Guide to Trying Out Cloud Database TiDB & QA

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Note:
This topic has been translated from a Chinese forum by GPT and might contain errors.

Original topic: 云数据库 TiDB 试用指南& QA

| username: Billmay表妹

Free Trial Configuration

This free trial offers two classic configurations on Alibaba Cloud Compute Nest:

Specification Type TiDB TiKV TiFlash Total Savings
A 4c8g 8c64g 8c64g Up to ¥29,000
B 8c16g 8c64g 8c64g Up to ¥33,000

Trial Period: Up to 30 days

For detailed event content, please click here to view!

Step 1: Submit Trial Application

  1. Join the WeChat group:

Please add the assistant to invite you to the group:
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  1. Click to enter Cloud Database TiDB, and click the button: Free Trial

If you do not have an Alibaba Cloud account, click www.aliyun.com to register an Alibaba Cloud account.

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  1. Submit the trial application form: The system will pop up the application form, please fill it out according to the form

Please be sure to fill in the company name and position (since this free event is only for enterprise users, please be sure to fill in enterprise email, company name, position). The time to submit the application is from February 1, 2023, to February 28, 2023.

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Applications that do not correctly fill in the enterprise email, company name, and position will not be approved

  1. Application status viewing page:

After filling out and submitting the form, you can see the review status as “Pending Approval” in “Application Review”. The backend staff will complete the review within 4 hours.

After the backend staff completes the review, the review status will change to “Approved”, and Compute Nest will notify you via SMS immediately.

Click the service ID to view service details. Since Compute Nest provides a default 7-day trial, if you need an extended experience, you can contact support personnel (WeChat ID: warmjing1109) to extend the time, providing up to 30 days of free experience.
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Due to limited resources, if no action is taken within 7 days after the trial is approved or the cluster is created, the backend has the right to close the free trial permission and release the resources to other users. Start your cloud HTAP database experience journey immediately with the support of professional technical experts!

Step 2: Enter Product Experience

Alibaba Cloud Compute Nest provides up to 30 days of free trial (calculated from the approval date). During this period, you can experience all the functions of TiDB cluster creation, data migration, online scaling, visual operation, and maintenance. For basic questions about TiDB product functions and usage, we recommend visiting the TiDB community Q&A to quickly find answers: https://asktug.com/.

If you encounter technical difficulties, you can ask questions in the WeChat trial group to get support from technical experts.

Related documents and resources:

Step 3: Complete Cluster Creation

After completing the TiDB cluster creation on Alibaba Cloud Compute Nest, you will receive a TiDB peripheral gift thermos cup.

After the cluster is created, it is recommended to import data, simulate business scenarios, and deeply experience the highlights of TiDB in performance, MySQL compatibility, HTAP real-time analysis, online DDL, online scaling, monitoring, and management.

If you have completed the cluster creation but cannot participate in the in-depth experience due to time constraints, you can add the “assistant” WeChat (WeChat ID: yuhuili) and provide detailed gift mailing addresses. The staff will complete the mailing before March 31. If the original gifts have been distributed, PingCAP reserves the right to replace them with other peripheral gifts.

Step 4: Submit Feedback Form

After completing the entire product experience, please help fill out the following feedback form. Your feedback is very important for the upgrade and iteration of the product and services. We will carefully listen to each of your feedback and strive to create a better TiDB for users. The deadline for submitting the feedback form is March 15, 2023.
https://forms.pingcap.com/f/d93e5900-1d3d-41ca-bc49-9fcfb35368c4

After submitting the form, you will receive a New Year camping gift package. The gift package will be mailed before March 31. If the original gifts have been distributed, PingCAP reserves the right to replace them with other gifts.

Step 5: Write Experience Article (Optional)

You are welcome to summarize your real experience and practice during this trial into a technical article to provide reference for more data technology personnel in the industry.

