Billing User Guide
Version 1.0: 01.01.11
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Table of Contents
1 Introduction 3 1.1 Audience 3 1.2 Prerequisites 3 1.3 Purpose 31.4 Using this guide, you will be able to 4
1.5 Terms 4
2 Login procedure 5
3 Working with Resource Usage reports 6
3.1 Billing Report details 7
4 Managing User Orders 8
4.1 Order Details 9
5 Managing Users 10
5.1 Searching for users 10
Welcome to the DNS Europe AppLogic Cloud Control Panel (CCP) Guide
for Billing users. The current Eval version of the software includes the
capability to view and download data on resource usage (RAM, CPU &
Volume Size) on a per-Cloud Server basis.
Future versions of the CCP will include an API allowing you to integrate the resource usage data with your own billing system.
1.1 Audience
CCP Billing users who are responsible for extracting customer usage data from the CCP for invoicing purposes.
1.2 Prerequisites
Before using this manual it would be useful to have an understanding of how the end-Users manage their Cloud Server accounts through the End-User CCP. We recommend familiarizing yourself with the system and the CCP End User Guide document.
You will also need the following information & resources:
• URL of the Admin GUI for the CCP (ask your CCP administrator)
• A Billing User account created for you by the CCP administrator)
• Spreadsheet software to view your download .CSV files containing historical resource usage reports for CCP end-users.
1.3 Purpose
The purpose of this document is to guide you through the process of extracting customer resource usage data from the CCP so, if required, you can use the data to create invoices within your own billing system.
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1.4 Using this guide, you will be able to
• Search by date range for a user’s resource usage per Cloud Server
• Search for Orders by date range, by user, by Cloud Server name and by order status
• View resource usage graphs and download .CSV file with resource usage data
• Edit user details
1.5 Terms
‘Grid’ and ‘Cloud’
AppLogic has historically used the term ‘Grid’ to describe their product however DNS Europe uses the term ‘Cloud’. Both of these terms may be used interchangeably in this document specifically when making references to AppLogic’s native information.
‘Templates’
The CCP provisions Cloud Servers for users via User-templates so a customer Cloud Server will have a Template associated with it in an Order.
‘Cloud Server’ and ‘Application’
We refer to any application that is deployed in a Private Cloud from a template as a ‘Cloud server’ or an ‘Application’. Both of these terms may be used interchangeably in this document.
To login in to your CCP, enter the username & password provided by your
CCP administrator.
Figure 1: CCP Login screen
Once you have completed the login step, you will be presented with the Dashboard screen from where all billing-user CCP functions can be accessed.
Figure 2: The Billing Dashboard
The following options are accessible from the CCP Dashboard:
1. Dashboard – List, View & Download usage reports by Username & date range 2. Orders – Search orders by date range, User, Status, Cloud Server name & Refcode 3. Users – Search and edit user information
4. Help – Future versions will link to Forum & Knowledge base 5. Logout – ending your CCP session
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To view a user’s resource usage report
1. Login to the CCP as Billing user
2. Locate the Name / Username of the user from the drop-down 3. Refine the drop-down list by selecting one or more of the following:
a. Active b. Deleted c. Cancelled
4. Choose the date range for which you require a usage report 5. Click “Search”
Figure 3: User Billing Report
3 Working with Resource
Usage reports
The user’s resource usage for the date range selected will then appear on screen as a User Billing Report.
NOTE: If a User has more than one Cloud Server on their account, each Cloud Server resource usage graph will appear on the same Billing Report screen, one above the other.
3.1 Billing Report details
The billing report shows the following information:
• Cloud Server: This is the user-friendly name given to the Cloud Server by the user when it was provisioned.
• Private Cloud: This is the AppLogic Private Cloud on which the Cloud Server is located.
• Cloud Server system name: This is the CCP-assigned name for the Cloud Server
• Template: This is the name of the user-template from which the Cloud Server was provisioned.
NOTE: If a system administrator provisioned the Cloud Server manually on the Private Cloud, it will not have a CCP user-template associated with it and therefore the Template fields will show CUSTOM.
• Status: This is the current status of the Private Cloud.
• Get CSV: Clicking this button will allow you to download a spreadsheet of the report data.
• Graphs: Individual graphs are shown for CPU, RAM & Volume Size.
• Resource totals: Below the resource graphs, a table will show the total amount of resources used within the report time period. The data is calculated based on the concept of a “Measured Unit” with the unit period being 1 day.
In the example in Fig 3, the CPU total for measured units is ‘4.25 core’. Since the CPU allocation is constant at 0.25 for 17 days, the Measured Unit is therefore 0.25 x 17 = 4.25.
NOTE: The concept of ‘Measured Units’ defines the minimum billing period for a change in a Cloud Servers resource allocation. By default the CCP is configured with a minimum 24-hour period.
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To view Cloud Server orders from CCP users
• Click the “Orders” tab on the primary navigation
• Choose a date range for which you wish to search for orders
• If required, select a User from the drop-down list
• If required, select an order Status from the drop-down list
• If you are searching for a specific Cloud Server, enter its Name
• If you have the order Reference Code, enter the Refcode
Figure 4: Order Search form
You can view an Orders details by click the “Refcode” link on the Order list:
Figure 5: Order Details
4.1 Order Details
Viewing the Order details page will provide the following information:
• Order ref code: This is the CCP-assigned unique, sequential order reference code for the order.
• Status: This is the current status of the order.
• Ordered on: The date and time the user ordered the Cloud Server through the CCP
• Amount: If your CCP is configured to integrate with an external payment system which triggers the provisioning process, the order details may also show the amount that the user was charged for the initial Cloud Server invoice.
• Username: The CCP user who placed the order
• Email: email address of CCP user who placed the order
• Customer name & address: of the user who placed the order
• Template: The CCP User-Template from which the Cloud Server was provisioned.
• Grid: The Private Cloud on which the order was provisioned
• CPU & Mem: The originally ordered CPU core & RAM resources for the Cloud Server (per user-visible component).
• Volumes Resources: The originally ordered Volume Size for the Cloud Server (per user-visible volume).
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Figure 6: Users List5.1 Searching for users
1. Click the “Users” tab on the primary navigation
2. Select the Status and/or Role for users you wish to locate from the drop-down 3. Select from the Customer drop-down if you wish to search for users who have other
users (customers) associated with them. 4. Click ‘Search’
5.2 Disabling a user’s CCP account
The quickest and most convenient way for Billing Users to disable a CCP user’s account (for example for non-payment of invoices) is to change the user account status:
1. Click the “ ” button to the right of the Username 2. Click the “ ” button
3. Select in the Status drop-down option ‘Disabled’ and Save changes.
NOTE: changing a user’s password will only disable their access to the CCP so they cannot order new or change existing Cloud Servers. To disable existing Cloud Servers for that user, please contact your CCP administrator.
5.3 Adding Customers to Users
If you wish to identify certain users as ‘Customers’ of other users, you can do so as follows:
1. Click the “ ” button to the right of the Username 2. Click the “ ” button