：Purchase a pay-as-you-go cluster

Prerequisites

An Alibaba Cloud account is registered and is used to log on to the PolarDB console. For more information, see Register and log on to an Alibaba Cloud account.

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. Set Billing Method to Pay-As-You-Go.

   When you create a pay-as-you-go cluster, you do not need to make a payment first. You are charged for the computing, storage and proxies that you use.

3. Configure the following parameters.

   Parameter	Description
   Region	The region of the cluster. After a cluster is created, the region of the cluster cannot be changed. Note Make sure that the PolarDB cluster and the Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance to which it will be connected are deployed in the same region. Otherwise, the PolarDB cluster and the ECS instance can communicate only over the Internet, which degrades performance. You can deploy your PolarDB cluster and the ECS instance in the same zone or in different zones. If you create a PolarDB cluster in the same zone as the ECS instance, the network latency is reduced and the access speed is increased.
   Creation Method	The method that is used to create a PolarDB cluster. Create Primary Cluster: creates a new PolarDB cluster. 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. 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 ApsaraDB RDS instance. You can select PostgreSQL 9, PostgreSQL 10, PostgreSQL 11, PostgreSQL 12, PostgreSQL 13, PostgreSQL 14, PostgreSQL 15, or PostgreSQL 16. Source RDS Instance: the source ApsaraDB RDS instance. Read-only instances are excluded. Note You can select other options to create databases of other engines.
   Database Engine	Select the Database Engine. PolarDB for PostgreSQL supports PostgreSQL 14 and PostgreSQL 15.
   Database Edition	Set Database Edition as Standard Edition.
   Specification	Select the specification for compute nodes. General-purpose is selected by default. Note For more information about the specifications of compute nodes, see Specifications of Standard Edition compute nodes.
   CPU Architecture	Select X86 or YiTian ARM for CPU Architecture. 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.
   Nodes	Set the number of Nodes. By default, the cluster consists of one primary node and one read-only node. You can select two nodes (one primary node and one read-only node) or one node (primary node).
   Primary Zone	The primary zone where the cluster resides. 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.
   Network Type	Configure the VPC and vSwitch. The network type must be VPC. 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 an internal network to achieve optimal performance. Use an existing VPC that meets your network requirements. For example, if your ECS instances belong to an existing VPC which aligns with your network plan, you can use 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 towards 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 towards 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.
   Enable Hot Standby Cluster	Select whether to Enable Hot Standby Storage Cluster. If the hot standby storage cluster feature is enabled, both the primary PolarDB cluster and the hot standby storage cluster are deployed in the same region. The two clusters each have three replicas, which adds up to six replicas. This delivers higher SLA than when this feature is disabled. When this feature is disabled, only the primary cluster is deployed. The cluster has three replicas, and the storage unit price is half of that when this feature is enabled. This delivers lower SLA than when this feature is enabled.
   Nodes	Set the number of Nodes. By default, the cluster consists of one primary node and one read-only node. You can select two nodes (one primary node and one read-only node) or one node (primary node).
   Filter	Select the specifications for compute nodes. For more node specifications, see Specifications for computing nodes of Standard Edition.
   PolarProxy Type	Enable or disable PolarProxy and set the specifications of PolarProxy. PolarDB supports the Standard Enterprise Edition type. The Standard Enterprise Edition type is available for General-purpose clusters. which shares CPU resources with smart elastic scaling within seconds provided based on business loads. You can specify the PolarProxy specifications, which range from 2 vCPUs (2C) to 64 vCPUs (64C). Note If you set Nodes to one node (a primary node) or disable PolarProxy, you do not need to specify the PolarProxy specifications.
   Storage Type	Select the 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 in 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). For more information about the ESSD performance, see ESSDs. Important After the storage of an ESSD is exhausted, the disk is locked. In this case, the disk handles only read operations.
   Storage Capacity	Specify the Storage Capacity parameter. The amount of storage capacity that you want to purchase. Valid values: 20 GB to 64 TB. The value that you select must be a multiple of 10 GB.

Step 2: Configure advanced options

In the Advanced Options (Optional) section, you can configure parameters such as Cluster Name and Resource Group.

Configure the following parameters.

Step 3: Configure the number of clusters to purchase and confirm the order

Before the cluster is created, make sure that the selected configurations such as the quantity meet your requirements.

1. Check the selected configuration on the right side of the page.

2. Specify Quantity.

   Note

   • You can create a maximum of 50 clusters at a time. This allows you to create multiple clusters in specific scenarios such as deploying multiple game servers at a time.

   • You can purchase a maximum of 50 clusters with your Alibaba Cloud account.

3. Read and select the terms of service.

4. View the fee and details in the lower part of the page. If they are correct, click Buy Now.

5. On the Purchase page, confirm the order and the payment method, and then click Subscribe.

   After you complete the payment, wait 10 to 15 minutes. Then, you can view the new cluster on the Clusters page.

   Note

   • If the cluster is in the Creating state, it is unavailable. The cluster is available only if the cluster is in the Running state.

   • Make sure that you select the region where the cluster is deployed. Otherwise, you cannot view the cluster.