Managed DEFCON Service Levels

Little or no involvement from the FastServers.Net support team.

• Standard Network Based Security
• 24/7/365 Access to Ticket System (Reboots & Paid Support Requests)
• Hard/Soft Manual Reboots
• Online Bandwidth Monitoring Tool (RTG)
• Limited or Paid Technical Support
• No monitoring/recovery included
• Self Maintained root/administrator access to server
• Standard Hardware Replacement Guarantee

DEFCON 5 is the lowest level of managed service we offer and is designed for a system administrator who do not need our assistance. It is expected that those that choose this level will maintain patches/upgrades and overall security to the highest level on their own. If you choose this level you will not need to maintain root password with us. All support is considered billable at $100/hour with a $50 minimum charge. As a DEFCON 5 customer it is your responsibility to maintain the server software configuration on your server from top to bottom.

The type of customers who select DEFCON 5 are customers that need very little or no help maintaining a server. It is expected that the server will remain secure and that a full time system administrators will be available to maintain the stability, security, and well being. Selecting DEFCON 5 automatically opts you out of free general support, monitoring, and software upgrades on the server which are free with all other DEFCON Service Levels. In the event that you do need assistance and a Dedicated Server Expert logs into your server for any reason this would be considered billable support.

As a DEFCON 5 customer, FastServers.Net respects your overall System Administration skills. This level of DEFCON is designed for do-it-yourself administrators who need limited support or have a staff taking care of the servers. This also comes with great responsibility as an administrator running a secure and stable environment requires in depth OS and software knowledge. It is recommended that if you do not feel confident as a System Administrator or feel from time to time you can take advantage of a higher level of support you upgrade to a higher level.

Normal, increased management and strengthened security measures. (Self-Managed)

• Standard Network Based Security
• 24/7/365 Technical Support & (Telephone-Based Ticket Submissions)
• SLA-based standard support responses in 24 hours or less.
• Escalated PAID Priority Support
• Hard/Soft Manual Reboots
• Monthly Server OS-Based Errata Updates (per request)
• Online Bandwidth Monitoring Tool (RTG)
• Overall Server Wide Monitoring
• On-Demand Server Security & Health Assessment (per request)
• Shared root/administrator access to server
• SLA-based hardware replacement of 2 hours or less.

DEFCON 4 is a FREE and valuable service offered to every dedicated hosting customer at FastServers.Net. This level of management includes basic monitoring, On-Demand O/S updates and patches (one request per month), and On-Demand Server Security & Health Assessments (one request per month). This is the perfect “entry-level” package if you and/or your administrative team handles the day-to-day operations of your server but could require assistance on rare occasions. As always general support is free as long as the request (the thread in its entirety) can be fulfilled in 15 minutes or less. General support provides you with a guaranteed 24-hour or less response from a support engineer.

DEFCON 4 is considered “Self Managed”. FastServers.Net partners with you to provide the basic managed services that your server environment requires to stay up-to-date and online. You should be prepared to take a very active role in your server’s ongoing maintenance including administering or requesting frequent security checks, applying critical patches, and auditing system efficiency and stability. FastServers’ approach to monitoring on a DEFCON 4 server is quite basic: your server as a whole is being checked for general availability as our agents do not drill down to individual services (beyond HTTP) or unique daemons.

The type of customers who select DEFCON 4 have previously handled a server and have the necessary skills to maintain and manage a server. FastServers.Net partners with you to provide you with the basic managed services that you need to stay up to date and online. You should be prepared to take a very active role in your server including opening monthly tickets for security checks, software updates, and health checks on your server. Monitoring on the server is basic meaning your overall server is being checked for availability and this is not drilled down to individual services or daemons. It is very possible that a single service can fail and our monitoring system still see your server as alive and active. If uptime is important all of the higher DEFCON Levels include a complete monitoring and recovery solution.

6 Reasons to Upgrade to a "paid" DEFCON Level

• You are not a system administrator and require "expert" support from a team of highly trained engineers.
• You are not able to carry out system administrator based functions based on technical based documentation.
• You require responses to your inquiries in 2 hours or less.
• You desire to achieve higher uptime through a more intensive and diligent server software update process.
• You desire to achieve higher uptime through advanced port and SNMP monitoring.
• You desire pro-active hardware failure monitoring.

