Getting started
How-to guides
Hot start a sandbox
Preheat your sandboxes.
This guide explains how to hot start a sandbox.
Hot starting is creating a pool of sandboxes that are instantly available when a learner starts your track. Typically, sandbox environments start on demand if a learner starts a track, so learners have to wait for Instruqt to provision the sandbox environment. But with hot starting, learners can play your tracks right away.
Billing hot start sandboxes
You are billed for hot start sandboxes, even if learners are not using them.
Hot start types
There are two types of hot start pools:
- Always hot pool Always hot pools maintain a constant pool size over time and have the following features:
- The pool remains active until you delete it.
- Instruqt refills the pool if learners start tracks to maintain a constant pool size.
- Instruqt removes unused sandboxes only if the pool is deleted.
When to use an always hot pool?Create an always hot pool to maximize engagement for your learners by reducing load times. This is useful for self-paced training or lead generation as you expect learners to start tracks spread out. - Scheduled pools Scheduled pools are used to fill a pool with sandboxes once and have these features:
- A scheduled pool is active from its start date until the pool expires.
- Instruqt will not refill a scheduled pool if learners start tracks.
- Instruqt removes unused sandboxes after the pool expires.
When to use a scheduled pool?Create a scheduled pool to give your learners instant access to their sandboxes, so they do not have to wait and can all begin simultaneously. This is useful for classroom training or large workshops when you expect many learners to start a track simultaneously
Create a hot start pool
Let's see how to create an always hot pool and a scheduled pool:
Always hot pool
Take the following steps to create an always hot pool:
🌐 Web UI
- 1.
- 2.Click Team settings > Hot Start to open the Manage hot start page.
- 3.Click Create.
- 4.Select the tracks that you want to be preheated.
- 5.In the Name field, enter a name for the pool.
- 6.In the Number of hot sandboxes per track field, enter your desired number.
- 7.For Hot Start type, select Always hot.
- 8.Click Create. ↳ Instruqt creates the always hot pool and shows the pool on the Hot start page.
Be cost-effective
Start with a single instance in your hot start pool and increase the number if your learners experience delays. Since the pool refills automatically, you will rarely need more than four or five instances to ensure fast startup times for a steady flow of learners.
Scheduled pool
Take the following steps to create a scheduled pool:
🌐 Web UI
- 1.
- 2.Click Team settings > Hot start to open the Manage hot start page.
- 3.Click Create.
- 4.Select the tracks that you want to be preheated.
- 5.In the Name field, enter a name for the pool.
- 6.In the Number of hot sandboxes per track field, enter your desired number.
- 7.For Hot Start type, select Scheduled.
- 8.In the Start provisioning on field, select or enter the starting date when the pool should begin provisioning.
- 9.Select the Starting time (Europe/Amsterdam) when the pool should begin provisioning.Be sure to allow enough time for all sandboxes to become ready. If your track takes 20 minutes to spin up, schedule the start time at least an hour before the classroom training begins.
- 10.Select the Time to live.After the time to live expires, Instruqt closes all unclaimed sandboxes.
- 11.Click Create. ↳ Instruqt creates the scheduled pool and shows the pool on the Hot start page.
Delete a hot start pool
Deleting a hot start pool takes the following steps:
🌐 Web UI
- 1.
- 2.Click Team settings > Hot start to open the Hot start page.
- 3.Click the ellipsis of the pool you want to delete.
- 4.Click Delete on the pop-up. ↳ The Delete Hot Start confirmation opens.
- 5.Click Confirm.
Awesome! Your learners will be very happy with you because you give them a headstart.
Last modified 21d ago