Help Center/ Elastic IP/ Service Overview/ What Is Elastic IP?
Updated on 2025-08-14 GMT+08:00
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What Is Elastic IP?

Introduction

The Elastic IP (EIP) service enables your cloud resources to communicate with the Internet using static public IP addresses and scalable bandwidths. If a resource has an EIP bound, it can directly access the Internet. If a resource only has a private IP address, it cannot directly access the Internet.

EIP

EIPs can be bound to or unbound from ECSs, BMSs, virtual IP addresses, NAT gateways, or load balancers.

Each EIP can be bound to only one cloud resource.

Note the following when binding an EIP to an instance (such as ECS):
  • Each EIP can be bound to only one ECS. If an EIP has been bound to an ECS, it cannot be bound to other cloud resources. You need to unbind the EIP from the ECS before binding it to another cloud resource in the same region.
  • The EIP and the ECS must be in the same region.
Figure 1 Connecting to the Internet using an EIP

EIP Bandwidth

Bandwidth refers to the maximum amount of data that can be transmitted in a given amount of time (generally one second). A larger bandwidth value indicates a stronger transmission capability. Bandwidth is classified into public bandwidth and private bandwidth.

Public bandwidth is the bandwidth consumed when data is transferred between Huawei Cloud and the Internet. Public bandwidth is classified into inbound bandwidth and outbound bandwidth. For details about the outbound bandwidth and inbound bandwidth, see Figure 2.
  • The metrics about outbound bandwidth on the Cloud Eye console are Outbound Bandwidth and Outbound Traffic.
  • The metrics about inbound bandwidth on the Cloud Eye console are Inbound Bandwidth and Inbound Traffic.
Figure 2 Inbound bandwidth and outbound bandwidth
Figure 3 Inbound bandwidth and outbound bandwidth
Table 1 Inbound bandwidth and outbound bandwidth

Type

Description

Outbound bandwidth

Bandwidth consumed when data is transferred from Huawei Cloudthe cloud platform to the Internet. For example, the outbound bandwidth is consumed when ECSs provide services accessible from the Internet or when FTP clients download resources from the ECSs. The metrics about outbound bandwidth on the Cloud Eye console are Outbound Bandwidth and Outbound Traffic.

Inbound bandwidth

Bandwidth consumed when data is transferred from the Internet to Huawei Cloudthe cloud platform. For example, the inbound bandwidth is consumed when downloading resources from the Internet to ECSs and when FTP clients upload resources to the ECSs. The metrics about inbound bandwidth on the Cloud Eye console are Inbound Bandwidth and Inbound Traffic.

EIP Types

EIPs can use dynamic BGP

  • Dynamic BGP provides automatic failover and chooses the best path based on the real-time network conditions and preset policies.
  • When a fault occurs on a carrier's link, dynamic BGP will quickly select another path to take over services, ensuring service availability.

Accessing EIP

You can access EIPs through the management console or using HTTPS-based APIs.
  • Management console

    Log in to the management console, select Elastic IP from the console homepage, and then perform operations on EIP resources.

  • APIs

    If you need to integrate the EIP service provided by the cloud system into a third-party system for secondary development, you can use an API to access the EIP service. For details, see the Elastic IP API Reference.