Quite simply:

1. You ask for something to be changed on your Linux server;
2. We do it, test it, and let you know it's done;
3. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Our support model is, at the very least, "Marketing-Grade Unlimited". There are some constraints on the service we offer:

• Each individual task you ask for must be something that can be completed by a competent sysadmin in half an hour (if you ask for something bigger, we'll help you to break it up into smaller tasks).
• We only support Linux servers -- no Windows, OS X, FreeBSD, Hurd, etc.
• We only support the server(s) that you have registered with us.
• You can only have a certain number of jobs "in progress" at one time, depending on which support plan you have with us. If you wish to request another job, one of your existing jobs will need to be finished off before you can request other one.
• The laws of physics must be obeyed at all times. 299,792,458m/s isn't just a good idea: IT'S THE LAW.

The fundamental premise of our service is that we'll never charge you extra if you happen to need a lot of support. Think of us as an insurance policy. Just because you're unlucky enough to have something go very, very wrong, doesn't mean you should unexpectedly be out of pocket.

Yes, we do. The Opsist philosophy is that if we're not completely satisfied with what you're getting for your money, we'll give it back to you. If, at any time, you feel that you're not getting value for money, just let us know and we'll refund your last payment.

We aim to have all jobs completed within twelve hours of being requested, assuming we have all the relevant information. Our average response time targets are four hours. Sometimes our response time is impacted by when we have sysadmins available, and the volume of other jobs that are being requested.

Anything that a competent, professional sysadmin can do in half an hour. That is a deliberately broad definition, because we don't want to unnecessarily restrict what we do for you.

Ask us! You'd be surprised at what a good sysadmin can do in half an hour, when they're not answering questions on Server Fault. If what you want done is too big, we'll help you to split it up into a number of smaller tasks we can do for you, interleaved with jobs for other customers.

Our support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Response times will vary based on the time of day, and on weekends, but the Internet is a 24x7 operation, it makes no sense for us to be any different.

We provide one-off support options, if you only need one job done.

We specialise in performing small admin tasks on Linux servers, so anything that doesn't fit that description we don't do. Specifically, we won't:

• Fix your Internet, your PC, your phone, your printer, or your cat.
• Debug problems with your web application code (if your Wordpress is playing up, you probably want someone else).
• Manage DNS, VPS settings, or anything else that involves dealing with a third-party web control panel.
• Manage Windows, OS X, FreeBSD, NetBSD, Hurd, or any other odd-ball OS. (Although, if you have a BeOS machine in production, please let us know: we're Be-Curious).
• Do large-scale infrastructure configuration management, or infrastructure design. If you need this service, we may be able to recommend someone for you.

Also, asking us to do anything illegal won't go down well.

We don't need full root privileges on the server, however we will be very restricted in what we can do on the server if we're limited to an ordinary user account.

Everyone who works for Opsist is an employee or long-term contractor -- we aren't an outsourcing agency. We hire only experienced sysadmins, or "newbies" under instruction.

Every time we connect to your server, a complete capture of the SSH session is taken, which you can review if you're concerned. Support employees don't have access to the passwords you provide, nor the private keys we use to access your server. Only senior management have direct access to those credentials.

Absolutely. A security breach is a terrifying event, and you need advice quickly. We'll do our best to plug up the holes to stop the rats getting in, and recommend a specialist IT security company who can perform in-depth incident response.

Absolutely not. All of our support agreements are month-by-month.

We don't offer "unbranded" services. If you are a developer or digital agency that would like to earn great money by referring your clients to us, please get in touch to discuss our affiliate program.

Absolutely. Just let us know and we'll adjust your plan, including pro-rating any change in fees.

We know that when things go wrong, it can be absolutely devastating to your business. While we don't explicitly offer "on-call" support, if you make it clear in your job request that you're having a site down issue, we'll do our best to deal with it as quickly as possible.

We certainly do. Our "hard-core" and "enterprise" support plans allow more than one machine to be covered, and we can construct a custom support plan if you have more than five machines that need managing.

We know our FAQ can't be completely comprehensive, so if you have any more questions, please get in touch and we'll be happy to answer any remaining questions.