Help Center/ GeminiDB/ GeminiDB DynamoDB-Compatible API/ Working with GeminiDB DynamoDB-Compatible API/ Instance Modifications/ Changing vCPUs and Memory of a GeminiDB DynamoDB-Compatible Instance
Updated on 2026-07-10 GMT+08:00
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Changing vCPUs and Memory of a GeminiDB DynamoDB-Compatible Instance

Scenarios

You can modify the instance vCPU and memory specifications on the console to meet workload requirements. If your instance is overloaded, add compute nodes before scaling the instance specifications.

Usage Notes

  • You can increase or decrease the vCPUs and memory.
  • If one instance has multiple nodes, the change will be performed on the nodes one by one. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes for each node, and the total time required depends on the number of the nodes.
  • During a specification change, computing tasks on the affected node are transferred to other nodes. To mitigate the risk of instance overload, change node specifications during off-peak hours.
  • Do not perform DDL operations when you change the instance specifications.

    A data definition language (DDL) is a language for defining data structures and database objects. Common examples of DDL statements are CREATE, ALTER, and DROP. Data Definition Language (DDL) is used to create, modify, and delete database objects, such as tables, indexes, views, functions, stored procedures, and triggers.

  • vCPU and memory changes are applied on all nodes in sequence. During this process, temporary I/O disruptions or increased latency may occur. You are advised to perform this operation during off-peak hours.
  • If you force a specification change when the instance is not running properly, this may lead to a brief interruption (within seconds).

Billing

Table 1 Billing

Billing Mode

Operation

Impact on Price

Yearly/Monthly

Specification upgrade

The new specifications will take effect within the remaining usage period. As the new configuration is priced higher than the old one, you will be charged the price difference.

Example (The specifications and prices below are for reference only. The actual prices are displayed on the console.)

Assume that you purchased a 3-node yearly/monthly GeminiDB DynamoDB-Compatible instance with 1 vCPU and 6 GB of memory for one month on April 8, 2023 and changed its specifications to 2 vCPUs | 12 GB on April 18, 2023. The price for the old configuration is $941.70 USD/month, and that for the new configuration is $1,883.40 USD/month. The price difference is calculated as follows:

Price difference = Price for the new instance specifications × Remaining period – Price for the original instance specifications × Remaining period

The remaining period in the formula is calculated by dividing remaining days in each calendar month by the total days in that month. In this example, the remaining period is 0.6581 [12 (remaining days in April)/30 (total days in April) + 8 (remaining days in May)/31 (total days in May)]. The price for specification upgrade is therefore $619.73 USD (1883.4 × 0.6581 – 941.7 × 0.6581).

For details, see Yearly/Monthly Billing.

Specification downgrade

The new specifications will take effect within the remaining usage period. As the new configuration costs less than the previous one, Huawei Cloud will refund you the price difference.

Example (The specifications and prices below are for reference only. The actual prices are displayed on the console.)

Assume that you purchased a 3-node yearly/monthly GeminiDB DynamoDB-Compatible instance with 2 vCPUs and 12 GB of memory for one month on April 8, 2023 and changed its specifications to 1 vCPU | 6 GB on April 18, 2023. The price for the old configuration is $1,883.40 USD/month, and that for the new configuration is $941.70 USD/month. The price difference is calculated as follows:

Price difference = Price for the original instance specifications × Remaining period – Price for the new instance specifications × Remaining period

The remaining period in the formula is calculated by dividing remaining days in each calendar month by the total days in that month. In this example, the remaining period is 0.6581 [12 (remaining days in April)/30 (total days in April) + 8 (remaining days in May)/31 (total days in May)]. The refund amount is therefore $619.73 USD (1883.4 × 0.6581 – 941.7 × 0.6581).

For details, see Yearly/Monthly Billing.

Pay-per-use

Specification upgrade

After the specifications are changed, a new order is generated and you will be billed at the new price. The old order is automatically invalidated.

For details, see Pay-per-use Billing.

Specification downgrade

Procedure

  1. Log in to the Huawei Cloud console.
  2. Method 1:

    On the Instances page, click the target instance name.

    In the DB Information area on the Basic Information page, click Change next to Specifications.
    Figure 1 Changing specifications

    Method 2:

    On the Instances page, locate the target instance and choose More > Change Specifications in the Operation column.

    Figure 2 Changing specifications

  3. On the displayed page, select the required specifications and click Next.

    Figure 3 Changing specifications

  4. On the displayed page, confirm the instance specifications.

    • Yearly/Monthly
      • If you need to modify your settings, click Previous.
      • If you do not need to modify your settings, click Submit. If you are scaling up the instance specifications, go to the payment page, select a payment method, and complete the payment.
    • Pay-per-use
      • If you need to modify your settings, click Previous.
      • If you do not need to modify your settings, click Submit.

  5. View the change results.

    In the DB Information area on the Basic Information page, you can see the new specifications.

Follow-up Operations

Return to the instance list. In the navigation pane, choose Task Center and check the progress of the change task.
  • If you have selected Immediate for Scheduled Time:

    On the Instant Tasks tab, search for the task and check the execution progress. Instant tasks cannot be canceled.

  • If you have selected Duration maintenance window for Scheduled Time:

    On the Scheduled Tasks page, search for the task and check the execution progress.

    If the task is in the To be executed state, you can click Cancel to cancel the task.

For more operations, see Viewing GeminiDB DynamoDB-Compatible Instance Tasks.

Parent Topic: Instance Modifications