Custom Purchase

Step 1: Complete the basic settings

In this step, you can configure the basic parameters and resources that are required to purchase a cluster. The basic parameters include the billing method, region, and zone. The basic resources include the database engine, compute node specifications, PolarProxy, and storage.

1. Go to the PolarDB cluster purchase page.

2. Configure Billing Method.

   • Subscription: a upfront model. You select the resources of fixed specifications and pay upfront when you create a cluster. The longer subscription duration has the greater the discount. This method is suitable for businesses with consistent and long-term resource requirements.

   • Pay-as-you-go: a postpaid model. You select the resources of fixed specifications but do not need to pay upfront when you create a cluster. You are charged based on your actual resource usage. This method is suitable for businesses with flexible resource requirements.

   • Serverless: a postpaid model. You do not need to select the resources of fixed specifications or pay upfront when you create a cluster. In this billing method, PolarDB can dynamically scale resources based on the workload requirements. This method is applicable to businesses with fluctuating or unpredictable loads.

   Note

   If your billing method no longer meets your business requirements, you can switch the billing method. For more information, see Switch between billing methods.

3. Configure Region.

   Select a region that is near your geographical location to reduce latency. You cannot change the region of a cluster after the cluster is created. For more information, see Regions and zones.

   Note

   We recommend that you select the same region as the ECS instance to which you want the cluster to connect. Otherwise, the cluster and the ECS instance can communicate only over the Internet, which degrades performance.

4. For Creation Method, choose Create Primary Cluster to create a PolarDB cluster.

   Or you can choose another option as follows according to your needs:

   • Create Secondary Cluster: Creates a secondary cluster that is deployed in a global database network (GDN). For more information, see Add a secondary cluster.

   • Upgrade/Migrate from PolarDB: Creates a cluster by replicating data from the source PolarDB cluster and synchronizing incremental data. This method is often used to upgrade the major version of a PolarDB for MySQL cluster. For more information, see Overview of major version upgrades.

     • Source PolarDB Version: the version of the source PolarDB cluster. Valid values: MySQL 5.6, MySQL 5.7, and MySQL 8.0.

     • Source PolarDB Cluster: the source PolarDB cluster.

   • Migrate from RDS: creates a cluster by cloning the data of an ApsaraDB RDS instance and synchronizing incremental data. In most cases, this method is used to migrate data. Before migration is complete, the PolarDB cluster remains in the read-only mode, with binary logging enabled by default. For more information, see Overview.

     • Source RDS Version: the engine version of the source RDS instance. Valid values: MySQL 5.6, MySQL 5.7, and MySQL 8.0.

     • Source RDS Instance: the available source ApsaraDB RDS instances. Read-only instances are excluded.

       Note

       Read-only instances are not displayed in the list. ApsaraDB RDS instances that run non-InnoDB engines are not supported. When you create a PolarDB cluster by restoring from a backup, the source instance can keep running without being interrupted.

   • Clone from RDS: Creates a PolarDB cluster by cloning all the data of a selected ApsaraDB RDS instance. For more information, see Clone an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance to a PolarDB for MySQL cluster.

     • Source RDS Version: the engine version of the source ApsaraDB RDS instance. Valid values: MySQL 5.6, MySQL 5.7, and MySQL 8.0.

     • Source RDS Instance: the available source ApsaraDB RDS instances. Read-only instances are excluded.

       Note

       ApsaraDB RDS instances that run non-InnoDB engines are not supported. When you create a PolarDB cluster by restoring from a backup, the source instance can keep running without being interrupted.

   • Restore from Recycle: creates a cluster by restoring a backup of a deleted cluster from the recycle bin.

     • Source Version: the version of the cluster that is deleted.

     • Deleted Clusters: the name of the cluster that is deleted.

     • Backup History: the backup file that you want to restore.

5. For Database Engine, choose MySQL Compatible and one of the following from the drop-down list:

   PolarDB supports the following database engines:

   • MySQL 8.0.2 (fully compatible with MySQL 8.0)

   • (Recommended) MySQL 8.0.1 (fully compatible with MySQL 8.0)

   • MySQL 5.7 (fully compatible with MySQL 5.7)

   • MySQL 5.6 (fully compatible with MySQL 5.6)

6. Set the Database Edition parameter to Standard Edition.

7. Set Specification.

   You can select General-purpose or Dedicated for Standard Edition.

   • Dedicated: The cluster does not share allocated compute resources such as CPUs with other clusters on the same server. This improves the reliability and stability of the cluster.

   • General-purpose: Idle computing resources such as CPUs are shared among clusters on the same host to ensure cost-effectiveness.

   For more information about the differences between the two specification types, see Comparison between general-purpose and dedicated compute nodes.

8. Set the CPU Architecture parameter to X86 or YiTian ARM.

   • x86: The x86 architecture is paired with Intel processors and complemented by high-performance network infrastructure. The architecture provides a comprehensive enhancement in overall performance and stability, and meets the demands of enterprise-level applications for high stability and computing power.

