ApsaraDB RDS：Create an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance

New version

1. Go to the ApsaraDB RDS buy page of the new version.

2. Configure the Billing Method parameter.

   Billing method	Suggestion	Benefit
   Subscription	A subscription instance is an instance for which you pay an upfront fee. If you want to use an instance for a long period of time, we recommend that you select the Subscription billing method. If you select the subscription billing method, configure the Subscription Duration parameter in the lower part of the page.	For long-term use, the subscription billing method is more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go billing method. You are offered lower prices for longer subscription durations.
   Pay-as-you-go	You are charged on an hourly basis for a pay-as-you-go RDS instance based on your actual resource usage. If you want to use an RDS instance for a short period of time, we recommend that you select the Pay-as-you-go billing method. You can create a pay-as-you-go RDS instance. After you confirm that the created RDS instance meets your business requirements, you can change the billing method of the RDS instance from Pay-as-you-go to .	You can release a pay-as-you-go RDS instance based on your business requirements. The billing cycle of a pay-as-you-go RDS instance immediately stops after you release the RDS instance.
   Serverless	If you want to run scheduled tasks, your business workloads frequently change, or the business workloads are fully managed or do not require O&M, we recommend that you select Serverless. For more information, see Overview of serverless ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instances and Create a serverless ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.	You are charged based on your consumption of resources for workloads. This can help reduce costs.

   Note

   You can view the price in the lower-right corner of the page. The price is displayed only after you configure all required parameters.

3. Configure the Region parameter.

   Important

   You cannot change the region of a RDS instance after purchase. Exercise caution when you configure this parameter.

   We recommend that you create the serverless RDS instance in the same region as the ECS instance. If the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in different regions, these instances cannot communicate over an internal network. As a result, these instances cannot deliver optimal performance.

   Note

   • If an ECS instance connects to an RDS instance over an internal network, make sure that the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in the same region.

   • If your application is deployed on an on-premises server or computer, we recommend that you select a region that is in close proximity to the on-premises server or computer. This way, you can use the public endpoint of the RDS instance to connect to the RDS instance from your application.

4. Configure the Database Engine, Product Type, and Storage Type parameters.

   1. Configure the Database Engine parameter.

      Select Microsoft SQL Server. SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2012, SQL Server 2016, SQL Server 2017, SQL Server 2019, and SQL Server 2022 are supported.

      Note

      • The available database engines and versions vary based on the region that you select.

      • RDS instances that run SQL Server Basic and SQL Server Web can reside in the classic network and VPCs. RDS instances that run other SQL Server editions can reside only in VPCs, and you must configure the VPC and vSwitch of Primary Node parameters.

   2. Configure the Edition parameter.

      RDS edition	Description	Benefit
      RDS Basic Edition	The database system consists of only a primary RDS instance. Computing is separated from storage. Read-only RDS instances are not supported.	RDS Basic Edition is cost-effective and is suitable for learning and testing. Note RDS instances that run RDS Basic Edition require a long period of time to restart or recover from faults.
      RDS High-availability Edition	The database system consists of a primary RDS instance and a secondary RDS instance. These instances work in HA mode and support automatic failover. The secondary RDS instance cannot be accessed. Read-only RDS instances are not supported.	We recommend that you use this RDS edition. RDS High-availability Edition is suitable for production environments and is suitable for more than 80% of business scenarios.
      RDS Cluster Edition	The database system consists of a primary RDS instance and a secondary RDS instance. These instances work in HA mode and support automatic failover. The secondary RDS instances can be accessed. This increases the read capability of your database system.	You can create up to seven read-only RDS instances to improve the read capability. However, read-only RDS instances do not participate in the primary instance election or workload switchover. You can manage costs in a flexible manner. Secondary RDS instances are readable.

      Note

      • The available RDS editions vary based on the region and database engine that you select.

      • Serverless RDS instances run only RDS High-availability Edition.

