Grand Central Server

Managed Vertical Servers

If you publish or resell a complex server application that runs on Linux or Unix, you've probably been frustrated by the need to support not just your application, but the Operating System underneath it. Many potential customers are unwilling to experiment with an unfamiliar OS. Maybe worse, many customers willing to use Linux or Unix are incapable of properly maintaining it, eventually coming to you with problems you didn't create and shouldn't have to deal with.

Grand Central Server offers you a way to expand your market share and revenue per customer, while decreasing your support costs dramatically. We provide remote management, maintenance, and upgrade services for Linux and Unix servers running at customers' sites. We developed this capability over the course of the last fifteen years at our ISP division, where we run hundreds of servers remotely for our own benefit as well as for our hosting customers. In 2003, we used this technology and expertise to create the GCS Guardian™ product line, which offers many typical office server services to customers in a totally managed black-box solution, at the customers' site, for a fixed fee. Now, we're making this technology available to you.

In the GCS "Managed Vertical Server" program, we configure servers with Linux or Unix fine-tuned to run your application, and deliver them to your customers. You are paid your standard price for your application, as usual. We then charge a small fixed monthly fee - which you, of course, get a commission on- to manage and maintain the server and OS. You are assured that your customer can never break your software by inappropriate meddling with the underlying OS. Any problems with the OS or the hardware are not your responsibility, and will in most cases be well on their way to resolution before you even learn of the problem (if indeed you ever do). In short, we guarantee a clean environment for your software, so the only bugs you'll ever have to worry about are your own, and the only support you'll need to provide will be for your software.

How much is it worth to you to never again have to help a customer deal with issues like:

• Failed CPUs, RAM, or disk drives

• Resource shortages, especially disk storage

• Incorrectly patched (or entirely unpatched) operating systems

• Errors caused by inexperienced systems administrators

Please contact us to discuss participation in the Managed Vertical Server program. Our minimum required volume is typically 50 units/year. End-user pricing will depend on the complexity of the environment required for your product, but typically ranges from $50-100/month per server. There is usually no up-front cost, and you will receive a percentage of all monthly service revenues.