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Cloud Service

About​

Cloud Service introduces hourly billing capabilities to the Hypervisor Control Panel, enabling usage-based charging for your infrastructure. This feature allows you to offer flexible, pay-as-you-go cloud services with automated balance management, multi-currency support, and comprehensive usage tracking.

Configuration​

Settings​

Billing Settings

Configure your billing thresholds and suspension rules:

  • Low Balance Threshold - When a user's credit balance reaches or falls below this value, an automated email notification is sent prompting them to top up their account.
  • Negative Balance Threshold - An additional notification is triggered when the balance crosses into negative territory at this threshold.
  • Suspension Threshold on Negative Balance - If a user's balance drops below this value, all their instances will be automatically suspended to prevent further charges.
  • Allow Instance Creation on Negative Balance - Toggle whether users can create new instances when their balance is negative.

Currency​

Add Currency

Add and configure multiple currencies for global operations:

  • Currency Value per Credit - Defines the conversion rate between credits and actual currency. For example, if 1 credit = $0.01 USD, then 100 credits = $1.00 USD.
  • Prefix and Suffix - Customize currency display symbols (e.g., "$" prefix or "USD" suffix) shown in plan selection and usage reports.
  • Set Default Currency - Choose which currency displays by default for new users.

Locations​

Locations

Locations function similarly to hypervisor groups, allowing you to organize infrastructure by data center, region, or any logical grouping. Associate multiple hypervisors to a Location, and the system will automatically distribute instances across them using round-robin selection based on available resources matching the chosen plan.

Use Cases:

  • Geographic regions (US-East, EU-West, APAC)
  • Data center grouping
  • Performance tiers (Premium, Standard)

Plan Groups​

Plan Groups

Plan Groups help organize and categorize your service offerings, making it easier for users to find the right plan. Group plans by resource characteristics such as:

  • High Compute
  • High Storage
  • High Bandwidth
  • GPU-Enabled
  • Budget/Premium Tiers

This improves the user experience during plan selection by providing clear categorization.

End User Experience​

Dashboard Widget​

User UI

Users see a dedicated billing widget on their dashboard displaying:

  • Current credit balance
  • Total consumption for the current billing month
  • Quick access to usage reports and top-up options

Currency Preference​

Currency Preference

Users can select their preferred currency to view:

  • Credit balances
  • Usage reports
  • Pricing information

All monetary values automatically convert and display in the selected currency.

Instance Creation​

Instance Creation

The instance creation workflow mirrors the self-provisioning experience with the addition of:

  • Plan Group Selection - Choose from categorized plan groups
  • Plan Selection - View available plans with hourly and/or monthly pricing
  • Real-time Cost Preview - See estimated costs before deployment

The streamlined interface ensures users understand pricing before creating instances, reducing billing surprises and support requests.

Usage Report​

Usage Report

The usage report provides a clear breakdown of all instance consumption and costs:

  • Instance-level Details - View each instance with its hourly rate and accumulated usage
  • Monthly Totals - See the total cost for the current billing month
  • Historical Data - Use the date selector in the top right to view usage reports from previous months
  • Export Options - Coming in the stable release soon.

All costs are displayed in the user's selected currency preference for easy financial planning.

Conclusion​

The Cloud Service feature provides everything needed to launch a usage-based cloud platform: automated billing, multi-currency support, flexible pricing displays, and comprehensive user management. Configure your settings, set up locations and plan groups, and you're ready to offer hourly billed cloud services to your customers.