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Overview

Lightd includes a comprehensive billing system that tracks resource usage and calculates costs for containers and volumes. The system monitors CPU, memory, storage, and network usage in real-time.

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Features

Real-time Monitoring

Tracks CPU, memory, storage, and network usage every 60 seconds

Flexible Billing Rates

Configurable per-resource pricing

Multiple Time Windows

Hourly, daily, and monthly cost estimates

Container-level Tracking

Per-container resource usage and costs

Volume-level Tracking

Storage costs for volumes

Async Collection

Non-blocking metrics gathering

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Configuration

Enable billing monitoring in config.json: 
{
  "monitoring": {
    "enabled": true,
    "interval_ms": 60000,
    "billing": {
      "memory_per_gb_hour": 0.01,
      "cpu_per_vcpu_hour": 0.05,
      "storage_per_gb_hour": 0.005,
      "egress_per_gb": 0.12
    }
  }
}
Configuration Fields:
  • enabled - Enable/disable billing monitoring
  • interval_ms - Collection interval in milliseconds (default: 60000 = 1 minute)
  • memory_per_gb_hour - Cost per GB of memory per hour
  • cpu_per_vcpu_hour - Cost per vCPU per hour
  • storage_per_gb_hour - Cost per GB of storage per hour
  • egress_per_gb - Cost per GB of network egress

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Get Hourly Usage

Get hourly resource usage and costs for a container. 
curl -X GET http://localhost:8070/billing/usage/my-container/hourly \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer lightd_token" \
  -H "Accept: Application/vnd.pkglatv1+json"
Response: 
{
  "container_id": "my-container",
  "period": "hourly",
  "memory_usage_gb": 0.5,
  "cpu_usage_vcpu": 0.25,
  "storage_usage_gb": 2.0,
  "network_egress_gb": 0.1,
  "memory_cost": 0.005,
  "cpu_cost": 0.0125,
  "storage_cost": 0.01,
  "egress_cost": 0.012,
  "total_cost": 0.0395,
  "timestamp": 1706450000
}

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Get Daily Usage

Get daily resource usage and costs for a container. 
curl -X GET http://localhost:8070/billing/usage/my-container/daily \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer lightd_token" \
  -H "Accept: Application/vnd.pkglatv1+json"
Response: 
{
  "container_id": "my-container",
  "period": "daily",
  "memory_usage_gb": 12.0,
  "cpu_usage_vcpu": 6.0,
  "storage_usage_gb": 48.0,
  "network_egress_gb": 2.4,
  "memory_cost": 0.12,
  "cpu_cost": 0.30,
  "storage_cost": 0.24,
  "egress_cost": 0.288,
  "total_cost": 0.948,
  "timestamp": 1706450000
}

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Get Monthly Usage

Get monthly resource usage and costs for a container. 
curl -X GET http://localhost:8070/billing/usage/my-container/monthly \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer lightd_token" \
  -H "Accept: Application/vnd.pkglatv1+json"
Response: 
{
  "container_id": "my-container",
  "period": "monthly",
  "memory_usage_gb": 360.0,
  "cpu_usage_vcpu": 180.0,
  "storage_usage_gb": 1440.0,
  "network_egress_gb": 72.0,
  "memory_cost": 3.60,
  "cpu_cost": 9.00,
  "storage_cost": 7.20,
  "egress_cost": 8.64,
  "total_cost": 28.44,
  "timestamp": 1706450000
}

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Estimate Container Costs

Estimate costs for a container configuration before creation. 
curl -X POST http://localhost:8070/billing/estimate/container \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer lightd_token" \
  -H "Accept: Application/vnd.pkglatv1+json" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "memory_gb": 2.0,
    "cpu_vcpu": 1.0,
    "storage_gb": 10.0,
    "egress_gb_per_month": 100.0
  }'
Request Body: 
{
  "memory_gb": 2.0,
  "cpu_vcpu": 1.0,
  "storage_gb": 10.0,
  "egress_gb_per_month": 100.0
}
Response: 
{
  "hourly_cost": 0.155,
  "daily_cost": 3.72,
  "monthly_cost": 111.60,
  "breakdown": {
    "memory_cost_per_hour": 0.02,
    "cpu_cost_per_hour": 0.05,
    "storage_cost_per_hour": 0.05,
    "egress_cost_per_month": 12.00
  }
}

