You can use storage plans to offset the storage usage of clusters that use the pay-as-you-go storage billing method and the storage usage of level-1 backups/data backups, level-2 backups, log backups, and cold data archiving. The prices of storage plans vary based on the subscription duration and specifications. The higher the specifications and the longer the subscription duration, the more cost-effective the storage plan.
The following figure shows the storage usage that storage plans can offset and the offset order of storage plans. For more information, see the "Offset rules" and "Offset order" sections of this topic.
Usage notes
Only billing is involved when you purchase, upgrade, renew, or unsubscribe from storage plans. Your business operations are not affected by the operations.
Storage plans are divided into two types: one type applicable to regions in the Chinese mainland and one type applicable to China (Hong Kong) and regions outside China. Each type can be shared by all PolarDB clusters in the specified region category.
If your storage plan is exhausted, you are charged for the excess storage usage based on the pay-as-you-go billing method.
If the capacity of your storage plan is insufficient, you can purchase a new storage plan or upgrade your current storage plan.
After you purchase a storage plan, you are not charged for the storage usage on an hourly basis. Instead, the storage plan offsets your storage usage based on the offset rules for the storage usage.
If your storage plan is exhausted, you are charged for the excess storage usage based on the pay-as-you-go billing method.
For example, you have three PolarDB clusters that each have a storage capacity of 400 GB. You can purchase a storage plan of 1,000 GB for the three clusters. The excess 200 GB storage usage is billed based on the pay-as-you-go billing method.
Offset rules
A storage plan provides a fixed hourly quota to offset the storage usage of clusters that use the pay-as-you-go storage billing method and the storage usage of level-1 backups/data backups, level-2 backups, log backups, and cold data archiving. For example, if you purchase a storage plan of 50 GB, you are provided a fixed quota of 50 GB per hour to offset your storage usage within the validity period of the storage plan.
Storage plans are divided into two types: one type applicable to regions in the Chinese mainland and one type applicable to China (Hong Kong) and regions outside China. A storage plan is applicable to all PolarDB clusters in the specified region category and can be used to offset the cluster storage usage (including ESSD PL0, ESSD PL1, ESSD PL2, ESSD PL3, ESSD AutoPL, PSL4, and PSL5), the backup storage usage (including level-1 backups/data backups, level-2 backups, and log backups), and the storage usage of cold data archiving.
Cluster storage usage
Storage type | Offset factor | Storage usage offset by using a 1-GB storage plan | ||||
Regions in the Chinese mainland | China (Hong Kong) and regions outside China | Regions in the Chinese mainland | China (Hong Kong) and regions outside China | |||
ESSD PL0 | Hot standby storage cluster and standby compute node enabled | 0.35 | 2.86 GB | |||
Hot standby storage cluster disabled | 0.22 | 4.55 GB | ||||
ESSD PL1 | Hot standby storage cluster and standby compute node enabled | 0.70 | 1.43 GB | |||
Hot standby storage cluster disabled | 0.44 | 2.27 GB | ||||
ESSD PL2 | Hot standby storage cluster and standby compute node enabled | 1.41 | 0.71 GB | |||
Hot standby storage cluster disabled | 0.88 | 1.14 GB | ||||
ESSD PL3 | Hot standby storage cluster and standby compute node enabled | 2.82 | 0.35 GB | |||
Hot standby storage cluster disabled | 1.76 | 0.57 GB | ||||
ESSD AutoPL | Hot standby storage cluster and standby compute node enabled | Storage | 0.70 | 1.43 GB | ||
Provisioned IOPS | 0.0206 | 0.0185 | 48.5437 provisioned IOPS | 54.0541 provisioned IOPS | ||
Hot standby storage cluster disabled | Storage | 0.44 | 2.27 GB | |||
Provisioned IOPS | 0.0129 | 0.0115 | 77.5194 provisioned IOPS | 86.9565 provisioned IOPS | ||
PSL4 | Hot standby storage cluster enabled | 0.65 | 1.54 GB | |||
Hot standby storage cluster disabled | 0.325 | 3.08 GB | ||||
PSL5 | Hot standby storage cluster enabled | 1 | 1 GB | |||
Hot standby storage cluster disabled | 0.5 | 2 GB | ||||
Example 1: The storage plan can offset the storage usage of your clusters.
