Lead time, window and limits
The rules on when a reservation can start, how far ahead you can book, how long it can be and how many you can hold.
Every plan has four booking rules. The catalog card and the reservation page show the values for that plan. The defaults are below; a plan can set its own.
| Rule | What it means | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Lead time | The minimum time between booking and the start | 1 hour |
| Reservation window | How far ahead a reservation can end | 8 weeks |
| Maximum periods | The longest reservation, in periods | 5 days |
| Concurrent limit | Current or upcoming reservations you can hold on one plan | 2 |
Lead time
A reservation must start at least the lead time after you book. The lead time gives us time to prepare the machine.
With daily plans this has one visible effect: today can't be booked. Today's reservation would have started at 00:00 UTC, which has already passed, so the earliest day you can pick is tomorrow — and tomorrow only until 23:00 UTC today, one hour before it starts. Days you can't pick yet are shown muted on the calendar.
Reservation window
You can book up to the end of the reservation window: with the default of 8 weeks, a reservation must end within 8 weeks of today. The calendar shows the current week through to the end of the window, and days past it are muted.
Maximum periods
One reservation can be at most this many consecutive periods: 5 days by default. If you need longer, make a second reservation for the days that follow — as long as you're within the concurrent limit. The second reservation may be on a different machine, so copy your work across (see Copying files).
Concurrent limit
You can hold at most this many current or upcoming reservations on one plan: 2 by default. A reservation counts from the moment you start paying until it ends. Past reservations don't count.
If you've reached the limit, the reservation page tells you so and you can't reserve on that plan until one of your reservations has ended.
A checkout you started but didn't finish doesn't block you: reserving again on the same plan replaces it.
Why a range can't be picked
When you pick a last day, the calendar checks the whole range. It refuses the range, with a message, when:
- a day in between is already reserved,
- it's longer than the maximum periods, or
- no single machine is free for every day in it — see Availability.