11.0 Managing Quotes

A quotation provides a way to determine beforehand how much would be charged for a job. When a quotation is requested, the charge rates applicable to the job requesting the quote are saved and a quote id is returned. When the job makes a reservation and the final charge, the quote can be referenced to ensure that the saved charge rates are used instead of current values. A quotation has an expiration time after which it cannot be used. A quotation may also be used to verify that the given job has sufficient funds and meets the policies necessary for the charge to succeed.

Associated with a quote is the id, the instance name (name of the item being used such as the job id), the amount quoted (assuming full use of the quoted resources or services), the usage record (which contains the usage details), a start and end time for the quote, a duration (how long the item is expected to be used), a boolean indicating whether the quote is pinned or unpinned, and a description. Each guaranteed quote will be associated with one or more saved charge rates. Operations include creating, querying, modifying and deleting quotes. By default, a standard user may only query quotes attributed to them.

Quote queries allow the specification of filter options which narrow down the quotes that will be returned. The query will return all quotes associated with usage records satisfying the filters. For example, Quote Query Filter:=User=scottmo will return all quotes for resources or services allocated to scottmo.

A quote may be pinned (restricted to a particular instance) or unpinned (allowed to be used by any number of different instances). If a quote is pinned and has not been tied to a particular instance when initially created, it will be tied to the first instance that claims it. Once pinned to an instance, it can then be used repeatedly by that same instance until the quote expires, but not by any other instance. If a quote is not pinned, any instances may use the quoted rates while the quote is active.

A quote may be granted a grace period, which is defined as the difference between the validity period of the quote (end time minus start time) and the expected duration of the usage. The purpose of a grace period is to account for the fact that we may not know precisely when the usage will begin and the quote needs to be valid during the time of completion of the usage in order for the guaranteed charge rates to be applied. One can apply a desired grace period for a quote by setting the end time longer than the specified duration. Alternatively, a grace duration option can be specified with the duration when creating a quote via gquote as a helper to computing a relatively adjusted end time.

A distinction may be made between quotes and quote templates, both of which use the Quote object. A quote will always return a cost estimate and will be associated with a specific usage record. A quote template provides a way to bundle together a package of special charge rates that can be applied to quotes, reservations and charges. Quote templates use the same Quote object as regular quotes but they are not associated with a usage record and do not generate a quote amount.

In calculating a price, a quote will use (in order of lower to higher precedence) the standard charge rates, the charge rates from a specified quote template, the specified override charge rates, or an externally specified charge amount. In saving guaranteed charge rates, the standard charge rates pertaining to the specified usage record properties will be used unless overridden by a specified quote template or specified charge rates.

There are several key purposes for using quotes and quote templates. First, a quote may be requested to discover the cost of using a resource or service. If this is your sole purpose, then you may want to use the gquote command with the --costOnly option. Second, a quote can be used to check whether the requestor has sufficient access and funds to use the requested resource. This may be accomplished by invoking the gquote command without the --costOnly option. Third, a quote or a quote template can be used to lock-in current or specified charge rates for use in future reservations and charges. If the details of the usage are known and you would like to get a quote amount with a quote id that can be referenced to guarantee the quoted charge rates, you may use the gquote command with the --guarantee option. Override charge rates may be factored in to the cost estimate of the quote by using the gquote command with the --rate option. If specific override charge rates need to be saved or guaranteed for future use within a quote, reservation or charge without generating a cost estimate, create a pinned quote template by using the gmkquote command with the --pin and -R options. If it is necessary to create a quote template that can be used to override the standard charge rates for multiple instances, use the gmkquote command with the --nopin and -R options.

11.1 Creating Quotes

Quotations are normally created by the resource management system with the gquote command (See Obtaining Usage Quotes).