Your Alibaba Cloud account has a storage plan of 50 GB and the following PolarDB clusters:
Cluster name | Edition | Hot standby storage cluster enabled | Billing method (compute nodes) | Storage type | Storage billing method | Cluster storage usage |
A | Cluster Edition | Yes | Subscription | PSL5 | Subscription | 2.76 GB (subscribed amount: 50.00 GB) |
B | Cluster Edition | No | Subscription | PSL5 | Pay-as-you-go | 2.77 GB |
C | Cluster Edition | No | Pay-as-you-go | PSL5 | Pay-as-you-go | 2.81 GB |
D | Cluster Edition (Serverless) | Yes | Serverless | PSL5 | Pay-as-you-go | 45.07 GB |
E | Standard Edition | No | Subscription | PL1 ESSD | Subscription | 2.38 GB (subscribed amount: 100.00 GB) |
50 50-GB storage plan automatically offsets the storage usage of the clusters:
Cluster A and Cluster E use the subscription.storage billing method. The storage plan does not offset the storage usage of the two clusters.
Cluster B has a cluster storage usage of 2.77 GB. An offset ratio of 0.5 is applied to the storage usage. As a result, 1.385 GB (calculated as 2.77 GB × 0.5) of the storage plan is used to offset the storage usage of the cluster. Then, the storage plan has a remaining capacity of 48.615 GB (calculated as 50 GB - 1.385 GB).
Cluster C has a cluster storage usage of 2.81 GB. An offset ratio of 0.5 is applied to the storage usage. As a result, 1.405 GB (calculated as 2.81 GB × 0.5) of the storage plan is used to offset the storage usage of the cluster. Then, the storage plan has a remaining capacity of 47.21 GB (calculated as 48.615 GB - 1.405 GB).
Cluster D has a cluster storage usage of 45.07 GB. An offset ratio of 1 is applied to the storage usage. As a result, 45.07 GB (calculated as 45.07 GB × 1) of the storage plan is used to offset the storage usage of the cluster. Then, the storage plan has a remaining capacity of 2.14 GB (calculated as 47.21 GB - 45.07 GB).
To sum up, a total of 47.86 GB (calculated as 1.385 GB + 1.405 GB + 45.07 GB) of the storage plan is used to offset the storage usage of the clusters. The storage plan has a remaining capacity of 2.14 GB (calculated as 50 GB - 47.86 GB).
This example describes only how a storage plan offsets the cluster storage usage of the PolarDB clusters. Other types of storage usage, such as the storage usage of level-1 backups/data backups, level-2 backups, log backups, and cold data archiving, are not included in this example.
Example 2: The capacity of a storage plan is insufficient to offset the storage usage of your clusters.
Your Alibaba Cloud account has a storage plan of 50 GB and the following PolarDB clusters:
Cluster Name | Edition | Hot standby storage cluster enabled | Billing method (compute nodes) | Storage type | Storage billing method | Cluster storage usage |
A | Cluster Edition | Yes | Subscription | PSL5 | Subscription | 2.76 GB (subscribed amount: 50.00 GB) |
B | Cluster Edition | No | Subscription | PSL5 | Pay-as-you-go | 2.77 GB |
C | Cluster Edition | No | Pay-as-you-go | PSL5 | Pay-as-you-go | 2.81 GB |
D | Cluster Edition (Serverless) | Yes | Serverless | PSL5 | Pay-as-you-go | 45.07 GB |
E | Standard Edition | No | Subscription | PL1 ESSD | Subscription | 2.38 GB (subscribed amount: 100.00 GB) |
F | Cluster Edition | Yes | Pay-as-you-go | PSL5 | Pay-as-you-go | 3.92 GB |
50 50-GB storage plan automatically offsets the storage usage of the clusters:
Cluster A and Cluster E use the subscription.storage billing method. The storage plan does not offset the storage usage of the two clusters.
Cluster B has a cluster storage usage of 2.77 GB. An offset ratio of 0.5 is applied to the storage usage. As a result, 1.385 GB (calculated as 2.77 GB × 0.5) of the storage plan is used to offset the storage usage of the cluster. Then, the storage plan has a remaining capacity of 48.615 GB (calculated as 50 GB - 1.385 GB).
Cluster C has a cluster storage usage of 2.81 GB. An offset ratio of 0.5 is applied to the storage usage. As a result, 1.405 GB (calculated as 2.81 GB × 0.5) of the storage plan is used to offset the storage usage of the cluster. Then, the storage plan has a remaining capacity of 47.21 GB (calculated as 48.615 GB - 1.405 GB).