      • For more information, see Overview of ApsaraDB RDS editions.

   3. Configure the Storage Type parameter.

      Item	ESSD
      Scalability	You can increase the storage capacity up to 32 TB. No transient connections occur during storage capacity expansion. You can upgrade, downgrade, create, or release the RDS instance within minutes. Automatic storage expansion is supported.
      Performance	PL1<PL2<PL3 A performance level 2 (PL2) Enterprise SSD (ESSD) delivers twice the IOPS and throughput of a PL1 ESSD. A PL3 ESSD delivers IOPS that is up to 20 times the IOPS delivered by a PL1 ESSD. A PL3 ESSD also delivers throughput that is up to 11 times the throughput delivered by a PL1 ESSD.
      Backup	A backup can be completed within minutes or seconds. The highest backup frequency is one backup every 15 minutes.

      Note

      • If you select the ESSD storage type, you can select Cloud Disk Encryption to enhance the security of your data. For more information, see Use the cloud disk encryption feature.

      • For more information about storage types, see Storage types.

5. Configure the Network Type parameter. The Network Type parameter is fixed as VPC.

   1. Configure the VPC parameter.

      We recommend that you select the VPC in which your ECS instance resides for the RDS instance. If the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in different VPCs, these instances cannot communicate over an internal network.

      Note

      You can connect the RDS instance and the ECS instance over an internal network even if the instances use different vSwitches in the same VPC.

   2. Configure the Add to Whitelist parameter to specify whether to add the CIDR block of the selected VPC to a whitelist of the RDS instance.

      If you set this parameter to Yes, the ECS instances that reside in the selected VPC can access the RDS instance.

      Note

      If you set the Add to Whitelist parameter to No, you can configure a whitelist after the RDS instance is created. For more information, see Configure an IP address whitelist.

6. Select a zone and a vSwitch fo the instance and then configure the Deployment Method parameter.

   • Select a zone.

     A zone is an independent physical area within a region. For example, the China (Hangzhou) region contains Zone H, Zone I, and Zone J.

     • No significant differences exist between the zones in the same region.

     • If the RDS instance resides in the same zone as the ECS instance that you want to connect, these instances can deliver optimal performance. If the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in different zones in the same region, the performance of these instances slightly decreases.

   • Select a vSwitch.

     A vSwitch is a basic network device that connects different cloud resources. When you create a cloud resource in a VPC, you must specify a vSwitch to which the cloud resource is connected.

     Select an existing vSwitch or click Create vSwitch. For more information, see Create and manage a vSwitch.

   • Select a deployment method.

     • Multi-zone Deployment: We recommend that you use the deployment method. The primary RDS instance and the secondary RDS instance reside in different zones of a region to provide cross-zone disaster recovery.

       If you set the Deployment Method parameter to Multi-zone Deployment, you must configure the Zone and Network of Primary Node and Zone and Network of Secondary Node parameters.

     • Single-zone Deployment: The primary RDS instance and the secondary RDS instance reside in the same zone.

       If you select RDS Basic Edition, you can select only the Single-zone Deployment method.

     Note

     • If your database system consists of primary and secondary RDS instances, we recommend that you select Multi-zone Deployment to implement cross-zone disaster recovery.

     • If Sold Out appears in the upper-right corner of a zone name, this zone does not have sufficient resources. Switch to another zone.

7. Configure the Instance Type parameter.

   1. Configure the Category parameter. Valid values: General-purpose, Dedicated, and Shared. The available instance types vary based on the RDS edition and database engine. Refer to the available instance types in the ApsaraDB RDS console.

