VCSN Proactive Notification Service


Are you sure your web server is up?

     Are you sure your web server is serving your web pages??


Indeed many people we ask can answer the first question confidently but
when it comes to service availability, many are not sure.  At VCSN we know
that reachability is not the same as accessibility.  You may be able to
ping your server but your web service may be down, your mail server could
be halted or your database queries may not be getting answered.  Do you
really want your customers telling you when you are down?  If not, PNS is
what you need.

VCSN's Proactive Notification Service monitors your services to make sure
they are available to you and your customers- all day, every day.  When
PNS detects something wrong (i.e. a service not responding) it will notify
VCSN staff who can then verify the problem. After that, your own staff can
be notified and/or VCSN can continue to resolve the problem.  As a result,
downtime and service outages can be dramatically reduced which results in
higher productivity, customer satisfaction and revenues.

Application Features (current 2.x releases)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

1) Full SQL Database backend which can support thousands of entries as
   well specific configuration parameters such as color codes, status
   names, service ports, etc.
2) HTML interactive monitor which allow you to see your circuit, node
   (e.g. server or router) and services status.  The monitor is color
   coded so that entries can be identified quickly.
3) Each entry allows you set how frequently items are checked and
   rechecked during outages.  This provides a mechanism to limit
   PNS traffic to less critical items on your network.
4) Path intelligence that minimizes false notification by understanding
   branch or supernode outages as well has multipath conditions so that
   services are not identified down if another route to them exists in the
   application.
5) PNS does not require you to be a VCSN internet customer as long as we
   can connect to the items you want monitored.
6) PNS currently is able to test reachability by ICMP ping and
   accessibility to any TCP port.


Application Cost Schedule
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Setup:		$250.00
Rate:		$150.00/month (minimum, covers first 15 items)
		$ 10.00/month for additional items


PNS is can be implemented for your network in 3 phases:
1) Identification: all circuits, nodes, and services must be
   identified.  We then will determine the initial parameters for each
   entry and for your network performance.  This data then will be
   loaded into PNS.
2) Testing: we will test the response of PNS and fine tune it to your
   network.
3) Active: once we have tuned PNS to your network we will turn on live 
   notification.

Additional services can be added at anytime and your next invoice would
show the adjustment.  PNS can also be used with VCSN IT Management
Services.  In this case, VCSN can work to resolve pending issues
immediately.  The time will be deducted from the ITMS contract.  For more
info on ITMS see http://vcsn.com/marketing/ITMS.txt.