Feature Overview
Elastic IP (EIP) is a fixed public IP address that can be independently purchased and owned within a specific region. With an elastic public IP address, you can quickly remap the address to another instance or NAT gateway instance in your account, effectively masking instance failures.
An Elastic IP can be retained in your account until it is released. Unlike public IPs, which can only be applied for and released with a cloud server, Elastic IPs can be decoupled from the cloud server's lifecycle and operated as independent cloud resources. For example, if you need to retain a public IP related to your business, you can convert it to an Elastic IP and keep it in your account.
Rules and Limits
Rules/Restrictions | Notes |
Elastic IP Usage Rules | |
Elastic IP quota restrictions | |
Limits on public IPs bound to CVM |
Difference Between an EIP and a Common Public IP
Public IP addresses are non-reserved addresses on the Internet, allowing cloud servers with public IPs to access and be accessed by other computers on the Internet. Both regular public IPs and EIPs are public IP addresses, providing cloud resources with the ability to access the public network and be accessed by it.
Ordinary public IP: It can only be allocated when purchasing a cloud server and cannot be unbound from the server. If not allocated during purchase, it cannot be obtained.
EIP: An independently purchasable and owned public IP address resource that can be bound or unbound to cloud resources such as cloud servers, NAT gateways, elastic network interfaces, and highly available virtual IPs at any time.
Note
Only general BGP IP lines are applicable for the current common public IP addresses.
Compared to ordinary public IPs, EIP offers more flexible management options, as shown in the table below. For more information, please refer to Public IPv4 Addresses.
Comparison Item | Common public IP address | EIP |
Public network access | ✓ | ✓ |
Can be purchased and held | × | ✓ |
Can be bound and unbound at any time | × | ✓ |
Adjust bandwidth in real time1 | ✓ | ✓ |
IP resource occupation fee | × | ✓ |
Note
Public IP Console only supports adjusting the bandwidth of EIPs. For specific operations, please refer to Adjusting Network Configuration. For adjusting the bandwidth of regular public IPs, please refer to Adjusting Regular Public IP Network Configuration.
EIP can be decoupled from the lifecycle of cloud resources and operated independently. For example, if you need to retain a public IP address related to your business, you can convert a regular public IP to an EIP and keep it in your account.