ServerSuit Frequently Asked Questions

ServerSuit™ provides instant remote access to Linux servers and allows you to perform remote administration, and multi-server setup automation as well as setup mail servers and website hosting. Users can connect to their managed servers virtually from any device or platform. Users can create their own scripts and tasks, store them within the system, and launch them manually or set them for automation. ServerSuit’s convenient UI allows you to create and use custom templates, saving you time in the long run. ServerSuit’s 100% portability, along with its ability to run tasks across multiple servers directly contributes to:

• Increased productivity
• Instant emergency response from any location
• Improved uptime
• Reducing maintenance cost

ServerSuit offers a very flexible, cost effective, pricing model, tailored to your needs of your spending to your particular situation. More on pricing here.

ServerSuit is a completely new way to manage your Linux servers. Try it now!

1. NO,
   Most of the standard management tasks are already scripted and you can perform them using our intuitive, user-centered, GUI. As along as you have basic knowledge of Linux you can start using ServerSuit.
2. BUT,
   If you have some administrative skills you can add your own custom scripts and configurations, store them in the system and execute them as needed.
3. IF YOU ARE A SEASONED ADMINISTRATOR,
   you can take advantage of our remote shell tool that will allow you to be as intimate with your Linux as you would like to be.

With ServerSuit, we are aiming to create an accommodating user experience, that is scalable to your needs and skills.

The basic idea behind our pricing structure is that the more you use ServerSuit the less it should cost you. This approach is implemented in two models,Time based and Usage based:

1. Time based plan is designed for users who need to connect to their servers frequently and stay connected for significant amount of time. If you use this plan, you will be charged a monthly fee for each server you manage. Discounts are provided for managing multiple servers and for providing advanced payments for more than one month.
2. Usage based plan will assume charges based on the time you spend actively using ServerSuit (being connected to your dashboard) and is for users who do not need to connect to their servers frequently. The fee will be calculated based on cost per hour of usage, with minimal increment been 5 min. You will be required to make a minimum deposit for 1 hour of usage per server. Discounts will be provided for buying more time in advance.

You can switch from one payment model to another at any time. Any remaining credits will be recalculated and applied toward just activated model. For example: A user have signed up for ServerSuit service using time based plan, paying quarterly. Within a month after making the first payment of $30.00 the user decides that usage based plan would be more suited for his/her needs. A user logs into the account and changes payment plan settings to usage based plan. Since one month has already passed, $10 of his initial payment has been “consumed”. Remaining $20.00 will be transferred to usage based plan and will be used to purchase service time with respect to hourly rate and existing volume discount.

User payments are not refundable.

In order to start using ServerSuit, please register here. Choose a pricing model that you find better suits your needs, and log-in to Dashboard. Once you’re logged into our Dashboard you will be able to add servers and perform administrative and management tasks: create new accounts, manage domains and databases, monitor resource consumption etc.

Currently we support CentOS 6 (x86 and x86_64). Support for CentOS 7 and Ubuntu is coming soon.

In the current release we do not provide ability to migrate from other management panels. We plan to enable migration from cPanel in Q1 of 2017

• On risk related to general security and data protection please read the Security Concerns section.
• All the software that used by ServerSuit is fully licensed.
• If you choose to stop using ServerSuit, your servers will be left in a fully functioning state with all the software you’ve installed. All the scripts that you have created and stored in ServerSuit, and the software configuration information can be downloaded and stored locally.

All you need to do is to stop using your ServerSuit account. We will not block your access to the servers you managed with ServerSuit, nor will remove any installed or configured software from your servers.

When a client’s server is added to the server list inside ServerSuit’s dashboard, the server can be accessed using an account with root privileges. Note that this account will not be remembered by ServerSuit. Instead ServerSuit will create a new “SYSTEM” account that will be used to manage the server. Real user names, as well as passwords, for this account are generated automatically using a proprietary algorithm, and are not known or accessible by anyone.  These generated credentials are stored and encrypted within ServerSuit domain. The “SYSTEM” account is also used to perform any operation on managed servers. Note, that we do not install any ‘client” software on managed servers. All tasks on managed servers are executed using pre-built or dynamically generated shell scripts. We do not keep connections to your servers open. After executing a requested operation, ServerSuit immediately disconnects, so no resources on your servers are wasted running our software.
For more information read this article:  “How client data is protected.”.

