Cloud Server Networking

This guide explains how Cloud Servers and Networking configurations work together within the Carpathian platform to power your applications and websites.

Cloud Servers: Your Virtual Machines

A Cloud Server is a virtual machine (VM) instance that runs on Carpathian's hosting infrastructure. When you provision a Spark Server, you're creating a complete compute environment with root-level access where you can install software, run applications, and configure the system however you need.

How Spark Servers Work

When you create a Spark Server, Carpathian provisions a virtual machine on one of our hypervisors and assigns it resources (CPU, RAM, storage) based on your selected plan. Each server gets:

• Private networking: Your server is connected to Carpathian's virtual private cloud with an isolated internal IP address
• Secure routing: External traffic is routed through secure gateways to protect your infrastructure
• Full system access: Root/administrator access to install packages, configure services, and manage your environment

You can use Spark Servers for any workload: running application backends, hosting databases, container orchestration with Docker or Kubernetes, development and testing environments, or specialized tasks like AI/ML training and simulations. Think of it as your own server in the cloud, completely under your control.

Networking Dashboard

The Networking page is your central hub for managing how traffic flows to and from your Cloud Servers. It is organized into three tabs: Networks, Routing, and Usage & Plans.

Networks Tab

The Networks tab shows your organization's isolated VLAN networks. Each organization gets a default network when the first server is provisioned, and you can create additional networks to segment your infrastructure.

Each network card displays:

• The network name and description
• Whether it is the default network for new servers
• The number of devices attached
• A list of connected servers with their status indicators and internal IP addresses

You can create, edit, and delete networks from this tab. The default network cannot be deleted. Non-default networks can only be deleted when they have no devices attached.

Routing Tab

The Routing tab shows all routing rules for your organization. There are two types of rules: web rules and SSH rules.

Web Routing Rules

Web rules proxy your domains through Carpathian's infrastructure with automatic SSL. When you add a web rule, you specify:

• A target Spark Server
• A domain name (primary domain like example.com or subdomain like app.example.com)
• Whether the service is a website (port 80) or an application (custom port)

Each web rule is displayed as a visual traffic flow diagram showing: the internet on the left, passing through Carpathian's proxy layer on port 443 with SSL termination, and arriving at your server on the configured port.

If the API firewall is active, web rules show a firewall indicator and a note that only allowlisted IPs can reach the rule. You can manage firewall settings from the linked Firewall page.

SSH Routing Rules

SSH rules enable terminal access to your servers through Carpathian's SSH gateway on port 2222. Each SSH rule shows:

• The server name and internal IP
• The SSH connection command (e.g., ssh vm-<server_id>@ssh.carpathian.ai -p 2222)
• The linked API key used for authentication
• Status indicators for connectivity issues (gateway disabled, server offline, no API key configured)

SSH rules can be enabled or disabled individually. A disabled rule blocks all SSH gateway connections to that server. If the SSH gateway firewall is active, a notice appears indicating that only allowlisted IPs can connect.

The bottom of the Routing tab includes a legend explaining the status indicators: green for online, red for offline, blue for firewall filtered, amber for throttled, and a key icon for missing API key.

Usage & Plans Tab

The Usage & Plans tab shows your current network plan, bandwidth consumption, and overage settings.

Plan Overview

At the top you see your current plan name, speed (displayed in Mbps or Gbps), and whether you are in throttle or overage mode. A progress bar shows how much of your data cap you have used this billing period, with the bar changing color at 70% (warning) and 90% (critical). If your plan includes the unlimited add-on, the progress bar is replaced with an "Unlimited" badge.

If your bandwidth cap has been reached and you are in throttle mode, a warning banner appears at the top indicating your speed has been reduced to 100 Mbps, with a link to upgrade your plan.

Per-Server Breakdown

Below the plan overview, a breakdown shows bandwidth usage for each individual server, including inbound, outbound, and total transfer. Each server shows its online/offline status.

Overage Mode

You can choose what happens when you exceed your data cap:

• Throttle mode: Your speed drops to 200 Mbps until the next billing cycle. No additional charges.
• Overage mode: You keep full speed past your cap. Additional bandwidth is billed at $10 per 50 GB block, with a maximum of $120/month (12 blocks).

Switching to overage mode requires a payment method on file. If one is not configured, you will be redirected to set up payment before the switch takes effect.

If you are in overage mode and have purchased blocks during the current period, a summary shows the number of blocks purchased and your current charges relative to the $120 monthly cap.

Usage History

A month-by-month history shows your past bandwidth usage with inbound, outbound, and total transfer for each billing period.

How They Work Together

The typical workflow is:

1. Provision a Spark Server: Create a VM with the resources and operating system you need
2. Configure your application: Install your code, set up databases, configure services
3. Add a Routing Rule: When you're ready to make your application accessible, go to the Routing tab and add a web rule with your domain
4. Go live: Carpathian automatically configures SSL, reverse proxy, and firewall rules to serve traffic securely over HTTPS

You maintain full control over your Spark Server while Carpathian automates the networking and SSL infrastructure. This gives you the flexibility of a VPS with the simplicity of a managed hosting platform.

When to Use What

• Need to run custom software or services? Start with a Spark Server.
• Ready to make it accessible on the internet? Add a web routing rule.
• Need SSH access from outside your dashboard? Enable an SSH routing rule and configure an API key.
• Just running background jobs or databases? A Cloud Server alone is all you need.
• Want to host a website or API? You'll need both: a Cloud Server to run it and a routing rule to expose it.

This documentation is open to the public to make the platform API available for customers. However, since Carpathian Cloud is still in beta and being actively developed, this document might be outdated or incorrect. If you find anything confusing or misleading, please send an email to info@carpathian.ai.