Server Density launches

Originally published on the Server Density blog.

Our server monitoring product, Server Density, launched into private beta on 9th March 2009, was made public on 6th April 2009 and we are now pleased to announce that the product has now officially launched as a commercial product.

You can immediately add a payment card to your account to buy additional monitored servers and SMS credits by clicking the Account tab in the Server Density interface.

How much does it cost? #

Monitoring 1 server is free. If you wish to monitor multiple servers, you will be charged £10 GBP (approx $15 USD) per server per month. Other restrictions apply to the free version, see the Pricing page for more details.

Payment is accepted by Visa or Mastercard credit/debit cards.

What happens to beta users? #

If you were only monitoring 1 server then nothing changes! Your account will remain free and you can continue using Server Density as normal. The free account restrictions such as 2 alerts and 1 month data retention will now apply (see below for more details).

If you were monitoring more than 1 server then you will need to add a payment card to continue using Server Density. When you log in you will find the interface disabled with instructions of how to proceed if you wish to pay or downgrade to the free account. All monitoring data will continue to be collected and alerts will continue to operate until you make a decision.

If you do not decide by Tuesday 23rd June, your account will be fully suspended.

If I choose to pay, what will I be billed for and when? #

If you have more than 1 server then you will be billed for your highest server count in June. Previous usage during the beta will not be counted.

We bill each customer on the first of the month for their usage in the previous month so your first invoice will be on 1st July.

When will the data retention policy come into effect? #

For free account users, we will keep your data for 1 month. Paid account holder’s data is kept for 18 months. The server snapshot data is kept for 30 days for both types of account.

During the beta this policy was not in effect and will remain so until Tuesday 23rd June when data will be start to be deleted. This means that data older than 24th May will be removed for free account holders (and for all server snapshots) on 23rd June. Data for paid users will be retained for 18 months.

What if I have added more than 2 alerts and I want to use the free account? #

The limit of 2 alerts only applies to newly created free accounts. Existing free accounts will be capped at whatever number of alerts have already been added. If you delete an alert then the cap will reduce to the highest number of alerts currently added, to a minimum of 2.

E.g. your are monitoring 1 server and have 5 alerts. Your alerts will continue to operate but you will not be able to add any more. If you delete an alert then the limit will now be 4.

Can I just buy SMS credits? #

Yes. You will only be billed the per server monthly fee if you have 2 or more servers. You can add a payment card to buy SMS credits even if you only have 1 server. See this FAQ question for details about SMS pricing.

Do beta users get a discount? #

If you were one of the users who provided us with valuable feedback during the beta period you have already been e-mailed with details of the discount – a 30% discount off the per server monthly fee for the life of your account.

What’s next for Server Density? #

A lot of great feedback has been provided during the beta period and our roadmap is based on that feedback. Our aim is to continue enhancing the product whilst sticking to the core goal – ease of use and simplicity.

We will continue to develop the product starting with detailed documentation and then new features including an API, additional metrics and a native iPhone application. Our development practices are to release things quickly and often so subscribe to the blog to be notified of new releases.

I have another question #

Feel free to contact us via e-mail or phone.