      Instance type	Description	Benefit
      General-purpose	A general-purpose RDS instance occupies all the allocated memory and I/O resources. A general-purpose RDS instance shares CPU and storage resources with the other general-purpose RDS instances that are deployed on the same host.	RDS instances of the general-purpose instance type are cost-effective.
      Dedicated	A dedicated RDS instance occupies all the allocated CPU, memory, storage, and I/O resources. Note The dedicated host instance family is the highest configuration of the dedicated instance family. A dedicated host RDS instance exclusively occupies all the CPU, memory, storage, and I/O resources of the host on which the RDS instance is deployed.	RDS instances of the dedicated instance type provide higher performance and higher stability. Note An RDS instance that runs RDS Basic Edition does not support the dedicated instance family.
      Shared	A shared RDS instance exclusively occupies the allocated memory and storage resources. A shared RDS instance shares CPU resources with other RDS instances that are deployed on the same host.	A shared RDS instance is cost-effective but delivers moderate stability.

   2. Configure detailed specifications, including CPU cores, memory capacity, and maximum number of connections.

      Note

      For more information, see Primary ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance types.

8. Configure the Storage Capacity parameter.

   The storage capacity is used to store data files, system files, archived log files, and transaction files. The valid values of the Storage Capacity parameter vary based on the values of the Storage Type and Instance Type parameters that you specify. You can adjust the storage capacity at a step size of 5 GB.

   Note

   If you select the local SSD storage type, the storage capacity of the RDS instance may vary based on the instance type. If you select the standard SSD or ESSD storage type, the storage capacity of the RDS instance does not vary based on the instance type. For more information, see Primary ApsaraDB RDS instance types.

9. Optional. If you set the Billing Method parameter to Subscription, configure the Subscription Duration parameter based on your business requirements.

   • Baseline Price: The list price of a subscription RDS instance without any discounts.

   • Preferential Monthly Fee: The monthly price that is calculated based on the baseline price of a subscription RDS instance.

     Note

     The fee is calculated based only on the list price of the RDS instance, which does not include coupons or promotions.

   • Price: You can move the pointer over View Details on the right side of the page to view the estimated total price that is calculated based on the subscription duration and the baseline price of the RDS instance.

10. Configure other custom parameters. If you do not have special business requirements, you can retain the default values of these parameters.

    Parameter	Description
    Port	You can initialize the port when you create the RDS instance. Valid values: 1000 to 5999.
    Release Protection	If you set the Billing Method parameter to Pay-as-you-go, you can select Release Protection to prevent the RDS instance from being released due to unintended operations. For more information, see Enable or disable the release protection feature.
    Resource Group	You can use the default resource group or select a custom resource group based on your business requirements.
    Instance Description	Enter a description for easy identification.
    Character Set Collation Rule	You can configure the Character Set Collation Rule parameter when you create the RDS instance. Default value: Chinese_PRC_CI_AS. You can also modify the value of the Character Set Collation Rule parameter after you create the RDS instance. For more information, see Change the character set collation and time zone of system databases.
    Tags	You can add tags to distinguish multiple RDS instances to facilitate instance management. For more information, see Use tags to filter ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instances.
    Privileged Account	If you select Configure Now, you must configure the Database Account, Password, and Confirm Password parameters. If you select Configure Later, you can create a privileged account after the RDS instance is created. Note Each RDS instance can have only one privileged account. The privileged account cannot be deleted. For more information about privileged accounts and how to create accounts, see Create a database and an account.

11. In the upper-right corner of the page, configure the Quantity parameter.

    The default value is 1. You can purchase up to 20 instances at a time. Specify the number of instances based on your business requirements.

12. Confirm the configurations, quantity, and subscription duration of the RDS instance, read and select ApsaraDB RDS Terms of Service, click Pay Now, and then complete the payment. You must configure the Subscription Duration parameter only when you select the subscription billing method for the RDS instance. The Congratulations or The service is activated message is displayed in the ApsaraDB RDS console.

    Note

    If you select the subscription billing method for the RDS instance, we recommend that you select Enable Auto-renewal. This prevents interruptions on your application even if you forget to renew the RDS instance.

