What Billing Mode Does ZOS Support?

ZOS supports two billing modes: pas-as-you-go (postpaid) and resource packages (prepaid).

Pas-as-you-go (postpaid): You are charged for your actual usage of billing items including the storage capacity, request number, and traffic in a postpaid way. This applies to scenarios where your business flow is not stable.
Resource packages (prepaid) You can buy resource packages to offset different billing items in a prepaid way. The billing items include the storage capacity, request number, and traffic. This applies to scenarios when your business flow is stable. Compared to pay-as-you-go, resource packages are more cost-effective.

What Are the Billing Items in ZOS?

ZOS supports three storage classes: Standard storage, Infrequent Access (IA) storage, and Archive storage. Different storage classes feature different characteristics and pricing policies. You can choose storage classes as needed. ZOS Standard storage has three billing items: storage size, traffic, and request number. For IA storage and Archive storage, data retrieval fees and early deletion fees are also charged. For more information, refer to Billing Items.

Fee	Description	Standard Storage	Infrequent Access (IA) Storage	Archive Storage
Storage Fees	Billed based on actual usage. The unit price may vary with storage classes. Please note that for objects in IA storage, if you delete the objects in advance, including permanently deleting and transitioning to another storage class, IA storage continues to bill until the minimum 30-day capacity is met. For Archive storage, the minimum capacity is 90 days.	√	√	√
Traffic Fees	Billed based on actual outbound traffic over the Internet used to read or download the stored data and outbound traffic used to replicate data across regions.	√	√	√
Request Fees	Billed based on the number of requests received by ZOS. Each API call is counted as a request.	√	√	√
Data Retrieval Fees	Billed based on data volume. For IA storage, the billing item is the volume of data read by the client. For Archive storage, the billing item is the volume of data restored. This part of the fee is counted into outbound traffic over the Internet.	×	√	√

How to View My Bills?

You can view your billing overview, billing statement, and billing details by going to Cost > Consumtionin the eSurfing Cloud console. You can also export your bills there.

What Can I Do If My Resource Package Quota Is Not Enough?

When your resource package quota is not enough, you can buy multiple resource packages with the same duration to expand your quota.

Can I Modify or Unsubscribe from a Resource Package?

You can renew or unsubscribe from a resource package. But you cannot upgrade or downgrade a package.

Can I Modify the Billing Mode of My ZOS Service? How to Change My Billing Mode from Pay-as-you-go to Resource Package Offset?

The billing mode of ZOS can change automatically. If your account has resource packages, the packages are first used to offset resource usage. If you have no resource packages, the pay-as-you-go billing mode is adopted.

Can I Use Resource Packages to Offset Generated Arrears?

No, generated arrears cannot be offset by resource packages.

Resource packages can only be used to offset fees generated after the packages take effect. If the quota of your monthly package is exceeded, the pay-as-you-go billing mode is adopted for the remaining time of the month. New resource packages cannot be used to offset existing resource usage.

Is the Quota of a Resource Package a Monthly Quota or a Quota throughout the Whole Service Validity?

The quota of a resource package refers to the monthly quota. If your usage exceeds the monthly quota, the billing mode will change to pay-as-you-go automatically. If you buy 2 resource packages with the same duration at the same time, your monthly quota is the sum of the 2 packages.

Since bills are generated on hour, traffic packages and request number packages are offset based on the hourly usage. Storage packages are offset based on the actual storage capacity. If the quota is exceeded, the excess will cause extra costs.

Will the Remaining Package Quota in a Given Month Be Carried Over to the Following Month?

The remaining quota in a given month will not be carried over to the following month. After a resource package is purchased, its quota will reset at 24:00:00 on the same day (the purchase day) of each month.

Can I Read and Download My Data in the ZOS Console after Arrears Occur?

After your account goes into arrears, your eSurfing Cloud ZOS service is suspended. Your data is unavailable for read/write. But your data in the storage space is kept and continues to be billed. You still need to pay for the arrears generated during this time. If you pay off the arrears within 15 days, the service will be activated automatically.

If you do not pay off the arrears after 15 days, the system will delete all your data stored in ZOS. The deleted data cannot be recovered.

Therefore, it's recommended that you check your account balance and renew it in a timely manner to protect your data.

If you want to stop ZOS, please delete all your data stored in ZOS as soon as possible.

Does ZOS Start to Bill upon Successful Registration?

No, the service only starts to bill when you actually use the resources.

Why Does My Bucket Generate Storage Fees Even Though There Are No Objects in It?

If your bucket has no objects but still generates fees, check whether the following conditions exist:

Objects not permanently deleted: If you enabled replica management, objects in the bucket will not be deleted permanently upon one deletion action and will be stored as historical replicas. This can cause deleted objects to generate fees.
Parts: Parts can exist in the bucket. These are due to historical actions or requests. You can clear up the parts.

Will I Be Charged for Uploading Objects to ZOS?

You will not be charged for the inbound traffic generated from uploading objects. However, the storage fees can be generated based on the object size, request fees may be generated if you send requests, and fees on outbound traffic over the Internet may be generated if you read or download the objects over the Internet.