Medium level of management, auto server updates and server monitoring. (Semi-Managed)

• Server Port Monitoring - 4 Services
• 24/7/365 Technical Support & (Telephone-Based Ticket Submissions)
• SLA-based standard support responses in 2 hours or less.
• Priority Support
• Monthly Server OS-Based Errata Updates  (automatic)
• Online Bandwidth Monitoring Tool (RTG)
• SNMP Resource Based Monitoring
• Systems Administrative Service: 1 Hour / month
• On-Demand Server Security & Health Assessment (per request)
• Shared root/administrator access to server
• SLA-based hardware replacement of 2 hours or less.

DEFCON 3 is our entry level management solution. Dedicated Servers are placed within a port monitoring solution and able to define the specific Quick Response Recovery procedures they want to take place in the event of a service failure. In addition to monitoring your overall uptime the server also gets added to our advanced  resource monitor that provides a careful watch over memory, CPU, and server load usage. As part of the DEFCON 3 service you don't need to worry about ever updating your server as it will be part of our auto updating service carried out by the System Administrators of FastServers.Net. Participating in DEFCON 3 will also give you the ability to request a monthly On-Demand Server Security & Health Assessment report. In addition to the intensive amount of support and services you get provided with DEFCON 3 you will also have the ability to utilize up to 1 Hour of Advanced Technical Support. This service alone is billed out at $100.00 per hour and we are including 1 Hour as part of the package.

High level of security, management, auto server updates, and server monitoring. (Managed)

• Server Port Monitoring - 6 Services
• 24/7/365 Technical Support & (Telephone-Based Ticket Submissions)
• SLA-based standard support responses in 2 hours or less.
• Priority Support
• Monthly Server OS-Based Errata Updates  (automatic)
• Online Bandwidth Monitoring Tool (RTG)
• SNMP Resource Based Monitoring
• Systems Administrative Service: 3 Hours / month
• On-Demand Server Security & Health Assessment (per request)
• Shared root/administrator access to server
• SLA-based hardware replacement of 2 hours or less.
• Host/Software Based IDS.
• Server Anti-virus Protection

DEFCON 2 provides you the maximum amount of management while still leaving you in the drivers seat. Dedicated Servers are placed within a port monitoring solution and you are able to define the specific Quick Response Recovery procedure you want to take place in the event of a service failure. In addition to monitoring your overall uptime the server also gets added to our advanced  resource monitor that provides a careful watch over memory, CPU, and server load usage. As part of the DEFCON 2 service you don't need to worry about ever updating your server as it will be part of our auto updating service carried out by the System Administrators of FastServers.Net. Additional security is provided in the form of HOST Based IDS and reviewed each month at the same time server updates are taking place. Participating in DEFCON 2 will also give you the ability to request a monthly On-Demand Server Security & Health Assessment. In addition to the intensive amount of support and services you get provided with DEFCON 2 you will also have the ability to utilize up to 3 Hours of Advanced Technical Support. This service alone is billed out at $100.00 per hour and we are including 3 Hours as part of the package.

Highest level of security, full scope management, auto server updates, full monitoring. (Fully Managed)

• Server Port Monitoring - 8 Services
• 24/7/365 Technical Support & (Telephone-Based Ticket Submissions)
• SLA-based standard support responses in 2 hours or less.
• Priority Support
• Monthly Server OS-Based Errata Updates  (automatic)
• Online Bandwidth Monitoring Tool (RTG)
• SNMP Resource Based Monitoring
• Systems Administrative Service: 5 Hours / month
• On-Demand Server Security & Health Assessment (per request)
• SLA-based hardware replacement of 2 hours or less.
• Host/Software Based IDS. 
• Server Anti-virus Protection
• NO root/administrator access to server.
• Hardware Based Firewall Protection (per request at time of signup)

DEFCON 1 provides you the maximum amount of management and allows us to provide your with full service system administration. With all the services included in DEFCON 2 + a hardware based firewall your server will run at top performance and redefine the term secure. We have also increased the overall amount of System Administration hours to 5. The one consideration to have when choosing DEFCON 1 is you will not have root/administrator access to your server. If you have a control panel, reseller level access will be provided. DEFCON 1 was formally called "Fully Managed Service".