    The auto-renewal cycle is one month for monthly subscription and one year for yearly subscription. The actual auto-renewal cycle in the order prevails. You can disable auto-renewal at any time. For more information, see Use the auto-renewal feature.

13. View the RDS instance.

    Go to the Instances page. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which the RDS instance resides. Then, find the RDS instance based on the Creation Time parameter.

    Note

    The system requires 1 to 10 minutes to create an RDS instance. You can refresh the page to view the RDS instance that you created.

Old version

Step 1: Configure basic settings

1. Go to the ApsaraDB RDS buy page of the old version.

2. Configure the Billing Method parameter.

   Billing method	Suggestion	Benefit
   Subscription	A subscription instance is an instance for which you pay an upfront fee. If you want to use an instance for a long period of time, we recommend that you select the Subscription billing method. If you select the subscription billing method, configure the Subscription Duration parameter in the lower part of the page.	For long-term use, the subscription billing method is more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go billing method. You are offered lower prices for longer subscription durations.
   Pay-as-you-go	You are charged on an hourly basis for a pay-as-you-go RDS instance based on your actual resource usage. If you want to use an RDS instance for a short period of time, we recommend that you select the Pay-as-you-go billing method. You can create a pay-as-you-go RDS instance. After you confirm that the created RDS instance meets your business requirements, you can change the billing method of the RDS instance from Pay-as-you-go to Subscription.	You can release a pay-as-you-go RDS instance based on your business requirements. The billing cycle of a pay-as-you-go RDS instance immediately stops after you release the RDS instance.
   Serverless	If you want to run scheduled tasks, your business workloads frequently change, or the business workloads are fully managed or do not require O&M, we recommend that you select Serverless. For more information, see Overview of serverless ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instances and Create a serverless ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance.	You are charged based on your consumption of resources for workloads. This can help reduce costs.

   Note

   You can view the price in the lower-right corner of the page. The price is displayed only after you configure all required parameters.

3. Configure the Region parameter.

   The region in which the RDS instance resides. We recommend that you create the RDS instance in the same region as the ECS instance. If the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in different regions, these instances cannot communicate over an internal network. As a result, these instances cannot deliver optimal performance.

   Note

   • After an RDS instance is created, you cannot change the region of the RDS instance. If an ECS instance connects to an RDS instance over an internal network, make sure that the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in the same region.

   • If your application is deployed on an on-premises server or computer, we recommend that you select a region that is in close proximity to the on-premises server or computer. This way, you can use the public endpoint of the RDS instance to connect to the RDS instance from your application.

4. Configure the Database Engine, Product Type, and Storage Type parameters.

   1. Configure the Database Engine parameter.

      Select Microsoft SQL Server. SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2012, SQL Server 2016, SQL Server 2017, SQL Server 2019, and SQL Server 2022 are supported.

      Note

      • The available database engines and versions vary based on the region that you select.

      • RDS instances that run SQL Server Basic and SQL Server Web can reside in the classic network and VPCs. RDS instances that run other SQL Server editions can reside only in VPCs, and you must configure the VPC and vSwitch of Primary Node parameters.

   2. Configure the Edition parameter.

      RDS edition	Description	Benefit
      RDS Basic Edition	The database system consists of only a primary RDS instance. Computing is separated from storage. Read-only RDS instances are not supported.	RDS Basic Edition is cost-effective and is suitable for learning and testing. Note RDS instances that run RDS Basic Edition require a long period of time to restart or recover from faults.
      RDS High-availability Edition	The database system consists of a primary RDS instance and a secondary RDS instance. These instances work in HA mode and support automatic failover. The secondary RDS instance cannot be accessed. Read-only RDS instances are not supported.	We recommend that you use the RDS edition. RDS High-availability Edition is suitable for production environments and is suitable for more than 80% of business scenarios.
      RDS Cluster Edition	The database system consists of a primary RDS instance and a secondary RDS instance. These instances work in HA mode and support automatic failover. The secondary RDS instances can be accessed. This increases the read capability of your database system.	You can create up to seven read-only RDS instances to improve the read capability. However, read-only RDS instances do not participate in the primary instance election or workload switchover. You can manage costs in a flexible manner. Secondary RDS instances are readable.

