With our five tiered levels of DEFCON support, Layered Tech provides customers with the precise levels of security and support that are right for them.
DEFCON Service Levels describe progressive alert postures primarily for used to determine the overall readiness and active support you are receiving on your server. Each DEFCON Service Level provides a different level of monitoring, security, and direct support provided with each dedicated server. Your server is categorized as one of the 5 levels and can be upgraded at anytime.
Below are the various DEFCON Service Levels that we provide with a description of each level. The highest level of DEFCON is 1 which indicates that Layered Tech handles all aspects of your server including all management, security, patches, and 24/7 monitoring and is considered “fully managed.” The lowest level of DEFCON is 5 which indicates that your server is “unmanaged”, “unmonitored”, and all aspects of it are maintained by your organization.
Fully Managed
Highest level of security, full scope management, auto server updates, full monitoring
DEFCON 1 provides you the maximum amount of management, and it allows us to provide full service system administration. With all the services included in DEFCON 2 plus 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. Please note that one factor to consider when choosing DEFCON 1 is that you will not have root/administrator access to your server. If you have a control panel, reseller level access will be provided. DEFCON 1 is “Fully Managed Service.”
Managed
High levels of security, management, auto server updates, and server monitoring
DEFCON 2 provides you the maximum amount of management while still leaving you in the driver’s 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 ever need to worry about updating your server, as it will be part of our auto updating service carried out by the System Administrators of Layered Tech. 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 level of support and services provided with DEFCON 2, you will also have the ability to utilize up to 3 Hours of Advanced Technical Support, which is normally billed out at $100.00 per hour. We are including 3 Hours of Advanced Technical Support as part of the DEFCON 2 package.
Semi-Managed
Medium levels of management, auto server updates and server monitoring
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 Layered Tech. 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 provided with DEFCON 3, you will also have the ability to utilize up to 1 Hour of Advanced Technical Support. This service is normally billed out at $100.00 per hour, and we are including 1 Hour of Advanced Technical Support as part of the DEFCON 3 package.
Self-Managed
Normal management and security measures
DEFCON 4 provides a valuable basic service in a "pay as you go" type structure. This level of management includes basic monitoring and two included standard support incidents per month. This is the perfect entry-level package if you and/or your administrative team handles the day-to-day operation of your server but could require assistance on rare occasions. DEFCON 4 customers can open up two tickets per month and as long as the request (the thread in its entirety) can be fulfilled in 30 minutes or less, there is no additional charge. If a request requires more than 30 minutes, regular advanced support charges apply ($100 per hour, billed in 1/2 hour increments). Any requests beyond the included two per month supplied with DEFCON 4 will be charged at $25 per incident (30 minute limit). Standard support provides you with a guaranteed 12-hour or less response from a support engineer.
DEFCON 4 is considered “Self Managed”. The type of customer who selects DEFCON 4 has previously handled and has the necessary skills to maintain and manage a server. Layered Tech 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. Layered Tech’s 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. It is very possible that a single service can fail and that our monitoring system still sees your server as alive and active. If uptime is important, a higher DEFCON Level that includes a more complete monitoring and recovery solution is highly recommended.
Unmanaged
Little or no involvement from the Layered Tech support team.
DEFCON 5 is the lowest level of managed service we offer and is designed for a system administrator who does 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 the root password with us. All support is considered pay per incident. Cost per incident is $35 (maximum of 30 minutes support time). Additional time is at advanced support rates of $100 per hour, billed in 1/2 hour increments. As a DEFCON 5 customer, it is your responsibility to maintain the server software configuration from top to bottom.
Layered Tech respects our customers’ 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.
The type of customer who selects DEFCON 5 needs very little or no help maintaining a server. It is expected that the server will remain secure and that a full time system administrator will be available to maintain its stability, security, and well being. Selecting DEFCON 5 automatically opts you out of discounted or free support, monitoring, and software upgrades on the server, which are included 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, it will be considered a billable support “incident”.
It is recommended that if you do not feel confident as a System Administrator or if you feel from time to time that you will need to take advantage of a higher level of support, you should upgrade to a higher DEFCON level.
Chat online with an account manager, or call 1-866-584-6784 now.
