# Pay-as-you-go Lifecycle Stages

<div align="left" data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="/files/D2NlZLtmoq40yz2uTkRY" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

* Protection period: Service and billing continues
* Suspension period: Service and billing stopped
* Recycled period: Resources recycled permanently and all data destroyed

{% hint style="info" %} <mark style="color:blue;">**Note**</mark>

<mark style="color:blue;">The actual stages varies in different resources. Please refer to the specific resources for details.</mark>
{% endhint %}

<table><thead><tr><th width="142.5">Stages</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Balance refill</td><td>You need to <a href="/pages/DhwtQB28s7AwcQVCscTr">refill your balance</a> first to ensure that the account has purchasing power. After you purchase the service, the system generates bills and perform deductions.</td></tr><tr><td>Resource creation</td><td>You have several options for your resource creation on zenConsole, such as resource specifications, network and other add-ons. You don't need to pay for all of these resources and services. You can direct activate your pay-as-you-go resources when they are created.<br>When the pay-as-you-go resources are created, a one-billing-increment <a href="/pages/x2409w68BQNd08QSSRJW#temporary-hold">Temporary Hold</a> will be "frozen".</td></tr><tr><td>Resource in-use</td><td><ul><li>You can delete your pay-as-you-go resources at any time. Generally the deleted resources will be maintained for 24 hours before being released. You can still restore them if you need.</li><li>If your current network configuration cannot meet your demands, you can upgrade or downgrade configurations. See <a href="/pages/ZwoHRgWGfTj6LFIsgEjn#upgrades-and-downgrades">Upgrades and Downgrades</a> for more details.</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Fees deduction</td><td><p>When a billing increment ends, the corresponding fees will be deducted according to the per-second based billing automatically. The fees in each billing increment will be calculated on a pro rata basis by second, that is an amount according to your share of the whole.<br></p><p>For example, your create a pay-as-you-go instance billed $1 per hour at 10:58:10. As the system deduct the fees on the whole point, at 11:00:00, you will be charged $1 × (60 + 50)/(1 × 60 × 60) = $0.03.</p><ul><li><em>We actually calculate billing six decimal places. Any differences accumulate until they reach $0.01 before being deducted.</em></li><li><em>Your temporary hold will be used to offset the arrears.</em></li></ul><p>If you have sufficient balance, the deduction succeeds and a bill is generated.</p><p>If you have insufficient balance, the deduction succeeds (may be negative) and a bill is generated. Your resources enter the protection or suspension stage depending on the service type.</p></td></tr><tr><td>Resource protection</td><td><ul><li>During the protection stage, your resources will not stop and are still available.</li><li><p>The protection period varies by service type:</p><ul><li><strong>AI</strong>: No protection period. Resources enter the suspension stage immediately.</li><li><strong>ZEC</strong>: 2 hours. All data will be maintained for 2 hours before being suspended.</li><li><strong>VM/BMC/SDN</strong>: 24 hours. All data will be maintained for 24 hours before being suspended.</li></ul></li><li>The system will send reminder emails to the members with Administrator or Finance Access that your resources are about to be suspended until you refill your balance.</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Resource suspension</td><td><ul><li>During the suspension stage, your resources stop and are unavailable.</li><li>All data will be maintained for 3 days (72 hours) from the time of insufficient balance before being permanently released.</li><li>As different services enter suspension at different times, the system will send separate reminder emails for each service when they enter the suspension stage. Emails will be sent to members with Administrator or Finance Access.</li><li>If you still need your resources, please refill your balance first and then restore them.</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Resource recycle</td><td><p>During the recycle stage, your resources are permanently released and all data is destroyed. You cannot restore your released resources any more.</p><ul><li>If you don't have any overdue payments, your Temporary Hold will be unfrozen and returned to the account balance.</li><li>If there is any remaining account payables, your Temporary Hold will be used to offset.</li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table>


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