--- title: BrightSign Cloud FAQs slug: manage/brightsign-cloud-faqs docTags: createdAt: 2025-03-11T06:58:50.141Z --- # What is the maintenance window? The BrightSign Cloud requires weekly server maintenance. More details [here](docId\:OsebdeBU0KDhs57dxrcnH). # How can I buy subscriptions? Email [orders@brightsign.biz](mailto\:orders@brightsign.biz) to purchase a BrightSign Author Plus or BrightSign Control Plus subscription and provide the following info: - Your environment (BrightSign Cloud). - The name of your BrightSign Cloud network/account (you can find it on the top right of BrightSign Author). - The number of players on your network. Every player needs a subscription. The orders team may request additional info from you.  Note that once they have been purchased, subscriptions cannot be moved to a different network. # Can I move my BSN account to BrightSign Cloud? No, these are completely separate platforms and ecosystems. Existing BrightSign Network (BSN) users must [Create a BrightSign Cloud Account](docId\:wafFeEgnPSmH9s-jKX3TG) to use that platform. Due to underlying architecture changes between the platforms, and the many elements that make up a BSN account (players, groups, users, permissions, content, scheduling), users must export their presentation from BSN using BrightAuthor Classic and then upload the presentation to BrightSign Cloud. # Am I using BSN or BrightSign Cloud? BrightSignNetwork and BrightSign Cloud (BSN.Cloud) are independent platforms that require separate credentials. - BrightSign Cloud is our newer platform that uses BrightSign Author for authoring and BrightSign Control for player management. - [BrightSignNetwork.com](http://BrightSignNetwork.com) is our legacy platform that uses BrightAuthor Classic for authoring and player management. These applications can be downloaded [here](https://www.brightsign.biz/resources/software-downloads/). Note that the same app that configured a player must also be used to publish to it, *regardless of the player publishing mode*. If switching from BrightAuthor Classic to BrightSign Author, players configured using BrightAuthor Classic must be reconfigured using BrightSign Author. # How secure is my data? See our [security documentation](docId:4mWICV4j0eajqxYWn5cPe) for BrightSign Cloud and BrightSign Author. # What are the data usage limits? Data usage limits for BrightSign Cloud are available on the [Cloud Data Limits](docId\:KLrjPrSnOS0bBHZS9aiac) page. They are governed by the [Terms of Service](https://www.brightsign.biz/legal/bsn-cloud-terms-of-service/). # Can I use Dynamic Playlists without BSN.Cloud? No. A BrightSign Author Plus subscription is required to host Dynamic Playlists. However, you can get similar functionality with a self-hosted Media RSS (MRSS) feed, which can work with any player that has an internet connection. See [Media RSS Feed](docId:6otaQAB4uNuEfwx6YVISo) for more details. # Can I get player usage statistics? Yes, BrightSign Cloud provides free, real-time access to basic health info and system diagnostics of connected players, including a visual representation of player status (via the [thermometer icon](docId:69pLOn-PS9HU-fnFJCVFt) on the Dashboard) and various types of [logging](docId\:Uba8sfkMSAJsIBrbv4A6N). The log upload frequency can also be set. These capabilities are available for all tiers of BrightSign Cloud. # How long are log files stored? If you are using BrightSign Cloud, and you enabled the **Upload Logs** feature in BrightSign Author, log files will be deleted after they are successfully uploaded to the cloud.  To enable **Upload Logs**: 1. Go to the **Network** tab. 2. Select your player. 3. Go to **Properties > Logging** and select **Upload Logs.** Log files that are more than 30 days old will automatically be deleted. If the player has no valid date and time, the maximum number of log files that will be stored is 60. # Are players notified of new content? All connected and healthy players establish and keep persistent WebSocket connections with BrightSign Author and BrightSign Control. If a player has "BSN" setup type and an active subscription, it will receive events from the server when either its settings or schedule are changed by any user in BrightSign Author/Control. The event propagation should take not more than few minutes (typically one minute), and the player requests the new settings or schedule immediately after receiving such an event. Dynamic Playlists, Tagged Playlists, Live Data Feeds and Live Media Feeds changes are propagated differently. Each of these entities has an underlying [mRSS feed](https://www.rssboard.org/media-rss), and after retrieving them from the presentation, a player checks for changes in each feed separately with a frequency defined by the `TTL` property of Tagged Playlists and Live Media Feeds in BrightSign Author Plus. # Do logs show successful syncs with the cloud? You can look for the `sync.checkforcontent.request message received` entries in the player's system log (available via the remote DWS) to monitor these events. If the player is disconnected and/or does not accept messages, the server repeats them multiple times with decreasing frequency and eventually stops. The player also checks for missed settings and schedule updates every six hours and retries if it cannot reach BrightSign Author Plus. It requests settings and schedule from the server after each reboot as well. # Should my firewall accept inbound connections from BrightSign Cloud? No. BrightSign Cloud does not initiate any contact with BrightSign software or players. BrightSign software (BrightSign Author and Control, BrightSignOS, autoruns, plugins, etc.) initiates connections, send requests, or subscribe to events, and the server replies. There are no cases when a server sends a request to a player, which would be impossible in most cases anyway since players are behind firewalls/gateways. The [BSN.Cloud Ports & URLs](docId:6MBtfGmpjWoCqOmVC0oE5) page lists the services and ports which BrightSign Author and players access in outbound connections. # Why does BrightSign Cloud need port 80? The player connects to BrightSign Cloud over port 80 in order to test network connectivity. If this connection is blocked then some diagnostic tests will report that connectivity is not available. These services cannot be redirected to a different port.