Step 1: Configure Basic Settings

Basic Settings

1. Log in to the ECS console and buy an ECS.
2. Select a region.

   ECSs in different regions cannot communicate with each other over an intranet. For low network latency and quick resource access, select the nearest region.

3. Select a billing mode, Yearly/Monthly, Pay-per-use, or Spot pricing.
   • In Yearly/Monthly billing mode, you can select a required duration. Then, the system deducts the fees incurred at one time based on the service price.
     

     Yearly/Monthly ECSs cannot be deleted. If the ECS is no longer required, go to the Elastic Cloud Server page and choose More > Unsubscribe in the Operation column of this ECS.

   • In Pay-per-use billing mode, after configuring basic settings, you do not need to select a required duration. Then, the system deducts the fees incurred based on the service duration.
   • In Spot pricing billing mode, your purchased ECS is billed based on the service duration at a lower price than that of a pay-per-use ECS with the same specifications. However, a spot ECS may be reclaimed at any time based on the market price or changes in supply and demand. For more information about spot ECSs, see Spot Pricing ECSs.
4. (Optional) Set Reserved Instance.

   This parameter is displayed only when Billing Mode is set to Pay-per-use. If you want to associate reserved instances (RIs) with your pay-per-use ECSs, select Associate RI and select an RI.

   

   For more information, see Reserved Instance Overview.

   Figure 1 Reserved instance
   
5. Select an AZ.

   An AZ is a physical location that uses independent power supply and networks. AZs in the same region can communicate with each other over an intranet.

   • To enhance application availability, create ECSs in different AZs.
   • To shorten network latency, create ECSs in the same AZ.
   

   • During the creation process, you can select a random AZ. The system will use a hash algorithm to select an AZ as the default AZ based on your universally unique identifier (UUID).

     If you batch purchase multiple ECSs and want to deploy them in different AZs, select Multi-AZ deployment.

   • The available ECS types and flavors vary depending on AZs. To view all supported ECS types and flavors on the cloud service platform, set AZ to Random. Then, the system automatically allocates an AZ according to your selected ECS flavor.

     For example, S3 ECSs are available only in AZ1; S2 ECSs are available in AZ2 and AZ3 and have been sold out in AZ1. If you set AZ to Random, you can view both S3 and S2 ECSs. If you create an S3 ECS, the system automatically allocates it to AZ1. If you create an S2 ECS, the system randomly allocates it to AZ2 or AZ3.

6. Set Spot Type.

   This parameter is optional and is displayed only when Billing Mode is set to Spot pricing. You can select Spot or Spot block. For details, see Spot Pricing ECSs.

7. Set Specifications.

   The cloud platform provides various ECS types for different application scenarios. You can choose from existing ECS types and flavors in the list. Alternatively, you can enter a flavor or specify vCPUs and memory size to search for the flavor suited to your needs.

   

   • Before selecting an ECS type, learn about the introduction and notes on each type of ECSs. For details, see ECS Types.
   • When purchasing an ECS, sold-out vCPU and memory resources cannot be selected. You can select Hide sold-out specifications to hide specifications that have been sold out.
8. Select an image.
   • Public image

     A public image is a standard, widely used image. It contains an OS and preinstalled public applications and is available to all users. You can configure the runtime environment or software in the public image as needed.

   • Private image

     A private image is an image available only to the user who created it. It contains an OS, preinstalled public applications, and the user's private applications. Using a customized private image, you can create ECSs tailored to your needs in batches.

     For instructions about how to create a private image, see Creating a Private Image.

     You can also select an encrypted image. For more information about encrypted images, see Encrypting Images.

     

     • If you use a full-ECS image to create an ECS, the EVS disks associated with the full-ECS image do not support the function of creating disks using a data disk image.
     • If a full-ECS image is in Normal state and the system displays message "Available in AZx", the full-ECS image can be used to create ECSs in this AZ only, and the encryption attributes of the system and data disks of the created ECSs are the same as those of the system and data disks specified in the full-ECS image. Additionally, the SCSI, data encryption, and sharing attribute settings of the system and data disks cannot be modified during ECS creation.
     • If a full-ECS image is in Normal state but the system does not display message "Available in AZx", the full-ECS image can be used to create ECSs in the entire region, and the encryption attributes of the system and data disks of the created ECSs are the same as those of the system and data disks specified in the full-ECS image. Additionally, the SCSI, data encryption, and sharing attribute settings of data disks can be modified during ECS creation.
     • An ISO image created from an ISO file cannot be used to create ECSs. You need to install an OS and drivers on the ECS and use the ECS to create a system disk image first.
     • ECSs created from ISO images cannot be directly used because some functions like disk attachment are restricted.
     • To ensure that NIC multi-queue is enabled on an ECS created using a private image, configure NIC multi-queue when creating such a private image. NIC multi-queue routes NIC interrupt requests among multiple vCPUs for higher network packets per second (PPS) and bandwidth.

       For details, see How Do I Enable NIC Multi-Queue for an Image?

   • Shared image

     A shared image is a private image shared by another user.

9. (Optional) Set Automatically install GPU driver.

   This configuration is optional. This parameter is only displayed when you select a GPU-accelerated ECS type and an image with the NO Driver suffix.

   After you select Automatically install GPU driver and choose the corresponding version, the GPU driver will be automatically installed for your ECSs.

   

   • The system can validate the specifications and GPU driver version. You can select a version from the drop-down list. For more information about the GPU driver, see Obtaining a Tesla Driver and CUDA Toolkit.
   • The installation takes about 5 to 10 minutes to complete. Do not stop or start the ECS during the installation, or the installation will fail.
   • After the installation is complete, the ECS automatically restarts.
   • Changing the OS of an existing ECS will deactivate the automatically installed GPU driver.
10. Set System Disk and Data Disk if required.
    • System disk

      For details about the disk types supported by ECS, see Disk Types and Performance.

      • If the image based on which an ECS is created is not encrypted, the system disk of the ECS is not encrypted. If the image based on which an ECS is created is encrypted, the system disk of the ECS is automatically encrypted. For details, see (Optional) Encryption-related parameters.
    • Data disk

      You can create multiple data disks for an ECS and enable required functions for each data disk. During the creation process, you can add a maximum of 23 data disks for each ECS and customize the disk size as needed.

      Click Show and set the following functions if required:

      • SCSI: indicates that the device type of the data disk is SCSI if you select this option. For more information about SCSI disks and the ECSs that can be attached with SCSI disks, see Device Types and Usage Instructions.
      • Share: indicates that the EVS disk is sharable if you select this option. Such an EVS disk can be attached to multiple ECSs.
      • Encryption: indicates that the data disk is encrypted if you select this option. For details, see (Optional) Encryption-related parameters.
    • (Optional) Encryption-related parameters

      To enable encryption, click Create Xrole to assign KMS access permissions to EVS. If you have rights granting permission, assign the KMS access permissions to EVS. If you do not have the permission, contact the user having the security administrator rights to assign the KMS access permissions.

      • Encryption: indicates that the EVS disk has been encrypted.
      • Create Xrole: assigns KMS access permissions to EVS to obtain KMS keys. After the permissions are assigned, follow-up operations do not require assigning permissions again.
      • Xrole Name: set to EVSAccessKMS, which means that permissions have been assigned to EVS to obtain KMS keys for encrypting or decrypting EVS disks.
      • KMS Key Name: specifies the name of the key used by the encrypted EVS disk. You can select an existing key, or click Create KMS Key and create a new one on the KMS console. The default value is evs/default.
      • KMS Key ID: specifies the ID of the key used by the encrypted data disk.
11. Click Next: Configure Network.