One database per deployment
A production-grade SQL database per deployment — your operational record, end to end. Standard schema, standard tooling, and a single Linux VM that your IT team already knows how to run.
Deployments
Deploy in minutes. Run for years.
ctHelixCAD™ deploys with a single script, runs as a systemd service, and survives reboots like any other Linux app. Production and demo can sit on one host — they never get in each other’s way.
The deploy story
Three steps. No magic.
- 1
Provision once.
A small Linux VM, basic dependencies, one setup script. Disk, network, and a TLS terminator if you want one. That’s it.
- 2
Ship code.
A single deploy command tars the source, pushes it, builds it, runs migrations, and atomically swaps to the new release. Rollback is the same command pointed at the prior version.
- 3
Reboot-safe.
Systemd manages the service. Crash recovery, log rotation, and health checks are all handled by the OS — nothing exotic, nothing custom.
Production + demo
Side by side on one host.
Many operators want a live demo for walkthroughs and an isolated production for real work. ctHelixCAD™ runs both on the same VM without any clever orchestration.
- Two services on one host: production (one port) and demo (another), each with its own database.
- Each service has its own environment, its own systemd unit, and its own log stream.
- Demo can be reset on demand without touching production data — different files, different services.
- Promotion from demo to production is a deliberate, explicit step. There is no shared mutable state to trip over.
Resetting the demo
Scoped. Confirmed. Auditable.
A demo reset isn’t a destructive accident waiting to happen. It’s a deliberate, scoped operation that leaves the room in a known good state.
- Demo wipe is scoped and confirmed — you pick the scenario, you confirm, then the reset runs.
- User credentials in the demo database are preserved across resets, so operators don’t lose their accounts mid-pilot.
- Connected browsers auto-refresh once the reset completes, so the room sees the fresh state without anyone reloading.
- Reset history is logged. You always know who reset what, when, and to which scenario.
What you keep
Your data, your file, your call.
Encrypted, standard backups
Encrypted at rest, snapshot-friendly, and ready for whatever backup pipeline already protects the rest of your fleet. Standard SQL artifacts — no proprietary export format to manage.
Walk away anytime
You can leave at any point and take everything with you. Open SQL, open schema, standard tooling — nothing about the format depends on us continuing to exist.
License lifecycle
What happens if you stop paying.
Every ctHelixCAD™ instance carries a signed license bundle that names the agency, sets soft and hard expiry, and enables any add-on modules. Here are the four states a license can be in — and what each one means for the dispatch floor.
Everything works.
Within the licensed term. Add-on modules enabled per your bundle. No banner, no nag, no behavior change.
Past soft expiry. Still dispatching.
A banner appears so admins know to renew, but dispatchers keep dispatching. Nothing in the core CAD goes read-only during grace.
Past hard expiry. Finish the after-action.
Unenforced add-on modules go read-only. Core CAD reporting still runs so you can produce the after-action document. No data is touched.
Only after revocation or extended non-payment.
The console shows the license screen. Your data is untouched — your operational database sits exactly where it has always been, in a standard SQL format.
No kill switch.
We don’t erase your data. We don’t phone home with operational data. We don’t require an internet connection for normal operation between check-ins. If you stop paying us, your software keeps running through grace and your operational database stays exactly where it is, readable in any standard SQL tool. License enforcement is contractual, not a software trap.
Want help planning your first deployment?
We’ll walk your IT team through the install, the backup story, and the reset model — usually in under 45 minutes.