How do dynamic backends start in Google App Engine

Question

Can we start a dynamic backend programatically? mean while when a backend is starting how can i handle the request by falling back on the application(i mean app.appspot.com).

Answer 1

It appears that a dynamic backend need not be explicitly stopped. The overvicew (http://code.google.com/appengine/docs/python/backends/overview.html) states that the billing for a dynamic backend stops 15 minutes after the last request is processed. So, if your app has a cron job, for example, that requires 5 minutes to complete, and needs to run every hour, then you could configure a backend to do this. The cost you'll incur is 15+5 minutes every hour, or 8 hours for the whole day. I suppose the free quota allows you 9 backend hours. So, this type of scenario would be free for you. The backend will start when you send your first request to it through a queue, and will stop 15 minutes after the last request you send is processed completely.