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Estimate Volume Costs

Estimate costs for a volume configuration. 
curl -X POST http://localhost:8070/billing/estimate/volume \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer lightd_token" \
  -H "Accept: Application/vnd.pkglatv1+json" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "storage_gb": 50.0
  }'
Request Body: 
{
  "storage_gb": 50.0
}
Response: 
{
  "hourly_cost": 0.25,
  "daily_cost": 6.00,
  "monthly_cost": 180.00,
  "storage_gb": 50.0
}

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Monitoring System

The billing system runs asynchronously in the background:
1

Collection Interval

Collects metrics every 60 seconds (configurable)
2

Docker Stats API

Uses Bollard Docker API for real-time stats
3

Memory Storage

Stores metrics in memory with RwLock for concurrent access
4

Cost Calculation

Calculates costs based on configured rates
5

API Access

Provides instant access to usage data via API

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Cost Breakdown

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Memory Costs

  • Calculated per GB per hour
  • Based on actual memory usage
  • Formula: memory_gb × memory_per_gb_hour × hours

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CPU Costs

  • Calculated per vCPU per hour
  • Based on CPU usage percentage
  • Formula: cpu_vcpu × cpu_per_vcpu_hour × hours

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Storage Costs

  • Calculated per GB per hour
  • Based on disk usage
  • Formula: storage_gb × storage_per_gb_hour × hours

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Network Egress Costs

  • Calculated per GB transferred
  • One-time charge per GB
  • Formula: egress_gb × egress_per_gb

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Complete Example

// Monitor container costs over time
const monitorCosts = async (containerId) => {
  // Get current hourly usage
  const hourly = await fetch(`http://localhost:8070/billing/usage/${containerId}/hourly`, {
    headers: {
      'Authorization': 'Bearer lightd_token',
      'Accept': 'Application/vnd.pkglatv1+json'
    }
  }).then(r => r.json());
  
  console.log(`Current hourly cost: $${hourly.total_cost}`);
  console.log(`Breakdown:`);
  console.log(`  Memory: $${hourly.memory_cost}`);
  console.log(`  CPU: $${hourly.cpu_cost}`);
  console.log(`  Storage: $${hourly.storage_cost}`);
  console.log(`  Egress: $${hourly.egress_cost}`);
  
  // Get monthly projection
  const monthly = await fetch(`http://localhost:8070/billing/usage/${containerId}/monthly`, {
    headers: {
      'Authorization': 'Bearer lightd_token',
      'Accept': 'Application/vnd.pkglatv1+json'
    }
  }).then(r => r.json());
  
  console.log(`\nProjected monthly cost: $${monthly.total_cost}`);
  
  // Alert if costs are high
  if (monthly.total_cost > 100) {
    console.warn('⚠️  Monthly costs exceed $100!');
  }
};

// Estimate before creating
const estimateBeforeCreate = async () => {
  const estimate = await fetch('http://localhost:8070/billing/estimate/container', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': 'Bearer lightd_token',
      'Accept': 'Application/vnd.pkglatv1+json',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      memory_gb: 4.0,
      cpu_vcpu: 2.0,
      storage_gb: 20.0,
      egress_gb_per_month: 500.0
    })
  }).then(r => r.json());
  
  console.log(`Estimated monthly cost: $${estimate.monthly_cost}`);
  
  if (estimate.monthly_cost < 200) {
    console.log('✓ Cost is within budget, proceeding with creation');
    // Create container...
  } else {
    console.log('✗ Cost exceeds budget, consider reducing resources');
  }
};

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Best Practices

Check usage and costs regularly to avoid surprises. Set up automated alerts for high costs.
Always estimate costs before creating containers to ensure they fit within budget.
Right-size containers based on actual usage to minimize costs.
Implement budget alerts and automatic scaling based on cost thresholds.

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Performance

  • Non-blocking: Metrics collection runs asynchronously
  • Efficient: Uses streaming Docker API
  • Scalable: Handles any number of containers
  • Low overhead: Minimal impact on container performance

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Security

  • All billing endpoints require authentication
  • Usage data is isolated per container
  • No sensitive data exposed in responses
  • Audit trail of all cost queries