VM Lifecycle and Billing
Applies to: all AppWizzy hosted VM projects
AppWizzy VMs use an active disk and rolling 24-hour hosting periods. Pause, restart, and resize operations preserve data on the active disk.
Deletion removes the VM and its active disk.
Lifecycle summary
| Operation | VM effect | Active disk | Billing effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Starts a stopped VM | Preserved | Begins a 24-hour hosting period |
| Pause | Stops or suspends the VM | Preserved | Prevents a new period while the VM remains paused. The current period is not prorated. |
| Resume | Starts a paused VM | Preserved | Begins the next 24-hour hosting period |
| Restart | Restarts the VM or its services | Preserved | Does not create a partial-period refund or a separate billing unit |
| Resize | Stops the VM, changes CPU/RAM, and starts it again | Preserved | Subsequent hosting uses the selected machine size rate |
| Delete | Removes the VM and active disk | Removed | Stops future VM hosting charges |
Rolling 24-hour billing
The smallest VM hosting unit is one 24-hour hosting period. AppWizzy measures it from the time that the VM starts or resumes.
The hosting period does not depend on midnight or a billing time zone.
- AppWizzy does not provide a partial hosting period.
- A pause during a paid hosting period does not create a prorated refund.
- AppWizzy does not charge a new hosting period while the VM remains paused.
- The next 24-hour hosting period starts when the VM resumes.
- AppWizzy refunds a failed provisioning charge.
The project and pricing interfaces show hosting costs in credits. One credit equals one US dollar.
Pause and resume
A pause preserves files, databases, uploads, and other persistent data on the active disk. The VM and its network services are unavailable during a pause.
A pause does not preserve data in memory. The pause can remove unsaved data that exists only in a process or application memory.
Save your work to the active disk before you pause the VM.
Resume the project from its AppWizzy project page. AppWizzy uses the same active disk when the VM starts again.
Restart
A restart does not replace the active disk. A restart can stop processes and remove data from memory.
Configure applications to write important data to the active disk or database.
A restart is not a reset. It does not delete files from the active disk.
Resize
When resize is available, AppWizzy stops the VM. AppWizzy applies the selected CPU and RAM configuration.
AppWizzy then starts the VM with the same active disk.
The interface shows only eligible machine sizes for the selected template. Review the displayed rate before you confirm the change.
The VM is unavailable for a short period during the resize.
AppWizzy has no generic VM rebuild action
AppWizzy does not provide rebuild as a normal VM lifecycle operation. Do not use restart, reset, and rebuild as equivalent terms.
Some App Generation projects can provide a separate Drop DB and Rebuild action. This action deletes the generated application database.
The App Generation documentation describes this action. It is not a VM restart.
Insufficient credits and scheduled deletion
If your AppWizzy credit balance cannot fund the next hosting period, AppWizzy can pause the VM. AppWizzy can also issue a deletion notice.
Unless the account or notice displays a different deadline:
- AppWizzy attempts permanent deletion at least seven calendar days after the deletion notice.
- AppWizzy normally adds a one-day operational grace window.
- The cleanup schedule can cause deletion after the nominal deadline.
- AppWizzy cancels scheduled cleanup if you add credits and resume the VM before deletion. Account and technical conditions apply.
Do not use the grace period as storage. Export important data before the displayed deletion deadline.
Before deletion
Deletion removes the VM and its active disk. Read Project Deletion and Retention before you confirm deletion.
Export all data that you must retain.