SpotCloud - Cloud Capacity Clearing House / Spot Market: FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Spot Market?

A market in which a commodity is bought or sold for immediate delivery or delivery in the very near future

What is a Cloud Capacity ClearingHouse?

A clearing-house is an intermediary service which facilitates and simplifies transactions among multiple parties for the purpose of selling excess or unused computing capacity.

Why do we need a cloud intermediary?

The intermediary acts as a conduit for capacity services offered by a global pool of suppliers. Rather than dealing with many various cloud service providers, SpotCloud offers intermediation services between multiple trading parties (buyer and seller).

What is Transient Computing Capacity?

Also referred to as ephemeral: lasting a very short time. The concept is ideal for applications that require short location or cost specific computing capacity including (but not limited to) addressing regional spikes in demand such as for content delivery, load balancing and performance optimization / testing.

Where is the Management Dashboard?

Please register for access.

How do I pay for the SpotCloud service?

To keep the cost low, buyers make a deposit in a pay as you go model (credit is purchased in advance of service use). Think pre-paid mobile phones.

Is there a monthly fee for buyers?

No, buyers pay for what it used with a credit remaining until fully utilized. You are notified when your account is running low.

Do I pay extra for bandwidth, storage, etc?

No, capacity is offered as a flat fee and based upon a "hardware profile".  The hourly price listed is what you pay for that resource.

Can the resource prices change?

Once you agree to use a resource for a period of time the price is locked. Although the price of the resource may change for others during the period of time you use it, meaning next timing it may cost more or less depending on demand and resource availability. So check back often.

Why do I need to use a Google Account & Email address?

We use the Google App Engine for global scale as well as to help reduce our bandwidth bottlenecks and costs.

Which Operating Systems are supported?

SpotCloud supports, Linux and Windows based VM's which we call, "VM Packages" sometimes referred to as appliances.

How do I create my own VM Packages for SpotCloud?

SpotCloud provides desktop & command-line based packaging tools. Sample VM's are available as a guide. The VM package is based on a standard ISO format. (Example packages are available) How-to documentation coming soon. 

How do I secure my SpotCloud VM?

User access to VM should be disabled for increased security. The VM package is typically configured to automatically boot, self configure itself and phone home without the need for direct OS access. VM examples available. 

Can I trust the Buyers or Sellers?

We fully vet all market participants.

Are there any SLA's, support or guarantees?

No, to keep the costs as low as possible the service is offered without any SLA, direct support or guarantees. We may offer support in the future. Although we do have a phone and are more than happy to talk to you. 416.848.6036.

What are the terms of use?

The simple version: All Services are provided on an “AS IS, WHEN AVAILABLE BASIS”. All charges are non-refundable. Use at your own risk. 

The full version: The purchase terms are governed by the Terms of Use.

Why isn't there ABC or XYZ feature?

The platform has been designed to enable the most basic cloud IaaS capabilities required to deploy a highly scalable, low cost, global infrastructure. If you're looking for all the bells and whistles, please buy directly from retail cloud providers. If you need low cost, location centric capacity, then we're the right choice.

Where can I find the SpotCloud API Docs?

Coming soon.

What do I need to be a provider (seller)?

A compatible IaaS platform. Current Enomaly ECP is supported. We will be releasing additional support for other cloud infrastructure platforms in the coming weeks. If you're interested in instructions on how to directly add SpotCloud Support to your platform, please get in touch.

Can Private Data Centers participate as Sellers?

Yes, Assuming you have dedicated "public" access to segmented capacity within your infrastructure.

What is the minimum requirements for Sellers to offer capacity?

Decent bandwidth / connectivity, a compatible IaaS platform and at least 80 cores, (5 - 10 servers).

Are there Similar Services?

SpotCloud is the first commercial cloud computing clearing house and spot market service. Although there are notable other similar services including;

• Travel industry clearing houses such as Hotwire.com and Priceline.com
• Ad Spot Markets such as Google's Adwords, Adsense and double-click exchange platform.

What is an Opaque Market?

Also know as a Opaque inventory is a term used to describe the market of selling unsold inventory at a discounted price. The inventory is called "opaque" because the specific supplier (i.e. cloud provider, hotel, airline, etc) remain hidden until after the purchase has been completed. This is done to prevent sales of unsold inventory from cannibalizing full-price retail sales.

How are Sellers paid?

We pay you net 30 via paypal directly or check (upon request). A small percentage of each transaction goes to SpotCloud. The percentage varies between 90% - 70% goes to the service provider, depending on the volume of transactions offered through the market. Please keep in mind this is capacity that would otherwise go unsold and buyers pay the price you the provider/seller decide.

What Countries does SpotCloud accept Accept as Sellers or Buyers? 

We've partnered with paypal to support a network of more than 190 countries and regions, and in multiple currencies.

via spotcloud.com