Submission Deadline: March 15, 2023

Announcement of Results: March 30, 2023, results will be announced in the TiDB Community Column and the Motianlun event area.

Submission Path:

  1. After completing the first draft of the article, please add the “assistant” WeChat (WeChat ID: yuhuili) to submit the first draft. After mutual agreement, it will be published.

  2. Article publication channels:

  3. Publish technical articles in the TiDB Community Column: 专栏 - 首页 | TiDB 社区

Content Requirements:

  • Original articles, ownership, and authorship belong to the author

  • Topics include but are not limited to product trial experience, comparison with other RDS databases, product improvement suggestions, practical cases, etc.

  • Article length: 800-2000 words

Evaluation Criteria: Articles will be published simultaneously in the TiDB Community Column and the Motianlun community. The main criteria for evaluation are the quality of the content and the readability of the article. The number of reads in the TiDB community and the Motianlun community will be used as a reference.

Awards:

  • First Prize: 1 winner, prize: Switch game console + fitness ring set

  • Second Prize: 2 winners, prize: Apple AirPods 3rd generation wireless Bluetooth earphones

  • Third Prize: 5 winners, prize: TiDB limited edition hoodie

The staff will contact the winners before April 15 to complete the delivery of the corresponding prizes.

Important Notes:

  • This trial is for enterprise users. When filling out the form, you need to fill in the company name. It is not open to individuals and students;

  • After submitting the trial form on Alibaba Cloud Compute Nest, you will get a default 7-day free trial after manual review by the backend. Depending on the experience, you can contact support personnel (WeChat ID: warmjing1109) in the WeChat group to extend the time, supporting up to 30 days of free experience. If you encounter related technical issues during the trial period, you can ask questions in the WeChat support group;

  • If no action is taken within 7 days after the trial is approved or the cluster is created, the backend has the right to close the free trial permission and release the resources to other users, and you will not be eligible for subsequent free trials;

  • After the trial period ends, Compute Nest will destroy the created resources and data. It is recommended to build a POC environment for the experience, and make sure to back up important data;

  • The final interpretation right of the event belongs to PingCAP.

Event Timeline

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Experience Flowchart

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Frequently Asked Questions Q&A

  1. Which users are suitable for using Cloud Database TiDB?

  • Users who need TiDB original technical support guarantee on the Alibaba Cloud platform;

  • Users who want to go to the cloud but do not want to be vendor-locked into their data by the cloud environment;

  • Users using MySQL on the cloud or on-premises, but the data volume is growing fast, and the business requests cannot be supported by a single database;

  • Users with limited offline hardware testing resources who need to conduct database selection evaluations and other scenario tests can subscribe to services as needed;

  • Users who want to obtain best practices for TiDB database configuration on the public cloud.

  1. Which version of TiDB does Alibaba Cloud TiDB currently correspond to?

The version of Alibaba Cloud TiDB is 6.5.0 LTS (Long Time Support), which is widely used among TiDB enterprise customers.

  1. What is the difference between Cloud Database TiDB and TiDB Cloud?

Cloud Database TiDB is a private deployment method on the cloud, deeply integrated and optimized with Alibaba Cloud, suitable for Alibaba Cloud China region; TiDB Cloud is a fully managed (Database as a Service) method, with deployment and operation entirely handled by TiDB Cloud, suitable for Chinese overseas enterprises.

  1. What tools can be used to migrate from MySQL RDS to Cloud Database TiDB? Documentation reference?

TiDB DM migration tool, documentation reference: TiDB Data Migration 简介 | PingCAP 文档中心

  1. What level of SLA does Cloud Database TiDB provide?

It provides PingCAP original standard subscription & advanced subscription two types of SLA services, see the official subscription SLA content: /product-enterprise#subscriptionServiceSystem.

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| username: Jellybean | Original post link

Only users who start experiencing it later will have such detailed operation instructions. :grinning:

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| username: Billmay表妹 | Original post link

There are, there are~