> Idle Always Free compute instances may be reclaimed by Oracle. Oracle will deem virtual machine and bare metal compute instances as idle if, during a 7-day period, the following are true:
> * CPU utilization for the 95th percentile is less than 15%
> * Network utilization is less than 15%
> * Memory utilization is less than 15% (applies to A1 shapes only)
And here's the email that I get whenever they reclaim an instance:
> Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) has reclaimed idle Always Free compute resources from Always Free customers by stopping the compute instance(s). Reclaiming idle resources allows OCI to efficiently provide services to Always Free customers. Your account had one or more idle compute instances that have been stopped. You can restart your compute instance as long as the associated compute shape is available in your region. Your Boot and Block Volumes remain unchanged and available to you. In the future, you can keep idle compute instances from being stopped by converting your account to Pay As You Go (PAYG). With PAYG, you will not be charged as long as your usage for all OCI resources remains within the Always Free limits.
Yes - so i'm not sure why it doesn't seem to actually happen to me, my instance definitely sits idle like that a lot. All free Oracle accounts must have a payment method, it was mandatory when creating the account.
