Subscribers to the basic service offering are charged over time for the aggregate amount of resources consumed across their virtual machine and/or vApp inventory for a given organization’s virtual data center. The minimum standard time interval for billing and metering purposes is typically one hour. However, providers who have the means to do so are permitted to meter and charge subscribers for resource consumption on a sub-hourly basis. If subscribers opt to change the size of their virtual machine or vApp instances after initial setup, the pricing changes retroactively, defaulting to the higher charge rate of either the new or the initial vCPU or memory setting. This is referred to as the stepping function—the virtual machine charge always steps up to the next instance size, measured by memory or vCPU, whichever charge rate is higher.

Charges for resource consumption typically begin when the virtual machine is deployed, with limited exceptions for certain resource types such as storage, which might be reserved in advance without immediate use. It is important for providers to understand how different resource states, such as provisioned and reserved, can be used to determine a chargeable event in a service billing scheme.

The following table lists the most common event triggers and resource states for vCloud Director. Columns marked with an X signify that the resource type is considered consumed when a virtual machine or vApp is in the associated state. Corresponding charges then apply. These examples are meant only to be illustrative. Providers must rely on their own internal cost models and metering schemes for billing or showback.