Our awesome new Control Panel - coming in OnApp Cloud v3.0!
13 August 2012 by
As we get closer to the 3.0 release of OnApp Cloud, I’d like to whet everyone’s appetite a little by showing a few screenshots of our brand new UI. We’ve already highlighted some of the new functionality in v3.0, with VMware support, cloud boot, CDN and storage features. One thing we haven’t talked about in detail is our fantastic new control panel.
So why are we redesigning it? The UI we introduced to the world in v2.0 was a radical departure from the complex and unwieldy tools that hosters and users were lumbered with, if they wanted to get into this whole cloud business. We wanted to make it easy for anyone to build a cloud, manage a cloud, and buy and use cloud services. And – if I do say so myself – I think OnApp Cloud v2.0 was a triumph of design and usability.
However, we’ve added a huge number of new features since v2.0 launched in July 2010, and, to be honest, the original design simply didn’t scale well. We ended up trying to display too much information in sections that were not designed to be so information-rich.
In short, we outgrew our UI. So, with v3.0, we wanted to give the system a refresh, make it more modern and clean, but still maintain the uniqueness of its look and feel. At the same time we wanted to implement a more scalable design to support future growth in features. And trust me, our to-do list is massive!
#1: the dashboard
The first screenshot is of the new dashboard. Besides Disk and RAM we now show CPU cores and IOPS for your cloud - the whole cloud, if you’re an admin, or your personal resources if you’re a user. Just like today’s control panel, everything you see in the 3.0 UI is determined by our extensive user role and permissions system.
Top right, you’ll see our new, always on "Build" section, which makes it even easier to deploy VMs, LBs and edge servers. And we have more comprehensive status information displayed in the logs.
Also note the new controls to expand the entire view, hiding the background, and to minimize the sidebar.
#2: build wizard
Our second screenshot is of the new wizard for "Build" operations, like creating a new VM. Instead of having to work through every option on a single screen, we have divided build operations into steps. This allows us to make the build process even more intuitive and user-friendly, with more details available on what is actually being done at each step.
As you can see, our new Template Store is also present on Step 1 of the Build VM operation. We have great plans for the Store in future, so stay tuned...
#3: VM management
It’s never been easier to manage your VMs! The new UI gives you quick access to the most important information and frequently used tools, while hiding away operations you need less frequently, so you don't feel cluttered.
Gone are the tired (and fairly ugly) tools and actions menus in the current UI. We’ve replaced them with a new Tools button that gives you access to every function. There are even dedicated Admin and End User notes per VM.
#4: CDN PoPs
We have so many new things coming on the CDN side in v3.0... and from a UI perspective, one of the most exciting is the new ability to visualize the PoPs you are choosing to power your CDN resource. The entire CDN section has been redesigned to be even more intuitive and easy.
And for now, that’s all I can share with you :] It's just the tip of the iceberg, and all of this new functionality is coming real soon.
We can’t wait to show you – and don’t forget, you can join the v3.0 beta and see for yourself, around the end of August!
Best,
Carlos, CVO