Cluster D has a cluster storage usage of 45.07 GB. An offset ratio of 1 is applied to the storage usage. As a result, 45.07 GB (calculated as 45.07 GB × 1) of the storage plan is used to offset the storage usage of the cluster. Then, the storage plan has a remaining capacity of 2.14 GB (calculated as 47.21 GB - 45.07 GB).
Cluster F has a cluster storage usage of 3.92 GB. An offset ratio of 1 is applied to the storage usage. However, the storage plan has a remaining capacity of 2.14 GB. Therefore, only 2.14 GB of the storage plan can be used to offset the storage usage of the cluster. After 2.14 GB of the storage plan is used to offset the storage usage of the cluster, the storage plan has a remaining capacity of 0 GB (calculated as 2.14 GB -2.14 GB). The remaining 1.78 GB (calculated as 3.92 GB - 2.14 GB) storage usage of the cluster is billed based on the pay-as-you-go billing method.
To sum up, a total of 50 GB (calculated as 1.385 GB + 1.405 GB + 45.07 GB + 2.14 GB) of the storage plan is used to offset the storage usage of the clusters. The remaining capacity of the storage plan is 0 GB (calculated as 50 GB - 50 GB).
This example describes only how a storage plan offsets the cluster storage usage of the PolarDB clusters. Other types of storage usage, such as the storage usage of level-1 backups/data backups, level-2 backups, log backups, and cold data archiving, are not included in this example.
Backup storage usage (level-1 backups/data backups, level-2 backups, and log backups)
Enterprise Edition
Backup type | Offset factor | Storage usage offset by using a 1-GB storage plan | |||
Regions in the Chinese mainland | China (Hong Kong) and regions outside China | Regions in the Chinese mainland | China (Hong Kong) and regions outside China | ||
Level-1 backup | PSL5 | 0.617 | 1/0.617 = 1.62 GB | ||
PSL4 | 0.41 | 1/0.41 = 2.44 GB | |||
Level-2 backup | 0.043 | 0.054 | 1/0.043 = 23.26 GB | 1/0.054 = 18.52 GB | |
Log backup | |||||
Standard Edition
Backup type | Offset factor | Storage usage offset by using a 1-GB storage plan | ||
Regions in the Chinese mainland | China (Hong Kong) and regions outside China | Regions in the Chinese mainland | China (Hong Kong) and regions outside China | |
Data backup | 0.043 | 0.054 | 1/0.043 = 23.26 GB | 1/0.054 = 18.52 GB |
Log backup | ||||
Example: Use a storage plan to offset the backup storage usage of the cluster beyond the free quota.
Your Alibaba Cloud account has a storage plan of 50 GB and the following PolarDB clusters:
Cluster name | Edition | Hot standby storage cluster enabled | Billing method (compute nodes) | Storage type | Storage billing method | Cluster storage usage | Level-1 backup/data backup storage usage | Level-2 backup storage usage | Log backup storage usage |
A | Cluster Edition | Yes | Subscription | PSL5 | Subscription | 2.76 GB (subscribed amount: 50.00 GB) | 322.00 MB (a free quota of approximately 25 GB) | 2.45 GB | 70 GB |
C | Cluster Edition | No | Pay-as-you-go | PSL5 | Pay-as-you-go | 100 GB | 3.21 GB (a free quota of approximately 50 GB) | 2.38 GB | 219 GB |
E | Standard Edition | No | Subscription | PL1 ESSD | Subscription | 2.38 GB (subscribed amount: 100.00 GB) | 480.00 MB (a free quota of approximately 50 GB) | No | 79 GB |
50 50-GB storage plan automatically offsets the storage usage of the clusters:
The storage plan offsets the backup storage usage based on the offset order. For more information about the offset order, see the "Offset order" section of this topic.
Level-1 backup storage usage beyond the free quota of Enterprise Edition clusters:
The level-1 backup storage usage of Cluster A does not exceed the free quota.
The level-1 backup storage usage of Cluster C does not exceed the free quota.
Level-2 backup storage usage of Enterprise Edition clusters:
Cluster A has a level-2 backup storage usage of 2.45 GB. An offset ratio of 0.043 is applied to the level-2 backup storage usage. As a result, 0.10535 GB (calculated as 2.45 GB × 0.043) of the storage plan is used to offset the level-2 backup storage usage of the cluster. Then, the storage plan has a remaining capacity of 49.89465 GB (calculated as 50 GB - 0.10535 GB).
