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Core Services

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ravikiranpagidi edited this page May 27, 2026 · 1 revision

Core Services

Purpose

This page maps major Alibaba Cloud services by capability and helps you choose the right service for common engineering scenarios.

Service Map By Capability

Capability Alibaba Cloud Services What They Are Used For
Compute ECS, Auto Scaling, SLB, Elastic Container Instance, ACK, Function Compute Run applications, containers, APIs, jobs, and event-driven workloads.
Storage OSS, Cloud Disk, File Storage NAS, Table Store, Hybrid Backup Recovery Store objects, block volumes, shared files, NoSQL-style data, and backups.
Networking VPC, vSwitch, route tables, NAT Gateway, EIP, SLB, VPN Gateway, Express Connect, PrivateLink, CDN, Global Accelerator Isolate networks, route traffic, expose services, connect hybrid environments, and accelerate access.
Security RAM, KMS, Cloud Firewall, Security Center, ActionTrail, Cloud Config Control access, encrypt data, detect threats, audit activity, and enforce governance.
Databases RDS, PolarDB, AnalyticDB, Tair, MongoDB-compatible service, Lindorm, OceanBase, DTS Store transactional, analytical, cache, document, wide-column, and migrated data.
Analytics OSS, MaxCompute, DataWorks, DLF, Realtime Compute for Apache Flink, Hologres, AnalyticDB, E-MapReduce, SLS Build data lakes, warehouses, batch pipelines, streaming pipelines, and analytics platforms.
AI/ML PAI, DSW, DLC, model deployment, feature workflows, vector/RAG design Train, deploy, and govern ML and GenAI workloads.
DevOps Alibaba Cloud CLI, Terraform provider, ROS, Container Registry, ACK, GitHub Actions Automate infrastructure and application deployment.
Monitoring CloudMonitor, SLS, Managed Service for Prometheus, Managed Service for Grafana, Tracing Analysis Collect metrics, logs, traces, dashboards, and alerts.
Governance Resource groups, tags, RAM policies, ActionTrail, Cloud Config, budgets Organize resources, audit changes, enforce standards, and allocate cost.
Migration DTS, database migration tools, server migration patterns, hybrid network services Move apps, databases, and data into Alibaba Cloud.
Cost management Billing console, tags, budgets, lifecycle policies, reserved capacity, savings plans Track, allocate, optimize, and forecast spend.

How To Choose The Right Service

Step 1: Identify The Workload Type

Workload Start with
Traditional VM workload ECS
Stateless web app ECS + SLB + Auto Scaling or ACK
Containerized platform ACK
Event-driven API or task Function Compute
Static website or object storage OSS + CDN
Relational database RDS or PolarDB
Large-scale analytics OSS + MaxCompute + DataWorks
Real-time analytics SLS/EventBridge/Message Queue + Flink + AnalyticDB/Hologres
ML platform OSS + DataWorks + MaxCompute + PAI

Step 2: Decide Operational Ownership

  • Need OS-level control? Use ECS.
  • Need Kubernetes ecosystem? Use ACK.
  • Want less server management? Use Function Compute or managed services.
  • Need managed relational database operations? Use RDS or PolarDB.
  • Need object durability and data lake storage? Use OSS.

Step 3: Validate Enterprise Requirements

Before choosing a service, verify:

  • Region and zone availability
  • Quotas
  • Pricing model
  • Security controls
  • Logging and audit support
  • Backup and restore requirements
  • Integration with existing network and identity
  • Team skills and support model

Practical Architecture Example

flowchart LR
    User[Users] --> CDN[CDN]
    CDN --> SLB[SLB]
    SLB --> App[ECS / ACK / Function Compute]
    App --> RDS[(RDS / PolarDB)]
    App --> OSS[(OSS)]
    App --> SLS[SLS Logs]
    App --> CloudMonitor[CloudMonitor Metrics]
    RAM[RAM + KMS + ActionTrail] -.controls.-> App
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Best Practices

  • Start with business requirements, not service names.
  • Prefer managed services when they reduce undifferentiated operations.
  • Keep public endpoints intentional and documented.
  • Use resource groups and tags for every project.
  • Enable logging, metrics, and budget alerts early.
  • Design cleanup before running labs or prototypes.
  • Revisit service choices as workload scale and team maturity change.

Common Mistakes

  • Choosing Kubernetes for every workload.
  • Using ECS when Function Compute or a managed platform is enough.
  • Using OSS like a database.
  • Exposing databases publicly.
  • Forgetting that service mappings across clouds are approximate.
  • Ignoring quotas and region availability until deployment day.

Interview-Ready Explanation

"I choose Alibaba Cloud services by workload type and operational responsibility. For VM control I use ECS, for containers ACK, for event-driven code Function Compute, for object storage OSS, for relational data RDS or PolarDB, for analytics MaxCompute or AnalyticDB, and for governance RAM, ActionTrail, Cloud Config, tags, and budgets. I validate region availability, quotas, cost, security, monitoring, and backup requirements before finalizing the design."

Related Pages

Action Items For Learners

  • Pick three workloads and choose services for each.
  • Write why you would not use Kubernetes for a simple static website.
  • Map one existing AWS/Azure/GCP architecture to Alibaba Cloud services.

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