New A-Shell Systems
Your new A-Shell system has three components:
- A-Shell itself, which is defined as a base system of some number of nodes
- Add-on options and modules
- Annual software maintenance
To determine the price of your system, you use a combination of prices from the price list and calculations to arrive at a total. In the following example, all the prices above the subtotal come from the price list. Note that this examples shows how to calculate your system price, although the amounts shown here may not be current.
Existing A-Shell Systems
When you wish to purchase additional A-Shell capacity (nodes), use the “Add-ons” prices from the price list. There are fixed prices for one, ten, 25 and 100 nodes. When adding nodes, the size of the existing system is not relevant. In other words, adding ten nodes to a ten-node system costs the same as adding ten nodes to a 100-node system.
Unless your update occurs within 60 days of your annual software maintenance renewal, there is no charge for software maintenance on the new software; your software maintenance will be increased to include the new software on your next annual renewal. If the update does occur within 60 days of the annual renewal date, then one year’s maintenance will be charged.
Annual Software Maintenance
A-Shell is always under development: new capabilities are added; performance is improved; old methods, techniques and processes are updated; changes required by changes to the host operating system (Windows, Linux, etc.) are implemented; documentation, support systems and software libraries are continually updated; bugs are discovered and fixed; etc. These changes are required by the evolving nature of the software product itself and the environments in which it operates. Just to keep pace with the modern world, A-Shell requires continuing investment. Your annual software maintenance funds the operation of MicroSabio and this on-going development of A-Shell.
The specific benefits to the user and payor of software maintenance are:
- Updates. You can update A-Shell with newer versions whenever you wish. Some users update frequently, others rarely or not at all.
- Support. If you have problems in your A-Shell environment, we are happy to take your phone calls and/or email messages and help resolve your issues. There are limits to the amount of support we will provide, but in general, we do not charge for whatever support you may need.
- Development. As mentioned above, A-Shell is continually growing and evolving. You get the benefit of this on-going development work through updates. If you regularly update, the version of A-Shell that you are running today is a much better product—in many subtle ways—than the one you bought some years ago.
- Compatibility. Also as mentioned above, the host operating systems under which A-Shell runs—Windows, Linux and others—change and evolve, and require the same in A-Shell. When you call and say “I’ve just updated to Windows 2050 and I’m having trouble with A-Shell,” our response will hopefully be “No problem. Windows introduced <this new something>, and the latest version of A-Shell works around it. Just update A-Shell and you’ll be fine.” We can’t promise to have discovered and tested every aspect of new versions of Windows and Linux, of course, but we’re generally well-informed on these issues and try to update/modify A-Shell before our users encounter any problems related to changes in the underlying operating systems.
- Insurance. If something goes wrong in your A-Shell environment, you have the assurance of knowing that the A-Shell developers will help you deal with the issue. When your operation grinds to a halt because of some technical problem, having immediate access to technical expertise can be a lifesaver.
- Forum. MicroSabio hosts a bulletin board / forum where A-Shell users and developers discuss problems and all manner of things related to A-Shell and its operating environments. Your software maintenance subscription entitles you to full participation in the forum.
Note that the annual maintenance fee is based on today’s price for your system, which may be different than what you actually paid for it. This means that your annual maintenance fee will likely increase in small increments over the years.