Virtual Private Cloud Follow
What is it?
The "Virtual Private Cloud" (VPC) annual plan allows cloud owners to customize the branding of their Edgecore Cloud.
Why choose VPC?
VPC is a beneficial, cost effective feature for certain cloud users, such as MSPs (Managed Service Providers), for a few reasons:
- A VPC cloud encourages customer stickiness, and
- A VPC cloud allows the VPC cloud owner to maintain a unified brand image
For example, let's say an MSP by the name of "MSP Services, Inc" is currently managing the wireless installations of 10 hotels in a small hotel chain. This MSP has chosen to go with the Edgecore solution, due to the affordability of the hardware and cloud solution.
The administrators of this hotel chain have asked the MSP to grant them read-only visibility in to their wifi network, so they can see how many guests are using the wifi, troubleshoot any AP issues when calls are received at the front desk, etc...
As requested, the MSP logs in to their Edgecore cloud and invites the hotel admins as read-only guests for the sites that represent their hotels.
After registering and logging in, the hotel owner learns that the Edgecore Cloud is the solution being used by the MSP, and upon reading more about Edgecore's ultra-affordable pricing, decides to go direct with Edgecore, canceling the service contract with the MSP.
If the MSP had had an option of replacing the Edgecore branding with "MSP Services, Inc" branding, they would have avoided this scenario all together!
VPC Pricing
The Virtual Private Cloud has a low $500/year cost. Similar to the "core cloud plan", you can register an unlimited number of devices to your cloud under this plan.
How to setup your VPC cloud
The VPC setup process is quick and easy.
Step 1) First, login to your cloud, and navigate to the Licenses & Billing page from the cloud-level menu on the left.
Step 2) Click the "Change plan" link under the "Your Cloud Plan" header. Note: you must be an owner, or a cloud admin with license and billing management rights to view this page.
Step 3) Click the "Upgrade" button under the "Virtual Private Cloud" plan:
Step 4) Pay for your plan upgrade using a credit card or voucher code. A voucher code can be obtained from our sales team if you wish to pay the cloud fee with a bank wire or other form of payment.
Step 5) Once confirmed, you'll see a new "Virtual Private Cloud" menu option show up on the left, and a confirmation page like in the screenshot above. Click on the new menu item, or the "Configure my VPC" button from the confirmation page to continue.
Step 6) Under the General tab, enter information about your company. Your cloud users will see this info instead of the Edgecore-branded version.
- Company: This field will replace Edgecore in all major titles and labels in the cloud UI (such as the login page).
- Company Website: This field should contain the URL to your company's main landing site. Clicking on the logo in the header or on the login page will take a user to your website.
- Privacy Policy Page: Link to your company's privacy policy URL using this field.
- Contact Email: This is the email address that users currently use to contact your company if they have problems. This email will be included in the footer of many emails and other communications to the end user.
- Email From Address: This is the email address that will show up as the sender on cloud-related alerts and notifications. (Example: no-reply@companyname.com)
Step 7) Next you'll setup the domains from which your VPC is accessible to your end users.
There are two options:
- Standard domain (required): This option does not require any advanced setup of DNS records. Your VPC will always be accessible at the specified sub domain of manage-my.cloud, even if you've setup a fully custom domain as well.
- Custom domain (optional): If you prefer a fully custom virtual cloud URL (such as http://cloud.msp-services-4u.com/), you would enter the URL here. This option requires that you setup DNS records. SSL certificates are generated and renewed for you automatically.
Your VPC cloud will always be accessible as a subdomain of the secured generic/standard domain, even if you've enabled a custom domain as well.
Step 8) Now you'll modify the appearance of your VPC from the "Appearance" tab.
First, select a theme.
Next, upload your company's logos and favicons.
FAQ
How do I invite users to my VPC?
You do this the same way as you would for a normal cloud. Users will see your branding on the invites and associated emails. Your cloud users will not receive Edgecore marketing emails nor will they be able to create their own clouds.
Your VPC cloud users must be invited to your cloud - there is no open signup option.
What if I have multiple clouds?
If you have multiple Edgecore clouds, you'll still be able to switch between them the same way you do today. If you switch between a VPC cloud and a normal cloud, you'll get redirected back to the Edgecore domain. If a user has only one membership in a VPC cloud, they will not see the "Clouds" menu at the top of the page, and will not be able to create their own cloud from your custom domain.
Switching in between VPC and non-VPC clouds will require you to log in again. You can select the "remember me" box on the login form in order to make switching clouds faster in the future.
Who can edit VPC settings by default?
Only cloud owners and administrators who have permission to edit VPC settings are allowed to do so.
Once you upgrade to the VPC plan, you'll see a new administrator permissions called "Manage VPC settings". Assign this to any admin users who should have access to the VPC configuration page.
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