Netpads came to MVI with a need to have their core software developed for their new business venture. Their idea was to place small PCs or tablet PCs called “Netpads” in hotel rooms and hotel lobby areas. These PCs would then in turn provide internet access to anybody that would want or need it. Someone would either pay for use of the Netpad at the time they checked into the hotel or they could be configured to where someone would provide a credit card to use the Netpad and then when their session would be over, their credit card would be charged for the usage period.

This involved building a sophisticated, embedded framework application what would run on these Netpads that would ensure that only people who had paid or had somehow been granted permission to be able to use the Netpads. This required a server-side component that would be able to provide configurations/updates to the Netpads and process credit cards. A server-side TCP based server application was written by MVI that each Netpad would connect to on startup. While connected, the Netpad could receive notifications from the server such as configuration changes or session expirations or any alerts sent by the Netpads administrators.

There was also an advertising portion to the Netpads software which displayed rotating banner ads during the surfing experience as well as rotating full screen ads then the Netpad was not in use. The ads displayed are also determined by the server-side component. The server-side component and the web-based management application for the Netpads all reside on a Linux-based MVI managed dedicated server.

The ability to work with technology that they themselves designed and built allowed MVI to create the most robust server-side component and web application all while keeping costs as low as possible. The Netpads server-side application has been running with minimal issues and serving Netpads across many different hotels since its launch back in the summer of 2006.