   • ARM: The ARM architecture uses Yitian 710 chips that are developed by Alibaba Cloud and 25 Gigabit Ethernet smart network interface cards (NICs) to provide strong computing power. The architecture is complemented by high-performance network infrastructure to meet the demands of public service sectors and enterprises such as Internet companies for cost-effectiveness, security, and stability of cloud services.

9. Set Primary Zone.

   • The zone in which the new cluster is deployed. A zone is a geographically isolated location within a region. All zones in a region provide the same level of service performance.

   • You can deploy your PolarDB cluster and ECS instance in the same zone or in different zones.

   • You need to specify only the primary zone. The system automatically selects a secondary zone.

10. Configure a VPC and a vSwitch.

    The network type is fixed to VPC. You do not need to configure this parameter. Make sure that the PolarDB cluster is created in the same VPC as the ECS instance to which you want to connect. Otherwise, the cluster and the ECS instance cannot communicate over the internal network to achieve optimal performance.

    • Use an existing VPC that meets your network requirements. For example, if you have an existing ECS instance and the VPC to which the ECS instance belongs meets your network requirements, select the VPC.

    • Otherwise, use the default VPC and the default vSwitch.

      • Default VPC:

        • Only one VPC is specified as the default VPC in the region that you select.

        • The CIDR block of the default VPC uses a 16-bit subnet mask, such as 192.168.0.0/16, and provides up to 65,536 private IP addresses.

        • The default VPC does not count against the quota of VPCs that you can create.

      • Default vSwitch:

        • Only one vSwitch is specified as the default vSwitch in the zone that you select.

        • The CIDR block of the default vSwitch uses a 20-bit subnet mask, such as 192.168.0.0/20, and provides up to 4,096 private IP addresses.

        • The default vSwitch does not count against the quota of vSwitches that you can create in a VPC.

    • If the default VPC and vSwitch cannot meet your requirements, you can create your custom VPC and vSwitch. For more information, see Create and manage a VPC.

    Note

    If you have never deployed a cluster in a specific region, no default VPC or vSwitch is available in the region. In this case, you need to create a VPC and vSwitch.

11. Configure the Add to Whitelist parameter to specify whether to add the CIDR blocks of the VPC to the whitelist of the PolarDB cluster.

    Note

    After you create a PolarDB for MySQL cluster, you must configure an IP address whitelist and create an initial account for the cluster. Only ECS instances in the specified security group and the IP addresses or CIDR blocks added to the whitelist can access the cluster. For more information, see Configure whitelists for a cluster.

12. Configure High-availability Mode.

    PolarDB provides multiple high availability modes. After you enable the hot standby storage cluster feature for a PolarDB cluster, a hot standby storage cluster is created in the secondary zone of the region in which the PolarDB cluster resides or in a different data center in the same zone. The hot standby storage cluster has independent storage resources. Whether the hot standby storage cluster has independent compute resources varies based on the high availability mode. When the PolarDB cluster in the primary zone fails, the hot standby storage cluster immediately takes over and handles read and write operations and storage tasks.

    Note

    • For more information about the hot standby storage cluster and related solutions, see High availability modes (hot standby clusters).

    • Rules for changing high availability modes:

      • You cannot directly change the high availability mode of a cluster from Double Zones (Hot Standby Storage Cluster Enabled) or Double Zones (Hot Standby Storage and Compute Clusters Enabled) to Single Zone (Hot Standby Storage Cluster Disabled).

        For such change of the high availability mode, we recommend that you purchase a new cluster and select the Single Zone (Hot Standby Storage Cluster Disabled) high availability mode for the cluster. Then, migrate the existing cluster to the new cluster by using Data Transmission Service (DTS). For information about how to migrate an existing cluster to a new cluster, see Migrate data between PolarDB for MySQL clusters.

      • You can select the Three Zones high availability mode only when you purchase a new cluster. You cannot change the high availability mode of a cluster from Three Zones to other high availability modes and vice versa.

    • You can manually change the high availability mode of a cluster from Single Zone (Hot Standby Storage Cluster Disabled) to a different high availability mode. For more information, see High availability modes (hot standby clusters).

13. Select a node type.

    Note

    For information about the specifications of compute nodes, see Specifications of Standard Edition compute nodes.

14. Set Nodes.

    By default, the cluster consists of one primary node and one read-only node. You can select two nodes (a primary node and a read-only node) or one node (a primary node) for the cluster.

    Note

    • If you set the number of read-only nodes to 1 when you purchase a cluster, you cannot change the number to 0 after the cluster is created. To change the number of read-only nodes of an existing cluster to 0, you need to purchase a new cluster with no read-only nodes and migrate data of the existing cluster to the new cluster over Data Transmission Service (DTS). For more information, see Migrate data between PolarDB for MySQL clusters.

    • Single Node Edition is no longer available. To include only one node in your cluster, set the number of read-only nodes to 0 at cluster creation.

