Start/Stop Scheduler Add-on for PaaS
The Env Start/Stop Scheduler add-on stops and starts a MassiveGRID PaaS environment automatically on a schedule you define, for example stopping development servers at 7 pm and starting them at 8 am on weekdays. Stopped environments cost nothing for compute, so the add-on typically cuts the bill for non-production environments by more than half.
Both buttons open the MassiveGRID PaaS dashboard with Start/Stop Scheduler pre-selected. The trial needs no credit card.
Start/Stop Scheduler Package Facts
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Package | Env Start/Stop Scheduler |
| Type | Add-on (attaches to an existing environment) |
| Category | Add-ons & Utilities |
| Software vendor / project | Jelastic / Virtuozzo (package) |
| Licence | Open-source add-on |
| Runtime / stack | Add-on for any environment; cron-style schedule for hibernation and wake-up |
| Regions | New York, London, Frankfurt, Singapore |
| Billing | Free add-on; the host environment is billed per use from $2.46/month |
| Free trial | 14 days, no credit card |
| Uptime SLA | 100% |
What is Start/Stop Scheduler?
Pay-per-use billing only saves money if resources are actually released when unused. Developers rarely remember to stop staging servers at night, and nobody wants to start them manually every morning. This add-on applies a cron-style schedule to an environment: at the stop time it hibernates every node, and at the start time it brings them back with data intact and the same addresses.
It works with any environment, from a single WordPress site to a Kubernetes cluster, and supports weekday-only schedules, one-off stops and multiple rules. Combined with the platform's hourly billing, it is the simplest cost optimisation available, with no change to the application.
What Start/Stop Scheduler Changes in Your Environment
Add-ons run against an environment you already have. Nothing is rebuilt, and the change can be removed from the same dashboard.
- Schedule rules: One or more cron-style rules for stop and start times, with your timezone.
- Environment hibernation: At stop time, all nodes are stopped gracefully; data and configuration are preserved.
- Automatic wake-up: At start time, nodes resume with the same IPs, domains and data.
- Notifications (optional): Email on each stop and start so the team knows the state.
Why Teams Choose Start/Stop Scheduler
Zero compute cost while stopped
Only storage is billed for a hibernated environment.
Set and forget
Schedules run without anyone remembering to act.
Any environment type
Development, staging, QA, batch processing, demo and training environments.
Manual override
Start an environment early from the dashboard whenever needed; the schedule resumes afterwards.
How to Add Start/Stop Scheduler on MassiveGRID PaaS
Attaching the add-on takes three steps and a few minutes of waiting. No servers to provision, no configuration files to edit.
Open the installer
Click Install with free trial or Install to my account. The MassiveGRID PaaS dashboard opens with the Start/Stop Scheduler add-on pre-selected, so nothing has to be copied or pasted.
Sign up or sign in
New to the platform? Sign up for the free 14-day trial, which needs no credit card. Existing customers sign in with their usual dashboard credentials.
Pick the target environment
Choose the environment, and where relevant the node layer, that Start/Stop Scheduler should attach to, then confirm. The add-on configures itself on the running nodes without a redeploy.
Who Runs Start/Stop Scheduler on PaaS
Development and staging
Servers that only need to run during office hours.
Demo and training environments
Systems used for scheduled sessions and idle otherwise.
Batch and reporting jobs
Environments that wake for a nightly job and sleep afterwards.
Why Run Start/Stop Scheduler on MassiveGRID PaaS
Built for uptime. Start/Stop Scheduler runs on MassiveGRID's high-availability platform, where every environment is covered by a 100% uptime SLA. Nodes live on redundant hosts, storage is replicated, and failed containers are restarted or migrated automatically.
Pay for what you use. Billing is hourly and per cloudlet (128 MiB RAM plus 400 MHz CPU). Vertical auto-scaling adds and removes cloudlets as load changes, so a quiet Start/Stop Scheduler environment costs a few dollars a month and a busy one grows without a migration. Full details are on the PaaS page.
Your choice of jurisdiction. Deploy in New York, London, Frankfurt or Singapore and keep data inside the region your users or regulators require. MassiveGRID is ISO 9001 certified and GDPR compliant, and has run hosting infrastructure since 2003.
No lock-in. The package is a standard Jelastic Packaging Standard (JPS) manifest. You keep root-level access to the containers, can export the manifest, and can move the workload to any other Jelastic-compatible platform or to your own servers at any time.
Related on massivegrid.com: PaaS Pricing.
Start/Stop Scheduler Questions
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Deploy Start/Stop Scheduler Today
Start the free 14-day trial and have Start/Stop Scheduler running in minutes. No credit card required.