      Note

      • The available RDS editions vary based on the region and database engine that you select.

      • Serverless RDS instances run only RDS High-availability Edition.

      • For more information, see Overview of ApsaraDB RDS editions.

   3. Configure the Storage Type parameter.

      Item	ESSD
      Scalability	You can increase the storage capacity up to 32 TB. No transient connections occur during storage capacity expansion. You can upgrade, downgrade, create, or release the RDS instance within minutes. Automatic storage expansion is supported.
      Performance	PL1<PL2<PL3 A PL2 ESSD delivers twice the IOPS and throughput of a PL1 ESSD. A PL3 ESSD delivers IOPS that is up to 20 times the IOPS delivered by a PL1 ESSD. A PL3 ESSD also delivers throughput that is up to 11 times the throughput delivered by a PL1 ESSD.
      Backup	A backup can be completed within minutes or seconds. The highest backup frequency is one backup every 15 minutes.

      Note

      • If you select the ESSD storage type, you can select Cloud Disk Encryption to enhance the security of your data. For more information, see Use the cloud disk encryption feature.

      • For more information about storage types, see Storage types.

5. Select a zone for the instance and configure the Deployment Method parameter.

   • Select a zone.

     A zone is an independent physical area within a region. For example, the China (Hangzhou) region contains Zone H, Zone I, and Zone J.

     • No significant differences exist between the zones in the same region.

     • If the RDS instance resides in the same zone as the ECS instance that you want to connect, these instances can deliver optimal performance. If the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in different zones in the same region, the performance of these instances slightly decreases.

   • Select a deployment method.

     • Multi-zone Deployment: We recommend that you use the deployment method. The primary RDS instance and the secondary RDS instance reside in different zones of a region to provide cross-zone disaster recovery.

       If you set the Deployment Method parameter to Multi-zone Deployment, you must configure the Zone of Primary Node and Zone of Secondary Node parameters.

     • Single-zone Deployment: The primary RDS instance and the secondary RDS instance reside in the same zone.

       If you select Basic Edition, you can select only the Single-zone Deployment method.

     Note

     • If your database system consists of primary and secondary RDS instances, we recommend that you select Multi-zone Deployment to implement cross-zone disaster recovery.

     • If Sold Out appears in the upper-right corner of a zone name, this zone does not have sufficient resources. Switch to another zone.

6. Configure the Instance Type parameter.

   1. Configure the Category parameter. Valid values: General-purpose, Dedicated, and Shared. The available instance types vary based on the RDS edition and database engine. Refer to the available instance types in the ApsaraDB RDS console.

      Instance type	Description	Benefit
      General-purpose	A general-purpose RDS instance occupies all the allocated memory and I/O resources. A general-purpose RDS instance shares CPU and storage resources with the other general-purpose RDS instances that are deployed on the same host.	RDS instances of the general-purpose instance type are cost-effective.
      Dedicated	A dedicated RDS instance occupies all the allocated CPU, memory, storage, and I/O resources. Note The dedicated host instance family is the highest configuration of the dedicated instance family. A dedicated host RDS instance exclusively occupies all the CPU, memory, storage, and I/O resources of the host on which the RDS instance is deployed.	RDS instances of the dedicated instance type provide higher performance and higher stability. Note An RDS instance that runs RDS Basic Edition does not support the dedicated instance family.
      Shared	A shared RDS instance exclusively occupies the allocated memory and storage resources. A shared RDS instance shares CPU resources with other RDS instances that are deployed on the same host.	A shared RDS instance is cost-effective but delivers moderate stability.