How Am I Charged for Accessing ZOS through the URL?

You may be charged the request fees and the fees on outbound traffic over the Internet. If you enable CDN and read your data through a CDN domain name, the CDN traffic and CDN back-to-origin traffic fees will be generated. These fees are counted into fees on outbound traffic over the Internet.

How Am I Charged for Parts?

Parts can occur multipart uploads, and they are billed based on the storage class, actual size, and storage duration.

Storage class: eSurfing Cloud provides multiple storage classes, including Standard storage, IA storage, and Archive storage. Each storage class has a pricing and billing policy, and directly affects your storage fees.

Actual size: The actual size of your parts can affect the storage fees. The actual size refers to the actual space size that the part occupies.

Storage duration: The storage duration can affect the storage fees. The storage duration refers to the time from part generation to deletion.

Why Am I Still Being BilledAfter I Delete Data in IA and Archive Storage?

Both IA storage and Archive storage have limitations on the minimum storage duration. You will still be billed until the minimum duration is reached even if you delete or overwrite the data in advance.

The minimum duration for IA storage is 30 days. You are still billed for a 30-day duration even if you delete or overwrite your data during this time.

The minimum duration for Archive storage is 90 days. You are still billed for a 90-day duration even if you delete or overwrite your data during this time.

Therefore, before you use IA storage or Archive storage, it's recommended that you check your storage demands and make choices based on your expected storage time to avoid unexpected costs.

Why Am I Still Being Billed After I Buy a Resource Package?

The possible causes are as follows:

Your resource package is not applicable to the resources you use.
Your resource package quota has been used up.
Your resource package cannot be used for the billed bucket.
Your resource package does not cover all of the ZOS billing items.

If the problem persists, please contact our agents for assistance.

How Do I Choose among Different Resource Packages?

The following shows different types of resource packages and their applicable scenarios:

Single-AZ storage package: used to offset storage fees of buckets with single-AZ redundancy.
Multi-AZ storage package: used to offset storage fees of buckets with multi-AZ redundancy.
Outbound traffic package (Internet): used to offset fees on the outbound traffic over the Internet generated from using ZOS.
Request number package: used to offset fees on requests sent while using ZOS. Each API call is counted as one request.
Retrieval traffic package: used to offset fees on data retrieval traffic when you read data in IA storage or restore data from Archive storage.
Retrieval request package: used to offset fees on data retrieval requests when you read data in IA storage or restore data from Archive storage.

What Should I Know Before I Subscribe to a Resource Package?

You must activate the ZOS service before you can buy resource packages.
Resource packages of different resource pools are isolated and cannot be used across resource pools. The resource packages take effect immediately upon payment.
If your usage exceeds the monthly package quota, the billing mode will change to pay-as-you-go automatically. A newly purchased resource package cannot cover the already generated resource usage.
Annual packages can only be used to offset usage of billing items including the storage capacity and outbound traffic over the Internet.
You can buy multiple packages at the same time or unsubscribe from packages. However, you cannot upgrade a resource package.

Are Resource Packages Necessary? Can I Specify the Bucket Whose Fees Are to Be Offset?

No, resource packages are not necessary. You can use the ZOS service after activating it. At this time, you are billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. After you buy resource packages, fees on your resource usage are first offset by the resource packages. You can get certain discounts on the yearly single-AZ storage packages and packages on outbound traffic over the Internet of Standard storage. This can be more cost-effective than the pay-as-you-go mode. Therefore, you are recommended to buy some resource packages based on your business needs.
You can choose resource packages by storage class or package type cause different packages can offset the fees of different billing items. However, resource packages and buckets cannot be directly related. Therefore, you cannot specify a bucket for offset.

What Does It Mean When My Resource Package Freezes or Expires?

Freeze: After your resource package expires, you will be notified that the resource package is frozen and cannot be used to offset any fee. You are then billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. But your data and account functionality will not be affected.
Expire: After your resource package expires, you will be notified that the resource package has expired and cannot be used to offset any fee. You are then billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. But your data and account functionality will not be affected.

Will I Be Charged for Accessing ZOS over the Intranet?

If you access ZOS from an ECS instance that is in the same resource pool as your ZOS service, you can access ZOS through the internal domain name. This way, the fees on the outbound traffic over the Intranet can be saved. But the fees on the request number are still charged.

Will My Write Operations Be Restricted If the Resource Package Quota Is Exceeded?

No, your write operations will not be restricted. The storage service provided by ZOS is unlimited. If your resource package quota is exceeded, you are then billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. You can also buy multiple resource packages at the same time.

Will My ZOS Service Be Affected If I Do not Renew My Resource Packages after Expiration?

If you do not renew your resource packages after expiration, you must have a sufficient account balance for the pay-as-you-go billing mode. Otherwise, your ZOS service may be suspended due to arrears. When your resource packages have not expired, ZOS will first try to offset your fees from the packages. If you have sufficient balance in your account, the expiration of resource packages will not affect your ZOS service. Otherwise, your ZOS service will be suspended due to arrears.

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