Change the network type

Network types

• Classic network: Instances are not isolated by network settings and rely on whitelist policies to block unauthorized access. The classic network is being phased out. For more information, see Classic network phase-out plan.

• Virtual private cloud (VPC): A VPC provides an isolated network environment, offering enhanced security. We recommend using the VPC network.

  You can customize route tables, IP address ranges, and gateways for a VPC. Additionally, you can connect your data center to a VPC using leased lines or VPNs, creating a virtual data center. This virtual data center enables you to migrate your workloads to the cloud seamlessly.

Limits

• If your RDS instance runs SQL Server 2008 R2, you cannot switch from classic network to VPC. You have several options:

  • Option 1: Upgrade to a higher version and change the network type to VPC during the upgrade.

  • Option 2: Purchase a new RDS instance (select the required VPC during purchase) and migrate your data.

  • Option 3: If your business no longer requires connections over the classic network, you can manually delete the classic network endpoint on the Database Connection page of the RDS instance details. Subsequent connections are supported only through public endpoints. For more information, see Enable public endpoint.

    Important

    • The classic network endpoint cannot be restored once deleted. Proceed with caution.

    • We recommend testing the connectivity over the public endpoint before deleting the classic network endpoint.

• If your RDS instance is a temporary instance, you cannot switch from classic network to VPC, as temporary instances only support the classic network. For more information on accessing a temporary instance, see Log on to a temporary instance.

View the network type

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 left-side navigation pane, click Database Connection to view the current network type.

Change the network type from classic network to VPC

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 left-side navigation pane, click Database Connection, and then click Switch to VPC.

   Important

   If the Switch to VPC button is not visible, this may be because your RDS instance's network type is not a classic network, or the instance is running SQL Server 2008 R2. SQL Server 2008 R2 instances are incompatible with the switch from classic network to VPC. For solutions, see Limits .

3. In the dialog box that appears, select a VPC and a vSwitch, and specify whether to retain the classic network endpoint.

   • Select a VPC. We recommend choosing the VPC where the Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance you want to connect is located. If the ECS and RDS instances are in different VPCs, they can only communicate over public networks unless you establish a Cloud Enterprise Network (CEN) or VPN Gateway between their VPCs. For more information, see Cloud Enterprise Network or VPN Gateway.

   • Select a vSwitch. If no vSwitch is available in the selected VPC, create one in the same zone as the instance. For more information, see Create a vSwitch.

   • Clear or select the Reserve Original Classic Endpoint option. The table below describes the options.

     Operation	Description

     Operation	Description
     Clear Reserve original classic endpoint	The classic network endpoint is removed and replaced with a VPC endpoint. When you change the network type from classic network to VPC, a transient connection that lasts approximately 30 seconds occurs and ECS instances that reside in the classic network are immediately disconnected from your RDS instance.
     Select Reserve original classic endpoint	The classic network endpoint is retained, and a new VPC endpoint is generated. In this case, the RDS instance runs in hybrid access mode. For more information, see Hybrid access mode. In hybrid access mode, classic network-type ECS instances and VPC-type ECS instances can connect to the RDS instance over an internal network. When you change the network type from classic network to VPC, no transient connection occurs. The connection between each classic network-hosted ECS instance and the RDS instance remains available until the classic network endpoint expires. Note Before the classic network endpoint expires, you must add the VPC endpoint to your application that runs on a VPC-type ECS instance. This allows ApsaraDB RDS to migrate your workloads to the selected VPC with no downtime. ApsaraDB RDS sends a text message to the mobile number that is bound to your Alibaba Cloud account every day within seven days before the classic network endpoint expires. For more information, see Temporary hybrid access solution (retain both classic network and VPC endpoints).

4. Add the internal IP address of the required VPC-type ECS instance to the IP address whitelist of the VPC network type on the RDS instance. This allows the ECS instance to access the RDS instance over an internal network. If no IP address whitelists of the VPC network type exist, create one.

   Note

   You can view the private IP address of the ECS instance on the Instance Details page.

   

5. Add the VPC endpoint of the RDS instance to the required VPC-type ECS instance.

   • If you chose to reserve the original classic endpoint, add the VPC endpoint of your RDS instance to each required VPC-type ECS instance before the classic network endpoint expires.

   • If you did not reserve the original classic endpoint, the connection between each classic network-hosted ECS instance and the RDS instance over an internal network will be immediately closed after the network type change. You must add the VPC endpoint of the RDS instance to your application running on the required VPC-type ECS instance.

   Note

   To connect a classic network-hosted ECS instance to an RDS instance in a VPC over an internal network, you can use ClassicLink or migrate the ECS instance to the VPC network.

Related operations

You can also use the API to change the network type of an RDS instance from classic network to VPC. For more information, see ModifyDBInstanceNetworkType - Change from classic network to VPC.