Oracle Free Tier Limitations: Regional Resource Exhaustion and Deployment Dilemmas
Background
Oracle Cloud Free Tier is attractive because it offers:
- 2× 4 vCPU, 24 GB RAM Arm-based (Ampere) VMs
- 1 GB RAM AMD VM
- Autonomous Database and other always‑free resources
For a zero‑budget developer, this is a lifeline for hosting backend servers, databases, or even small LLM inference endpoints.
The Problem: Regional Resource Exhaustion
To ensure low latency in Korea, I need to deploy in Seoul or Chuncheon regions.
However, Oracle enforces regional quotas. When local inventory of free‑tier resources is exhausted:
You can’t launch a new instance—period.
Even if Ampere A1 is theoretically “always free,” it’s unavailable if your region has no capacity.
Symptoms
- The console returns “Out of capacity” when creating an instance.
- The shape picker greys out A1.Flex or VM.Standard.E2.1.Micro.
- Support tickets aren’t accepted for free‑tier capacity issues.
Workarounds Considered
| Option | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Wait and retry | No policy violation | Unpredictable |
| Switch to another region (e.g., Osaka, Tokyo) | Often has capacity | Higher latency (∼200 ms) |
| Create a new account | Fresh quota | Risk of account suspension for “multi‑account abuse”; requires new credit card |
| Use paid resources temporarily | Guaranteed capacity | Defeats “free” goal |
| Alternative free providers (e.g., Fly.io hobby tier, Render free web service) | Quick to start | Lower CPU/RAM limits; no persistent block storage |
Risk Analysis
Oracle’s terms prohibit circumventing quotas via multiple free accounts.
If detected, all related accounts can be terminated. Losing an instance unexpectedly is worse than not having one.
My Current Plan
- Monitor capacity daily in Seoul/Chuncheon.
- If capacity remains zero for >1 week, deploy to Osaka and use Cloudflare to mitigate latency.
- Keep services stateless so I can migrate quickly when Korean capacity opens.
- Document deployment scripts with Terraform to make redeployment a 5‑minute task.
Takeaways
- Free tiers come with hidden costs: time and uncertainty.
- A reliable deployment story often requires paid fallback.
- Until I can budget for a paid VM, I’ll architect my stack to survive sudden region switches.
Next Steps
- Explore containerized deployment on Fly.io as an interim backup.
- Investigate cost of <10 USD/month VPS as a minimal paid safety net.
- Automate regional health checks and notify when Seoul/Chuncheon capacity returns.