    • See the following information about the nodes:

      • Read/Write node: processes write operations and some read operations. It is also known as the primary node. The active-active failover mechanism is used between the primary node and read-only nodes to ensure high availability of databases.

      • Read-only node: processes read operations to reduce the loads on the primary node. High availability and scalability are supported. Add or remove read-only nodes based on your requirements.

      • Read-only Column Store Node: the IMCI feature node. The IMCI feature uses the columnar storage to accelerate online analytical processing (OLAP) queries. This allows PolarDB for MySQL to achieve integrated real-time transaction processing and data analytics. After you add read-only column store nodes, configure automatic request distribution among row store and column store nodes, and add IMCIs to business tables, OLAP queries are routed to read-only row store nodes or read-only column store nodes instead of to the primary node.

15. Select the PolarProxy specifications.

    PolarDB provides two PolarProxy editions: Standard Enterprise Edition and Dedicated Enterprise Edition.

    • Standard Enterprise Edition: applicable to General-purpose clusters. It uses shared CPU resources and provides intelligent, instant, and elastic scaling based on business workloads.

    • Dedicated Enterprise Edition: applicable to Dedicated clusters. It uses dedicated CPU resources and provides better stability.

    You can specify PolarProxy specifications, which range from 4 vCPUs (4C) to 16 vCPUs (16C).

    Note

    If you set the Nodes parameter to one node (a primary node) or disable PolarProxy, you do not need to specify PolarProxy specifications.

16. Set Storage Type.

    ESSDs are ultra-high performance disks developed by Alibaba Cloud. ESSDs use a next-generation distributed block storage architecture and support 25 Gigabit Ethernet networks and Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA). Each ESSD has low one-way latency and can deliver up to 1 million random read/write IOPS. ESSDs are provided at the following performance levels (PLs):

    • PL0 ESSD: A PL0 ESSD delivers the basic performance of an ESSD.

    • PL1 ESSD: A PL1 ESSD delivers IOPS that is five times that delivered by a PL0 ESSD and throughput that is approximately twice that delivered by the PL0 ESSD.

    • PL2 ESSD: A PL2 ESSD delivers IOPS and throughput that are approximately twice the IOPS and throughput delivered by a PL1 ESSD.

    • PL3 ESSD: A PL3 ESSD delivers IOPS that is up to ten times that delivered by a PL2 ESSD and throughput that is up to five times that delivered by the PL2 ESSD. The ESSDs are suitable for business scenarios in which highly concurrent requests must be processed with high I/O performance and at low read and write latencies.

    • ESSD AutoPL disk: Compared with an ESSD at one of the preceding PLs, an ESSD AutoPL disk decouples IOPS and storage, gives you the flexibility to configure IOPS and storage, and allows you to make some adjustments as needed. This reduces the overall Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

      Important

      • For more information about the performance of ESSDs, see ESSDs.

      • After the storage of an ESSD is exhausted, the disk is locked. In this case, the disk handles only read operations.

    The following table describes the PSL4 and PSL5 storage types.

    Storage type	Feature	Scenario
    PSL5	PSL5 is the storage type used in historical versions of PolarDB and the default storage type of PolarDB clusters purchased before June 7, 2022. PSL5 provides high performance, reliability, and availability.	Business scenarios that require high performance and reliability and use databases as the core of business systems, such as the finance, e-commerce, and public service sectors, and large and medium-sized Internet services.
    PSL4	PSL4 is a new storage type available for PolarDB. PSL4 uses the Smart-SSD technology developed in-house by Alibaba Cloud to compress and decompress data at the physical SSD level. This reduces the storage price without compromising SSD performance.	Business scenarios that prioritize cost-effectiveness.

    Note

    If you select ESSD AutoPL, you can configure the Provisioned IOPS for AutoPL Disks parameter to increase the input/output operations per second (IOPS) of the ESSD AutoPL disks from the initial maximum value of 50,000. The maximum value of the parameter is 50,000. Therefore, the maximum IOPS of an ESSD AutoPL disk can reach 100,000 in theory.

17. If you have set the billing method to Subscription, you can set Storage Billing Method.

    Choose Pay-as-you-go or Subscription.

    • Pay-as-you-go: You do not need to specify the storage capacity when you choose the pay-as-you-go storage billing method. The storage capacity of the cluster can be automatically scaled up as the volume of data increases. You are charged for the actual data volume. For more information, see Pay-as-you-go prices.

    • Subscription: You need to purchase a specific amount of storage capacity when you create the cluster. For more information, see Subscription prices.

18. Configure Storage Capacity

    • Pay-as-you-go: You do not need to specify the storage capacity. The storage capacity of the cluster can be automatically scaled up as the volume of data increases.

      Note

      The amount of ESSD storage capacity that you want to purchase. Valid values: 20 GB to 32 TB. The value that you select must be a multiple of 10 GB.

    • Subscription: You need to set the Storage Capacity based on which you are billed.

      Note

      The amount of storage capacity of the specified PSL type that you want to purchase. Valid values: 10 GB to 500 TB. The value that you select must be a multiple of 10 GB.