Gandi Flex

Gandi Flex is a free service that is accessible to every customer that has an operational VPS cloud server (IaaS) at Gandi. This service will let you schedule future operations on your server that will take place over specified time periods. The smallest unit is one hour.

To get to the GandiFlex interface, you need to click on the server name from your list of available servers. Then, on your server's control panel, scroll down to where it says Flex Operations:

You can add a Flex Operation by clicking on the button with the same name.

Below is an explanation of the various features available on the Gandi Flex interface:

Please note that all the Flex operations that you create will be in the time zone that you defined at the time of the creation of the operation. This timezone is displayed above the resources tab.

Gandi Flex allows you to act on 3 types of resources: CPU, memory, and bandwidth. A Flex operation can only act on one resource at a time, though you can create several Flex operations that act within the same hour (as long as there is no conflict between them).

• CPU cores: This tab, as its name indicates, allows you to modify the number of CPU cores that are present at the time of the Flex operation.
• RAM: Like the previous tab, this one changes the quantity of RAM that is allocated to your server at the time the Flex operation is triggered. Note, however, that the operation is also subject to the indexing memory of your server.
• Interface n°0 : This is the name of your network interface (from 0 to 3, since there can be 4 interfaces per server), and this tab allows you to change the size of your bandwidth.

This is where you can change the state of the resource you have selected by the tab. By default, you will see a red line as well as two red points on it. The line corresponds to the state of the resources at the time when you defined the Gandi Flex operation.

For example, if your server has 1 CPU core, you will see a line on the number 1 on the vertical axis.

The two red points are placed at 00:00 (midnight) and 12:00 (noon). These can be moved by clicking and dragging them. You may create new points by clicking somewhere on the graph, and delete them by selecting them by clicking on them and by using the delete key on your keyboard. You must keep at least 2 settings points however, even if they are on the same unit number.

In the example of our image, we chose to change the number of CPU cores at 12:00 by adding two cores, and then another two at 18:00, going to a total of 6 cores in total. The white number in the column corresponds to the number of credits that will be consumed during this time period.

This table shows you everything that you have changed in the graph just above. It summarizes the selected time periods, the number of resources for each, the total cost of credits per period, the price per hour of each period, as well as the cost of the Flex operation for a day versus its current value. The total amount of this last column gives you a precise idea as to the cost of the Flex operation for a day. If this amount is negative, this means that you consume less credit than the current value of your server.

Before changing the operation's repetition settings, it is necessary to give a name to your Flex operation. This is the name that will appear in your summary table on your server's information page.

Repetition is based on 3 criteria that can be added to and removed from depending on your choice:

• weekly repetition you can chose the days of the week when your operation will be triggered,
• monthly repetition which lets you chose the day(s) when you want your Flex operation to run,

* yearly repetition where you can chose the months when your Flex operation is to be triggered.

All of these criteria are added up. This means that if you chose “Friday” every week, “7” every month, and “July” and “August” every year, then your Flex operation will only be launched if the 7th of July or the 7th of August fall on a Friday…

Finally, you can chose at what time you want to stop the repetition. By default, it is “never”. If you want the repetition to stop after 3 occurrences, then your operation will only happen 3 times depending on the criteria given (if it is “any day of the week, any day of the month, any day of the year” then the operation will occur 3 times in a row and will stop). You may also choose an end date for the repetition. This date will correspond to the last day when the operation may potentially occur.

The view following the validation of your Flex operation offers a visibility of all of the Flex operations of your server, as well as a calendar that allows you to easily visualize the days when your flex operations will occur.

The operations table of all of your Flex operations on your server allows you to have rapid view of all of the operations that have been programmed, the resources targeted, as well as the planned end date.

By clicking on the pen icon () to the right of the operation, you will arrive directly at the desired Flex operation's edition interface.

You can also add a new Flex operation by using the button situated on the table, on the right.

The calendar offers you a view of the current month, which you can modify by clicking on the arrows or the name of the month. The cell that has the thicker border than the others is the current day. The color codes correspond to specific resources. You can find the legend below the table. If you roll your cursor over the name of the Flex operations in the summary table, you will see the corresponding cells of the trigger day appear darker.

Like with the table, if you click on an operation in one of the cells, you will arrive at its modification interface.

Did you know? The summary table can be modified, just like most of the tables at Gandi, by clicking on the icon to its upper-right.