Cloud infrastructure / Alibaba Cloud ECS alternative

Alibaba Cloud ECS alternative for persistent agents

Alibaba Cloud ECS already retains a complete system disk, can release supported compute in economical mode and supports online Linux cloud-disk expansion. It also offers qualified memory hibernation. These features have different prerequisites and failure behavior, so choose the exact lifecycle before comparing a persistent agent runtime.

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Reviewed 2026-10-19 · Published by the Sandbox0 team

When Alibaba Cloud ECS fits

Choose ECS for full VM control, its regions and Alibaba Cloud networking, storage and identity integrations. Its system-disk persistence, explicit online expansion and supported hibernation are substantive capabilities rather than workspace-only retention.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 for compatible Linux agents with integrated low-space-triggered whole-RootFS growth and supported paused-file operations. Retain Alibaba-specific services, architecture requirements and any full-kernel workloads separately.

Capabilities

Alibaba Cloud ECS and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimeAlibaba Cloud ECSRetained disks can outlive released compute. Restart depends on capacity, and economical stop does not preserve running processes.View evidence ↗Sandbox0ttl and hard_ttl default to 0 (disabled). Configure idle pause and deletion policies for the same persistent sandbox identity; an idle running sandbox still accrues compute charges.Read documentation →
Persistent filesAlibaba Cloud ECSEconomical stop retains cloud system and data disks; local disks have different eligibility.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSAlibaba Cloud ECSThe retained system disk includes installed OS state, not only a workspace.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Persistence extends beyond /workspace to paths such as /usr/local, /etc, and /home. Runtime tmpfs and virtual filesystems are excluded.Read documentation →
Release compute, keep stateAlibaba Cloud ECSQualified hibernation can restore execution, but failure falls back to ordinary stop.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process stateAlibaba Cloud ECSSupported hibernation saves RAM to the system disk; creation/region/image conditions apply.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Experimental memory checkpoints can preserve compatible process state. Use memory: true on both pause and resume on a compatible deployment. A filesystem checkpoint alone does not preserve running processes.Read documentation →

Online RootFS growth

On growth-enabled images, Sandbox0 automatically expands the writable RootFS as free space runs low, within a configured sparse logical ceiling up to 64 TiB. Agent processes keep running. Growth is enabled in the qualified Cloud region; confirm activation for other regions. Existing images and snapshots retain their captured storage geometry. The ceiling is logical capacity, not preallocated host disk.

ECS already retains the complete cloud system disk and supports eligible online disk/partition/filesystem expansion. Sandbox0 integrates automatic low-space-triggered growth and the agent’s durable RootFS lifecycle, rather than uniquely providing online disk growth.

Files while compute is paused

Sandbox0's Files API reads persistent files without resuming compute. Filesystem-only pauses also permit edits; retained-memory pauses are read-only and reject mutations with 409. SSH, SFTP, file watching, and runtime-only mounts require running compute.

Retained cloud disks and snapshots can be managed independently, but guest-file inspection through another instance requires compute and storage orchestration. That differs from native whole-RootFS file reads/mutations with the original guest compute paused; retained-memory consistency also needs protection.

See paused file operations →

Economical mode retains disks but releases capacity

Supported pay-as-you-go VPC instances can release compute and system-assigned public IPs while retaining cloud system/data disks and configuration. Local-disk and persistent-memory families are excluded. Restart depends on available capacity; burstable CPU credits are cleared. Guest OS shutdown alone does not select economical mode.

Source 1 ↗

Hibernation has regional and failure limits

The current guide limits hibernation to Silicon Valley and Frankfurt, with an encrypted compatible image, agent and enablement at instance creation. RAM is written to the system disk. Failed hibernation automatically becomes ordinary stop, losing RAM continuity. Supported pay-as-you-go modes can release compute; subscription and retained resources still have their own bills.

Source 1 ↗

Linux system disks already grow online

The Linux disk workflow supports online capacity changes without instance restart on eligible configurations, followed by partition and filesystem expansion. Some configurations require offline resizing. A manually requested increase differs from a runtime policy that automatically responds to low free space.

Source 1 ↗

Pricing

Compare billing models, then price your workload

CPU allocation, memory, billing minimums, disk, plan fees, and supported workload differ. These meters are not equal-performance machine quotes. Confirm region, resource units, and included allowances before estimating a total.

Alibaba Cloud ECS

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-19

International ECS compute
Current numeric rate requires a regional quote
Select exact instance family, OS, currency and billing term; there is no uniform CPU/RAM tariff.
Rate source ↗
Eligible economical compute
Compute billing can stop
Retained cloud disks, snapshots and other applicable services continue billing.
Rate source ↗
Eligible pay-as-you-go hibernation
Select released or retained compute billing
Only qualifying configurations; subscription charges and retained disks/EIPs/bandwidth remain separate.
Rate source ↗

Current numeric prices require the effective regional account quote. Confirm currency, negotiated terms and present availability; no universal rate or savings percentage is asserted. Hibernation failure can lose RAM continuity even when disk data remains.

Check current Alibaba Cloud ECS pricing ↗

Sandbox0

$0.015/GiB-hour compute (billed by the second at approximately $0.000004167/GiB-second), plus $0.02/GiB-month of retained incremental RootFS and memory checkpoint data. Shared base images and platform recovery retention are excluded; paused sandboxes accrue storage charges only.

Compute / GiB-hour
$0.015
Retained data / GiB-month
$0.02
Paused compute
$0.00

A 4 GiB agent, 100 running hours

$6.00 compute

4 GiB × 100 hours, billed by the second. Keeping 20 GiB of billable incremental data for a full billing month adds $0.40. CPU is derived from memory by the platform; choose a tier that fits your workload.

Understand storage billing →

Before migrating from Alibaba Cloud ECS

  1. Identify international account/region, disk types, economical-mode eligibility, hibernation enablement and its fallback tolerance.
  2. Export consistent full-system state and port compatible agent tools to Sandbox0, retaining required Alibaba Cloud integrations.
  3. Test installed tools, low-space growth, memory continuity requirements, paused files and effective compute, disk, snapshot, IP and network costs.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in Alibaba Cloud ECS replacement?

Evaluate API compatibility and product scope. These products serve different core workflows, so a change may require a different architecture.

Does keeping files also keep a running agent?

Filesystem state and volatile process state are separate. Sandbox0 requires explicit compatible memory checkpoints to preserve running processes; its default filesystem resume starts fresh processes.

Sources and review scope

The Boat team's Battleships directory is the discovery source. References below describe the product and plan discussed on this page. Check current availability, regional terms and billing units before migrating. Where the cited material does not establish a capability or price, the comparison identifies that uncertainty.

Battleships research record ↗www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/ecs/user-guide/economical-mode ↗www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/ecs/user-guide/hibernate-an-instance ↗www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/ecs/user-guide/resize-linux-cloud-disks ↗www.alibabacloud.com/en/product/ecs/pricing ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

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