Alibaba Cloud Change the specifications of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance

This topic describes how to change the specifications of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance. The specifications include the RDS edition, instance type, and storage capacity.

For more information about how to change the specifications of an RDS instance that runs a different database engine, see the following topics:

Change the specifications of an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance
Change the specifications of an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance
Change the specifications of an ApsaraDB RDS for PPAS instance
Change the specifications of an ApsaraDB RDS for MariaDB instance

Prerequisites

Your Alibaba Cloud account does not have overdue renewal orders.
The instance is in the Running state.

Precautions

When you change the specifications of your RDS instance, an automatic data migration may be triggered. After the migration is complete, ApsaraDB RDS switches your workloads over to a new RDS instance during the switching time that you specify. The switchover does not interrupt the synchronization of incremental data. However, the migration causes network interruptions or the connection to be lost. This depends on the edition of your RDS instance. During network interruptions or if the connection is lost, you cannot perform most of the operations that are related to databases, accounts, and network settings.
Warning
- If you use the Basic Edition, your RDS instance is not provided with a secondary RDS instance as a hot standby. Therefore, your database service is unavailable during a specification change. The length of time during which your database service is unavailable may be 30 minutes or more. We recommend that you change the specifications of your RDS instance during off-peak hours. This prevents interruptions to your workloads. If you require high service availability, we recommend that you do not select the Basic Edition. For example, you can select the High-availability Edition.
- If you do not use the Basic Edition, a specification change may cause the connection to be lost for about 30 seconds. This does not interrupt your workloads. However, we still recommend that you change the specifications of your RDS during off-peak hours. Otherwise, make sure that your application is configured to automatically reconnect to your RDS instance.
Note If your RDS instance uses standard or enhanced SSDs and does not run the RDS Basic Edition, your workloads are not interrupted and no transient connections occur when you expand the storage capacity.
If you want to increase the read capability of your database system, you can create read-only RDS instances. These read-only RDS instances are used to offload read requests from your primary RDS instance. For more information, see Create a read-only ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.
After you change the specifications of your RDS instance, you do not need to manually restart the instance.
After you change the specifications of your RDS instance, the ID and endpoints of the instance remain unchanged.

Billing

For more information, see Specification change fees.

Procedure

Visit the RDS instance list, select a region above, and click the target instance ID.
In the Configuration Information section of the page, click Change Specifications.
In the dialog box that appears, select a change method and click Next step. This step is required only when your RDS instance uses the subscription billing method.

Note You can select one of the following change methods:

Upgrade or Downgrade

The new specifications immediately take effect after you make the change. The two methods are supported for both subscription and pay-as-you-go RDS instances.

After you start the specification change task, ApsaraDB RDS replicates the data of your RDS from the disk to a new RDS instance. Then, ApsaraDB RDS replicates other information about your RDS instance to the new RDS instance based on the change method that you select. This information includes the ID and endpoints of your RDS instance.
Change the specifications of your RDS instance.
Note
- You can change the specifications and storage capacity of your RDS instance without considering the instance configuration.
- If your RDS instance runs MySQL 5.6 on RDS Enterprise Edition, you can downgrade the instance to the High-availability Edition.
- If your RDS instance runs MySQL 5.7 on RDS Basic Edition and uses standard SSDs, you can upgrade the instance to the High-availability Edition. If your RDS instance uses enhanced SSDs, you cannot upgrade the instance.
Specif Switching Time.
- Switch Immediately After Data Migration: After the automatic data migration is complete, ApsaraDB RDS immediately switches your workloads over to a new RDS instance.
- Switch Within Maintenance Window: ApsaraDB RDS switches your workloads over to a new RDS instance within the maintenance window that you specify. For more information, see Set the maintenance window of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance.
Note
- If you use the Basic Edition, your RDS instance is not provided with a secondary RDS instance as a hot standby. Therefore, your database service is unavailable during a specification change. The length of time during which your database service is unavailable may be 30 minutes or more. We recommend that you change the specifications of your RDS instance during off-peak hours. This prevents interruptions to your workloads.
- If you do not use the Basic Edition, a specification change may cause the connection to be lost for about 30 seconds. This does not interrupt your workloads. However, we still recommend that you change the specifications of your RDS during off-peak hours. Otherwise, make sure that your application is configured to automatically reconnect to your RDS instance.
- If you select Switch Within Maintenance Window, your RDS instance stays in the Upgrading state until the switchover is complete. During the switchover process, you cannot perform operations on your RDS instance. For example, you cannot upgrade or downgrade your RDS instance, upgrade the database engine version of your RDS instance, or migrate your RDS across zones.
Read and select Terms of Service, click Pay Now, and then complete the payment.

Warning After you submit a specification change order, do not perform data definition language (DDL) operations before the specification change is applied.

FAQ

How do I switch my RDS instance among the local, standard, and enhanced SSD storage types?
For more information, see How do I migrate an ApsaraDB RDS instance from standard or enhanced SSDs to local SSDs?.
When I expand the storage capacity of my RDS instance, an error that indicates insufficient storage resources is returned. What do I do?
Migrate your RDS instance to another zone. Then, expand the storage capacity of your RDS instance again. For more information, see Migrate an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance across zones in the same region. After you migrate your RDS instance to another zone, the endpoints of your RDS instance remain unchanged. However, the IP addresses that are bound to the endpoints change. Make sure that your application is configured to automatically reconnect to your RDS instance.
If I expand only the storage capacity of my RDS instance, do I need to migrate data to a new RDS instance?
In most cases, if your RDS instance uses standard or enhanced SSDs and does not run the RDS Basic Edition, the connection is not lost when you expand the storage capacity. If your RDS instance uses local SSDs, you may encounter the following circumstances:
- The host on which your RDS instance is deployed can provide sufficient storage resources. In this case, you can directly expand the storage capacity. The expansion process does not interrupt your workloads.
- The host on which your RDS instance is deployed cannot provide sufficient storage resources. In this case, ApsaraDB RDS creates new primary and secondary RDS instances on another eligible host. Then, ApsaraDB RDS synchronizes the data of your original RDS instance to the new primary and secondary RDS instances. The synchronization does not interrupt the workloads on your original RDS instance. However, after the synchronization is complete, the connection is lost for about 30 seconds.
Note You cannot query the remaining storage space of the host on which an RDS instance is deployed.
When I upgrade my primary RDS instance, does ApsaraDB RDS automatically upgrade the read-only RDS instances that are attached to my primary RDS instance?
No, after you upgrade your primary RDS instance, you must manually upgrade the read-only RDS instances that are attached to your primary RDS instance.
When I change the specifications of my RDS instance, are my online workloads interrupted?
When you change the specifications of your RDS instance, your online workloads may be interrupted. For more information, see the “Precautions” section of this topic.
After I change the specifications of my RDS instance, do the endpoints of the instance change?
No, after you change the specifications of your RDS instance, the endpoints of the instance remain unchanged. An example endpoint is rm-bpxxxxx.mysql.rds.aliyuncs.com. However, the IP addresses that are bound to the endpoints may change. We recommend that you add the endpoints to your application. Do not add the IP addresses to your application.