Centralised
At its simplest, BeyondCron is a client-server implementation of the cron daemon, in which all jobs are defined centrally rather than individually on each server.
Compatible
Crontabs can be directly imported into BeyondCron, enabling quick import of existing cron environments into BeyondCron.
Simplified
In a standard cron environment, jobs need to be configured and controlled independently for every server and every user. Whereas BeyondCron maintains and controls jobs within an environment centrally.
Powerful dashboard
The dashboard within BeyondCron allows jobs (and calendars) to be created, controlled and visualised from a single location. Not only does it support drag-and-drop for quickly creating job flows, but it updates in realtime as jobs execute.
Beyond cron
BeyondCron supports scheduling functionality that goes above and beyond what is available using cron.
Job flows
Rather than having to define a start time for every job, jobs can be organised into job flows, with each job automatically executing upon completion of the previous job in the flow. See schedules, triggers & conditions.
Reduced execution times
Because jobs within a flow can run one after another, rather than being scheduled individually, with sufficient time between them, overall run times can be reduced.
Improved reliability
Since only the first job in a flow needs to be scheduled, following jobs will not be missed, or worse executed, when the previous job has not completed, or fails.
Calendars
Calendars can be associated with jobs such that they do, or do not execute on holidays. Calendars can be defined in Outlook/Mac Mail and imported into BeyondCron via subscription, or a file.
Calendar scheduling
Jobs can be scheduled based upon events within a calendar, providing separation between job definition and schedule, as well as allowing jobs to be safely rescheduled on an ad hoc basis. See calendar scheduling.
Job history/output
When executing jobs, BeyondCron records the output of the job, which it then makes available on demand in the dashboard. See job output and history.
Flexible
Job types
As well as executing operating system commands, jobs can also execute SQL, schedule containers, call webhooks, send emails, or simply trigger other jobs with an optional delay.
Scheduling options
Along with cron, BeyondCron supports date, daily, monthly, repeat, calendar & solar schedule types, simplifying the creation of standard schedules, as well as providing new scheduling options that would be impossible to define using cron. See job schedules.
Properties
Group properties make setting a familiar, and consistent, environment a breeze. See a familiar environment.
Wildcards
Job flows can be built using wildcards. This can used for example, to send an email when any job fails. See email jobs & wildcards.
Dates
BeyondCron makes it easy to insert dates into jobs. Not only can dates be formatted to meet any requirement, they can also be adjusted forwards or backwards. See let's make a date.
Easy to read times
BeyondCron uses easy to read times, such as “09:17:00 today”, instead of "09/02/2016 09:17:00”, for dates between yesterday and the next 7 days. See easy to read times.
Timezones
All jobs have an associated timezone, ensuring that jobs execute as expected, irrespective of server location. See timezones.
Into the enterprise
Moving beyond cron, BeyondCron offers functionality which until now has only been available on enterprise class schedulers…along with enterprise levels of complexity and pricing.
Agentless
By default BeyondCron executes jobs over SSH, eliminating the need to install and maintain agents.
Access controls
BeyondCron provides standard read/execute/write access controls on jobs and calendars. It also provides controls on users & hosts, ensuring that developers cannot schedule commands as root, or on production servers. See control built in.
Auditable
All job, calendar and user definitions are logged using Git for recovery, rollback and auditing. See what changed?
Highly available
BeyondCron servers automatically form a cluster when started, providing high availability. Unlike some application clusters, BeyondCron clusters are masterless, with automatic recovery on node failure. See high availability.
Scalable
When a server is added to a BeyondCron cluster, job scheduling is automatically re/distributed across all servers, ensuring that BeyondCron does not become CPU or memory constrained as your environment grows. See horizontal scaling.
Containers
BeyondCron supports container scheduling within Kubernetes clusters.
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