FAQs About Spot ECSs

About Spot ECSs

1. Why is my spot ECS released even when I have sufficient account balance?

   A spot ECS may be released at any time based on the changes in market price or supply and demand. For example, if the market price at a certain time is higher than the maximum price you are willing to pay, or if there are a large number of demands that the ECS resource supply cannot meet, the system automatically reclaims your spot ECS.

2. Can I change a spot ECS to a pay-per-use or yearly/monthly ECS?

   No.

3. Which resources are included in the price discount of a spot ECS?

   The price discount applies only to the vCPUs and memory of a spot ECS. The prices of other resources, such as the system disk, data disk, and bandwidth, are the same as those of ECSs billed on a pay-per-use basis.

4. How can I bid for a spot ECS?

   When you purchase a spot ECS, you are required to set the maximum price you are willing to pay. If the maximum price is higher than the market price and inventory resources are sufficient, you can purchase your spot ECS. The spot ECS is billed depending on the market price.

5. What is the relationship between the maximum price I am willing to pay for a spot ECS and the market price?

   Your spot ECS will run only if the maximum price you are willing to pay is higher than the market price. If the maximum price is lower than the market price, purchasing the spot will ECS fail, or the spot ECS that you have already purchased will be reclaimed. A spot ECS is billed based on market price, regardless of the maximum price you set.

6. If I have multiple spot ECSs and all the ECSs start to run at the same time, will the billing be the same for all of them?

   The billing will be the same for spot ECSs of the same series with the same specifications.

7. Can I obtain the market price before purchasing the spot ECS?

   Yes. When you purchase a spot ECS on the management console, you can view the market price range and historical prices of the ECS after you select an ECS flavor.

8. How is a spot ECS billed?

   Spot ECSs are billed by the second, and the billing period is 1 hour.

9. When does the billing duration for a spot ECS start and end?

   The duration starts from the time when the spot ECS is purchased to the time when it is released either manually or automatically.

10. Will a stopped spot ECS continue to be billed?
    For details, see Table 1.

    Table 1 Billing of stopped spot ECSs

    Item	Spot Pricing
    Spot ECSs without local disks or FPGAs attached	After the ECS is stopped, basic resources including vCPUs, memory, and image are no longer billed. The resources associated with the ECS, such as EVS disks (including system and data disks), EIPs, and bandwidth, are separately billed.
    Spot ECSs with local disks attached, FPGA-based ECSs, or BMSs	The ECS will continue to be billed after it is stopped. To stop the ECS from being billed, delete it and its associated resources.