Hourly fee for backup storage = (Total size of backup files - Free quota) × Unit price of storage.

Usage notes

• The backup storage fee varies based on the total size of backup files. Backup files do not consume the storage capacity of your RDS instance. Therefore, the backup storage fee is not affected by the storage usage.

• When you analyze the backup storage fee, you must check the total size of backup files. You do not need to check the storage usage.

• Management operations that involves the change of cloud disks, such as the re-creation of a secondary RDS instance, have the following impacts on an RDS instance that uses cloud disks:

  • The backup storage of the RDS instance that uses cloud disks increases. As a result, the backup storage fees increase. The code of the billable item is BackupCharged.

  • The traffic consumed by cross-region backups of the RDS instance that uses cloud disks increases. As a result, the traffic fees of cross-region backups increase. The code of the billable item is NetworkOutDuplicationSize.

  • The cross-region backup storage of the RDS instance that uses cloud disks increases. As a result, the fees generated for cross-region backup storage increase. The code of the billable item is DdrOssStorageSize.

  Note

  For example, if you perform a DDL operation on an RDS instance that uses cloud disks and the operation causes the latency of data replication to the secondary RDS instance of the RDS instance to be longer, the system may automatically re-create the secondary RDS instance to ensure service stability. This increases the fees for the preceding billable items.

Methods to reduce the backup storage fee

• Reduce the total size of backup files.

  You can delete backup files, reduce the backup frequency, or shorten the backup retention period. For more information, see Back up an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.

• Increase the free quota.

  You can expand the storage capacity of your RDS instance. For more information, see Change the specifications of an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.

  The free quota varies based on the storage capacity of your RDS instance. For example, your RDS instance uses the physical backup method and is expanded from 150 GB to 300 GB, the free quota increases from 75 GB to 150 GB.

View the free quota on backup storage of an RDS instance in the ApsaraDB RDS console

1. Go to the Instances page. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which the RDS instance resides. Then, find the RDS instance and click the ID of the instance.

2. In the Usage Statistics section of the page that appears, view the free quota that is displayed to the right of the Backup Usage parameter.

   Note

   The free quota on backup storage varies based on the instance types. The free quota displayed in the Usage Statistics section of the RDS instance shall prevail.

Billing FAQ

• Why am I charged for backup storage even if the total size of the backup files of my RDS instance does not exceed the free quota for backup storage?

  You are charged for backup storage because the size of the backup files exceeded the free quota in the past, and the system does not deduct the additional fee at the earliest opportunity.

• The backup retention period of my RDS instance is shortened from x days to y days. Why does the size of backup files remain unchanged?

  If no backup files are retained for more than y days, no backup files are deleted and the size of backup files remains unchanged after you shorten the backup retention period.