Cluster C has a level-2 backup storage usage of 2.38 GB. An offset ratio of 0.043 is applied to the level-2 backup storage usage. As a result, 0.10234 (calculated as 2.38 GB × 0.043) of the storage plan is used to offset the level-2 backup storage usage of the cluster. Then, the storage plan has a remaining capacity of 49.79231 GB (calculated as 49.89465 GB - 0.10234 GB).
Log backup storage usage beyond the free quota of Enterprise Edition clusters:
The log backup storage usage of Cluster A does not exceed the free quota.
Cluster C has a log backup storage usage of 119 GB beyond the free quota (calculated as 219 GB - a free quota of 100 GB). An offset ratio of 0.043 is applied to the log backup storage usage. As a result, 5.117 GB (calculated as 119 GB × 0.043) of the storage plan is used to offset the log backup storage usage of the cluster. Then, the storage plan has a remaining capacity of 44.67531 GB (calculated as 49.79231 GB - 5.117 GB).
Data backup storage usage beyond the free quota of Standard Edition clusters:
The data backup storage usage of Cluster E does not exceed the free quota.
Log backup storage usage beyond the free quota of Standard Edition clusters:
The log backup storage usage of Cluster E does not exceed the free quota.
To sum up, a total of 5.32469 GB (calculated as 0.10535 GB + 0.10234 GB + 5.117 GB) of the storage plan is used to offset the backup storage usage beyond the free quota of the clusters. The storage plan has a remaining capacity of 44.67531 GB (50 GB - 5.32469 GB).
This example describes only how a storage plan offsets the storage usage of level-1 backups/data backups, level-2 backups, and log backups of the PolarDB clusters. Other types of storage usage, such as the cluster storage usage and cold data archiving storage usage, are not included in this example.
Cold data archiving
Region | Offset factor | Storage usage offset by using a 1-GB storage plan |
Regions in the Chinese mainland | 0.045 | 1/0.045 = 22.22 GB |
China (Hong Kong) and regions outside China | 0.045 | 1/0.045 = 22.22 GB |
Example: Use a storage plan to offset the cold data archiving storage usage of clusters.
Your Alibaba Cloud account has a storage plan of 50 GB and the following PolarDB clusters:
Cluster Name | Edition | Hot standby storage cluster enabled | Cold data archiving enabled | Billing method (compute nodes) | Storage type | Storage billing method | Cluster storage usage | Storage usage of archived cold data |
A | Cluster Edition | Yes | Yes | Subscription | PSL5 | Subscription | 2.76 GB (subscribed amount: 50.00 GB) | 0 GB |
B | Cluster Edition | No | No | Subscription | PSL5 | Pay-as-you-go | 3 GB | No |
C | Cluster Edition | No | Yes | Pay-as-you-go | PSL5 | Pay-as-you-go | 97 GB | 110 GB |
E | Standard Edition | No | No | Subscription | PL1 ESSD | Subscription | 2.38 GB (subscribed amount: 100.00 GB) | 0 GB |
50 50-GB storage plan automatically offsets the storage usage of the clusters:
The cold data archiving feature is enabled for Cluster A, but no cold data has been archived. As a result, the current amount of archived cold data remains at 0 MB. Therefore, the storage capacity of the storage plan remains unused.
The cold data archiving feature is disabled for Cluster B. No cold data is archived. Therefore, the storage capacity of the storage plan remains unused.
Cluster C has an archived cold data storage usage of 110 GB. An offset ratio of 0.045 is applied to the archived cold data storage usage. As a result, 4.95 GB (calculated as 110 GB × 0.045) of the storage plan is used to offset the archived cold data storage usage of the cluster. Then, the storage plan has a remaining capacity of 45.05 GB (calculated as 50 GB - 4.95 GB).
Cluster E does not support the cold data archiving feature. No cold data is archived. Therefore, the storage capacity of the storage plan remains unchanged.
To sum up, a total of 4.95 GB of the storage plan is used to offset the archived cold data storage usage of the clusters. The storage plan has a remaining capacity of 45.05 GB (calculated as 50 GB - 4.95 GB).
This example describes only how a storage plan offsets the archived cold data storage usage of the PolarDB clusters. Other types of storage usage, such as the cluster storage usage, storage usage of level-1 backups/data backups, level-2 backups, and log backups, are not included in this example.
Offset order
A storage plan offsets the different types of storage usage in the following order:
Edition: Enterprise Edition > Standard Edition.
Enterprise Edition clusters: Cluster storage usage (PSL5 and PSL4) > Level-1 backup storage usage beyond the free quota > Cold data archiving storage usage > 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.