   2. Configure detailed specifications, including CPU cores, memory capacity, and maximum number of connections.

      Note

      For more information, see Primary ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance types.

7. Configure the Storage Capacity parameter.

   The storage capacity is used to store data files, system files, archived log files, and transaction files. The valid values of the Storage Capacity parameter vary based on the values of the Storage Type and Instance Type parameters that you specify. You can adjust the storage capacity at a step size of 5 GB.

   Note

   If you select the local SSD storage type, the storage capacity of the RDS instance may vary based on the instance type. If you select the standard SSD or ESSD storage type, the storage capacity of the RDS instance does not vary based on the instance type. For more information, see Primary ApsaraDB RDS instance types.

8. Optional. If you set the Billing Method parameter to Subscription, configure the Subscription Duration parameter based on your business requirements.

9. In the lower-right corner of the page, click Next: Instance Configuration.

Step 2: Configure advanced settings

1. Configure the Network Type parameter. The Network Type parameter is fixed as VPC.

   1. Configure the VPC and vSwitch of Primary Node parameters.

      We recommend that you select the VPC in which your ECS instance resides for the RDS instance. If the RDS instance and the ECS instance reside in different VPCs, these instances cannot communicate over an internal network.

      Note

      • You can connect the RDS instance and the ECS instance over an internal network even if the instances use different vSwitches in the same VPC.

      • If you set the Deployment Method parameter to Multi-zone Deployment in the Basic Resources step, you must also configure the vSwitch of Secondary Node parameter.

   2. Configure the Add to Whitelist parameter to specify whether to add the CIDR block of the selected VPC to a whitelist of the RDS instance.

      If you set this parameter to Yes, the ECS instances that reside in the selected VPC can access the RDS instance.

      Note

      If you set the Add to Whitelist parameter to No, you can configure a whitelist after the RDS instance is created. For more information, see Configure an IP address whitelist.

   3. Configure the Port parameter.

      You can initialize the port when you create the RDS instance. Valid values: 1000 to 5999.

2. Configure other custom parameters. If you do not have special business requirements, you can retain the default values of these parameters.

   Parameter	Description
   Release Protection	If you set the Billing Method parameter to Pay-as-you-go, you can select Release Protection to prevent the RDS instance from being released due to unintended operations. For more information, see Enable or disable the release protection feature.
   Resource Group	You can use the default resource group or select a custom resource group based on your business requirements.
   Instance Description	Enter a description for easy identification.
   Tag	You can add tags to distinguish multiple RDS instances to facilitate instance management. For more information, see Use tags to filter ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instances.
   Privileged Account	If you select Configure Now, you must configure the Database Account, Password, and Confirm Password parameters. If you select Configure Later, you can create a privileged account after the RDS instance is created. Note Each RDS instance can have only one privileged account. The privileged account cannot be deleted. For more information about privileged accounts and how to create accounts, see Create a database and an account.

3. In the lower-right corner of the page, click Next: Confirm Order.

Step 3: Confirm the order

1. Confirm the configuration of the RDS instance in the Parameter Configuration section, configure the Quantity and Subscription Duration parameters, read and select Terms of Service, and then click Pay Now to complete the payment. You must configure the Subscription Duration parameter only if you select the subscription billing method for the RDS instance.

   Note

   If you select the subscription billing method for the RDS instance, we recommend that you select Auto-renewal. This way, you can prevent interruptions on your workloads even if you forget to renew the RDS instance.

   The auto-renewal cycle is one month for monthly subscription and one year for yearly subscription. The actual auto-renewal cycle in the order prevails. You can disable auto-renewal at any time. For more information, see Use the auto-renewal feature.

2. View the RDS instance.

   Go to the Instances page. In the top navigation bar, select the region in which the RDS instance resides. Then, find the RDS instance based on the Creation Time parameter.

   Note

   The system requires 1 to 10 minutes to create an RDS instance. You can refresh the page to view the RDS instance that you created.