Multi-Cloud Configurations

After the partition of your hardware into regions/host groups is done, you need to perform a set of obligatory configurations, that will help you to reveal the maximum efficiency of the multi-hardware sets approach, both for you and for your customers. So, here is the list of the required actions:

• set a pool of public IP’s for regions
• set host groups' availability for users
• set pricing models for host groups
• set regions customization

Only after all the above listed adjustments are completed, you can proceed to enabling the environment regions for the users.

Set Pool of External IPs

Every region requires its own pool of External IP addresses to be allocated for the instances, accommodated therein. The instruction below will show you the process of its addition.

1. Open the Cluster > IP Pool > External menu section.

You’ll see the list of already added Public IPs, each of which can only be used within the Regions, stated in the same-named column to the right.

Click on the Add IP range button above to proceed.

2. In the appeared window, specify the Start and End IP addresses of the range you’d like to add and tick at least one region (or several of them) that the corresponding IPs will be available for.

Click Add at the bottom of the frame to finish. After that, the corresponding addresses will appear within the common list with the appropriate regions pointed.

Configure Affinity of Regions

In order to manage the regions' availability for particular groups of users, i.e. to define which of them will be able to allocate their containers at the appropriate hardware, perform the simple steps, described below:

1. Navigate to the Billing > Groups JCA menu option.

Within the shown list, select a group you want to adjust the permissions for.

2. Switch to the Pricing tab at the separate right-hand panel. You’ll see the list of all of your PaaS installation’s regions and host groups available.

Click on the Edit button above.

3. Once in the editing mode, you can make the desired changes through setting the following options within the presented columns:

• Default - choose the initial host group, that will be proposed for a user during the first environment creation (subsequently it will be stated based on the last user’s choice).

  Note: The selected hardware set will automatically become available for the current group of users.

• Available - tick the host groups you’d like to be used by the current user group

• Pricing model - here you can point different pricing models for every host group’s resources usage - read the pricing section for the detailed instruction

Click Apply to save the made changes.

Subsequently (after the feature is enabled for the end-users), the stated hardware sets will become available for the selected group of users for being chosen during the new environment creation or migrating the existing one.

Specify Pricing Tiering for Host Groups

As the capacity of the supplied hardware and features, delivered within different host groups, can vary, the platform provides an ability to set the appropriate pricing model for each of them per every group of users.

1. To start with, you need to configure the required tariff plan(s) (using the Billing > Tariffs JCA section) to describe how different resource types should be charged (refer to the linked guide to find the detailed instruction on this operation).

2. Next, you should switch to the Billing > Pricing models section of the JCA and combine the created tariff plans of different types into the pricing model(s) according to a particular host group’s options that are provided.

3. And the last thing you need to do is to select the necessary group of users within the Billing > Groups JCA section and assign the previously created pricing model(s) to the corresponding host group(s).

For that, click on the Edit button above the shown list of regions and use the drop-down lists at the Pricing model column next to the required host group.

Don’t forget to confirm your settings with the Apply button.

Customize Displaying of Regions

Another important point in configuring multi-region structure is to ensure the intuitive usability for the variety of supplied host groups with the help of the proper visualization. This can be achieved by means of adjusting the appropriate interface elements - fitting icons and clear descriptions for the regions to be delivered at the end-users' dashboard.

Custom Icons for Regions

You can visually divide the provided host groups by giving them different icons. Such a differentiation can be based on any parameters you wish - for example, you can highlight groups from one region in the same way (e.g. by flag icons), or set something like a color legend in order to separate them due to capacity, available services or other intentional purposes.

So, in order to accomplish this customization, just perform a few steps, described below:

1. Connect to the platform resources folder.

2. Within the public_html folder, upload the header.html file (which is used for stating the custom dashboard styles) with the following CSS styles specified for the icons of every provided host group:

• .regions-combo-icon-{HostGroup} - selector for the icon, placed before the host group name at the corresponding drop-down list of the topology wizard

• .regions-label-icon-{HostGroup} - selector for the icon, shown next to environments in the user’s dashboard

• .regions-info-icon-{HostGroup} - selector for the icon inside the Quotas & Pricing > Regions information panel

In each of the above listed settings, the {HostGroup} string should be substituted with the Unique Name identifier of a particular host group (you’ve set it during the creation).

Below you can see the example piece of code (with the explicative comments inside) for defining these styles in the header.html file.

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<style>
 .regions-combo-icon-{HostGroup},
 .regions-label-icon-{HostGroup},
 .regions-info-icon-{HostGroup}
 {
     width: 16px !important;
    /* image width, set with the highest priority (the optimal icon size is 16*16 px) */
     background-image: url(path/to/image) !important;
    /* relative path to image with icon itself (e.g. resources/images/flags/gh.png), set with the highest priority */
}
</style>

3. Once this is done, access the https://app.{platform_domain}/rebuild link in your browser in order to initiate applying the changes.

Custom Descriptions for Regions

In order to simplify the process of choosing a suitable region for your users, you can add descriptions with their specifications and distinctive features enumerated. For example, some benefits (like 2 free cloudlets per instance, SSD storage, etc.) or limitations (Windows Support disabled, Storage capacity: 10 GB) can be highlighted.

The descriptions could be set through the dashboard localization files. You need to repeat the following steps in order to access and adjust them:

1. Connect to the platform resources folder.

2. Navigate to the public_html > locale folder and customize the localization files it contains. Three placeholders of the following type are used for every host group’s description:

• LT_Region_ShortDescription_{HostGroup} - a short description that is visible at the dashboards' drop-down list during the host group selection

• LT_Region_Description_{HostGroup} - full hardware set description for the Quotas & Pricing > Regions information panel (supports HTML)

• LT_Region_Description_MD_{HostGroup} - full hardware set description for the Quotas & Pricing > Regions information panel in the markdown format (utilized if the LT_Region_Description_{HostGroup} key is not provided)

In all these cases the {HostGroup} string should be substituted with the Unique Name identifier of a particular host group (set during the creation).

The specified texts will appear at the dashboard just after the updated localization files are applied.

Enable Regions at the Dashboard

Once you’ve performed all the configurations, described above, the multi-region option can be enabled at the end-users' dashboard.

This feature’s availability is controlled by the following interface parameters within the System Settings > User Interface section of your admin panel:

• ENV_REGIONS_PANEL - defines whether the Regions tab at the Quotas & Pricing information frame needs to be displayed If disabled, the Pricing section of the same frame will be shown instead.

• ENV_REGIONS_SELECTOR - enables the drop-down list for the region selection at the environment wizard (and at all the corresponding dialog frames)

For enabling any of these parameters, expand the two-level list and state true for the all > default string.

Don’t forget to Apply the changes made through selecting the same-named button above the parameters' list.

Now, your multi-region policy is fully prepared and available for usage. Check the Users' Experience with Environment Regions document to get acquainted with the provided services from the customers' side.

What’s next?

• Multi-Cloud Overview
• Clouds List Management
• Environment Regions: Users' Experience