This new feature will make usage data available through the Abiquo API and it is especially useful for reseller environments. It will offer a new way to provide flat VM hour pricing to tenants while enabling you to offer volume discounts for resellers in the hierarchy.
VM usage data
The reports methods of the new “cost usage” resource provide VM usage in hours for the platform, per tenant, and for a tenant hierarchy. The data for the tenant hierarchy is aggregated using the reseller and key node tags.
The following table describes the "costusage" report endpoints.
| Report | Description |
|---|---|
Platform | Report on all usage of the platform |
Reseller | Collection of reports on the resellers of the platform |
| Key node | Collection of reports on usage per key-node enterprise (aggregating all the subsidiary enterprises). You must supply a reseller enterprise link/resellerCode or keyNode enterprise links |
| Enterprises | Collection of reports on usage per enterprise. You must supply a link to an enterprise key node or links to enterprises. |
| Account | Collection of reports on usage per account (accountId attribute) and you can filter them by providing a reseller enterprise link, an enterprise key-node link, or accountId values |
| Details | Collection of reports on usage per VM. You must supply a link to an enterprise key node or links to enterprises. |
For API documentation, see https://wiki.abiquo.com/api/latest/CostUsageResource.html
Time zones
In the database, the time zones are stored in UTC format. The default billing period is from day 1 of the previous month in UTC format.
Privileges
Access to the data will be controlled by the "ROLE_BILLS_MANAGE" privilege. The report for enterprises is also available to users of an enterprise with the "ROLE_BILLS_VIEW" privilege.
Additional configuration
The administrator can also configure some enterprise properties for use in the reports, as described in the following table.
These properties are updated once a month at the start of the billing period. So if you make a change during a billing period, it will take effect in the next billing period.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| resellerCode | To identify a reseller in the platform |
| contractId | To identify an enterprise's contract with the platform provider |
| currencyCode | By default this is "EUR" |
| conversionFactor | For example, to convert from Euros to USD, you could set a value of "1.12". |
Accounting data
In order to obtain the usage in VM hours, this feature retrieves and stores some data from the Abiquo Accounting system on a daily basis. This data in hours is categorized by resources. You can also filter, access, and manage this data from the action endpoints under cost usage.
Pricing data
In this initial release the cost usage feature does not use granular resource pricing, and while it can be aligned with the pricing model, it is not integrated to it directly. In future releases, Abiquo will continue to develop these features to enable customers to easily retrieve and manage cloud usage and accounting data. For a version of this output customized for your needs, please contact us.
Platform VM volume intervals
It is possible to configure an internal table with intervals of VM volume usage across the whole platform for incorporation into the reports. Please contact us for further information.