We do not install our “client” software on managed servers. For details please read this article: “What is under the hood? (How ServerSuit software works)?”

Currently SaaS is the only option, but we plan to release Enterprise Solution that .will be available to install on premises.

ServerSuit has a password recovery system. You will be able to configure the intricacy of password recovery in your account settings.

ServerSuit stores SYSTEM account credentials when uses Full Trusted Mode (with or without tokens), custom scripts and templates, your account information (e-mail, address, etc).

We also log and store the following:

• login and logout time,
• duration of each session,
• time when connect to your servers and disconnect from them. activity (e.g. scripts executed, software installed, time of backup initiated, configuration changed, etc). Every time an operation is performed from your account we record it and send you e-mail with the summary. This is also part of our effort to prevent unauthorised access and activities.

We do not store:

• credit card information
• information about other accounts on your servers

For better security and data protection ServerSuit Service is going to utilize three -tier approach:

1. “SYSTEM” account credentials are auto generated and never shown to anyone.
2. All the information pertained to access to managed servers will be encrypted.
3. Encrypted information will be split between several data storages Here is a bit more details about particular implementation.

ServerSuit data storage is spread among multiple nodes (Node Servers). Access to each NS is available only via firewall protected API that limits set of IP addresses from which the servers can be accessed. The key for reading encrypted data can be obtained only from the one of Web Application Servers.

After credentials are decoded a SSH connection is created between an NS and a managed server, and scripts that needs to be executed are transferred directly to the managed server. Once transfer is finished the client is launched using “SYSTEM” account.

While script is running on the client's server, callback is performed periodically to provide information about scripts execution status to a WAS. Callback data contains temporary 128-bit encrypted key identifying the server and executed script as well as process information. On WAS data is decoded and the execution status on the dashboard is updated. Once it happens the key is destroyed.

All the connections to the managed servers is conducted via SSH, which provides high level of protection. Callback work via HTTPS which uses a valid 128 bit SSL.

ServerSuit software resides on a set of dedicated servers at OVH data center, in Canada. The Data Center Provider has received ISO/IEC 27001 certification, SOC 1 Type II and SOC 2 Type II certifications, and maintains high security Data Centers with 24/7 surveillance, redundant power supplies and UPS backup systems among other measures. More details can be found on provider’s website: https://www.ovh.com/us/about-us/certifications.xml

Managed Server registration and SYSTEM account creation

Registration of Customer’s Managed Servers may be accomplished using either Automatic or Manual registration procedures.

• Automatic registration. Customer must provide a Superuser account (i.e. root account) for Automatic registration. The ServerSuit Software requires the Superuser account to perform a one-time operation per new Managed Server in which the ServerSuit Software connects to the Managed Server to be registered and creates a “SYSTEM” account on the Managed Server. The ServerSuit Software then registers the new Managed Server and adds it to the Customer’s Managed Server cluster. The “SYSTEM” account is then subsequently used to access the Managed Server without the need for the Superuser account. The ServerSuit Software does not retain or store any information for the Superuser account, and does not use the Superuser account any further after completion of Automatic registration.
• Manual registration. Vendor will provide Customer with a registration script for manual execution directly on the Managed Server to be added, using a Superuser account. The registration script performs the Managed Server registration, while Customer monitors the procedure and confirms registration either on the Managed Server or by viewing the ServerSuit Software dashboard. The registration script will create a “SYSTEM” account on the Managed Server to be added, register the Managed Server and add it to the Customer’s Managed Server cluster. The “SYSTEM” account is then subsequently used to access the Managed Server without the need for the Superuser account. The ServerSuit Software does not retain or store any information for the Superuser account, and does not use the Superuser account in any way whatsoever during Manual registration. Customer may provide a Superuser account voluntarily for initial Managed Server registration as outlined above, and Customer’s provision of a Superuser account is at Customer’s own risk.

Access to Managed Servers.

Vendor provides two modes of access to Customer’s Managed Servers; Please visit our documentation to read about access modes