Standard Edition clusters: Cluster storage usage > Data backup storage usage beyond the free quota > 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.
Best practices
Evaluate the required storage plan specifications
If you have purchased a PolarDB cluster, estimate the required storage plan capacity.
System estimation
Log on to the . On the Overview page, select Storage Plan Capacity Estimation on the right side of the All Cluster Data section to estimate the storage capacity of all PolarDB clusters in your Alibaba Cloud account.
NoteThe Required Storage Capacity calculated in the Storage Plan Capacity Estimation dialog box does not include the storage plans that you purchased. For example, if you purchased a 100-GB storage plan applicable to the regions in the Chinese mainland, the 333.53 GB calculated in the preceding figure does not take into account the 100-GB storage plan that you have purchased. Therefore, you need to only purchase an additional storage plan of 233.53 GB.
The calculation in the Storage Plan Capacity Estimation does not include the backup storage usage in the cluster recycle bin, the cold data archiving storage usage, and the data storage usage of Standard Edition clusters.
Self-estimation
View the different types of storage usage of all clusters. For more information, see View the database storage usage, View the backup storage usage, and View information about the cold data archived in OSS.
Estimate the required storage plan capacity based on the offset rules of each type of storage usage. For more information, see the "Offset rules for cluster storage usage" section, the "Offset rules for backup storage usage (level-1 backups/data backups, level-2 backups, and log backups)" section, and the "Offset rules for cold data archiving storage usage" of this topic.
How do I combine storage plans?
You can combine storage plans by using one of the following methods:
The higher the storage plan specifications, the greater the discount. We recommend that you select a storage plan specification that is slightly larger than your storage usage.
You can combine multiple storage plans to meet the specifications requirements that are not supported by the available storage plans. For example, if your storage amount is close to 1,600 GB, you can purchase a 1,000-GB storage plan, a 500-GB storage plan, and a 100-GB storage plan.
You can select a storage plan based on the actual storage amount and the price of the storage plans. Example:
If the storage amount of your business is close to 45,000 GB, the following storage plan solutions can be used. In this example, the storage plans applicable to the regions in the Chinese mainland is used.
Solution 1: Purchase a 50,000-GB storage plan. The price is USD 14,860 per month.
Solution 2: Purchase a 30,000-GB storage plan, a 10,000-GB storage plan, and a 5,000-GB storage plan. The price is 9,760 + 3,260 + 2,020 = USD 15,040 per month.
Solution 3: Purchase a 30,000-GB storage plan, a 10,000-GB storage plan, a 3,000-GB storage plan, and a 2,000-GB storage plan. The price is 9,760 + 3,260 + 1,210 + 980=USD 15,210 per month.
The 50,000-GB storage plan of solution 1 is more cost effective.
Related operations
Purchase a storage plan
You can purchase a storage plan on the PolarDB buy page. The following table describes the parameters.
Parameter | Description |
Resource Plan Type |
|
Storage Plan Specification | The capacity of the storage plan. Note For information about how to select a storage plan of appropriate specifications for your cluster, see the "Evaluate the required storage plan specifications" section of this topic. |
Duration | The validity period of the storage plan. Note If you select 1 Month, the storage plan is valid for one month. |
View the usage details of a storage plan
You can view the usage details of storage plans that are valid and those that expired for less than one year.
For information about how to view the storage usage of a cluster, see View the database storage usage, View the backup storage usage, and View information about the cold data archived in OSS.
You can choose or to go to the Manage Reserved Instances page. Then, select the Resource Packages type to view the storage plans that are valid or expired for less than one year.
Related operations
On the Instances tab, you can view the storage plans that are valid or expired for less than one year.
On the Details tab, you can view the usage details of the storage plans.
Upgrade a storage plan
Go to the page. Select the Resource Packages type, find the storage plan that you want to upgrade, and then click Upgrade in the Actions column.
Renew a storage plan
Go to the page. Select the Resource Packages type, find the storage plan that you want to renew, and then click Renew in the Actions column.
Unsubscribe from a storage plan
If your Alibaba Cloud account does not support self-service unsubscription, contact us.
If your Alibaba Cloud account supports self-service unsubscription, you can go to the page. Select Unsubscribe from Resources That Are Being Used > Resource Plans and click Search. Find the storage plans from which you want to unsubscribe, and click Unsubscribe From Resources.
If your storage plan has expired, you cannot unsubscribe from it.