Cloud Foundry How Tos - Backing Service Pay-per-Use¶

Backing Service and Backing Service Pay-per-Use¶

Subscription based Backing Services have to be paid upfront for one year. It allows you to decide the size you would like to use later during the purchase. It is not possible to change a Backing Service from size xs to e.g. s10, without purchasing an additional one. This type of Backing Service must be paid - also if you do not use it.

Backing Service Pay-per-Use is different. You can decide which size you would like to have at any time, and you can change the size as often as you want. You will be charged depending on which size you have started and how long you have used it.
For example: Your Backing Service Pay-per-Use xs was started at 10:15am and stopped at 1:00pm. The total runtime is 2:45 hours. You will be charged for 3 hours, because you must pay for every started hour.

Backing Services Pay-per-Use are more expensive than subscription based Backing Services and therefore not designed to be used in production when running for 365 days 24/7. From technical perspective, they are same as the subscription based Backing Services, but the pricing model is different. For development purpose or test phases, when a Backing Service is only needed for a limited time, it is very helpful to be flexible and to reduce own costs with Backing Services Pay-per-Use.

FAQs¶

Where can I see the Backing Service Pay-per-Use price per started hour?¶

Open the Upgrade app in your Industrial IoT environment.
You can see the price per started hour after selecting Backing Service Pay per Use

How can I start the Backing Service Pay-per-Use?¶

First, you have to order the Backing Service Pay per Use option in the Upgrade app in your Industrial IoT environment.
Afterwards, Insights Hub will automatically decide if a Backing Service is a Pay-per-Use service or not. If you start a Backing Service, the number of unused subscription based Backing Services are checked. If there is atleast one open slot, you do not have to pay extra, because it is included in your subscription. If it is not possible to find a slot for subscription based Backing Services, it is counted as Pay-per-Use.

Is it possible to change from Pay-per-User to Subscription based Backing Service?¶

Yes, this happens automatically in the background. For example:
You have 2 subscription based Backing Services in your Developer Plan S and you have purchased one additional Backing Service Pay-per-Use to have more flexibility. In total, you are able to start upto 3 Backing Services. In Cloud Foundry, you started two xs-sized Backing Services (XS1 and XS2) already, but for another reason, you will start a 3^rd xs-sized Backing Service (XS3). XS3 will be counted as Pay-per-Use. If you delete, for example, the XS1 Service, then the running service XS3 is automatically counted as subscription based and not as Pay-per-Use anymore, because a subscription based Backing Service is available after deleting XS1.

Where can I see the usage of my Backing Services?¶

The usage will be shown in Usage Transparency (UTS) in hours. This makes it very easy to recognize and compare the usage of Pay-per-Use Backing Services according to your invoice every month. You will see the amount of running hours for all used Backing Services.

What is the limit in hours in a monthly basis I have bought with one Backing Services instance?¶

The limit for every Backing Service Instance (Pay-per-Use or subscription) is 24h per day. Depending on the amount of days per month the monthly limit will differ.

How the Backing Services instances I bought are translated into hours I can see in Usage Transparency?¶

If you start your Backing Service at 10:15 a.m. and you delete it at 1:00 p.m. you have a total runtime of 2:45 hours. A total usage of 3 hours is shown in UTS. This is independent of the type.

I bought instances in Pay-per-Use (PPU), but in Usage Transparency only hours as a unit are displayed? I do not see any instance in Usage Transparency.¶

According to the billing model the usage is shown in hours. It is not important if you start 4 Backing Services Pay-per-Use for 2 hours or 1 instance for 8 hours.

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