Platform Overview | Carpathian Documentation
2024-08-15
The Carpathian platform simplifies cloud infrastructure by providing predictable costs, security-first design, and direct control over your deployments. This overview covers the essential components and workflows you need to understand before building on Carpathian.
Core Platform Features
Cloud Servers
Provision virtual machines with guaranteed resources and transparent pricing. Each server runs on dedicated hardware with no noisy neighbors or performance surprises.
- Ubuntu 22.04 LTS base images with pre-configured security settings
- Direct console access through the web interface
- Automatic backup scheduling COMING SOON
- Resource monitoring with real-time metrics and alerting
Web Servers
Deploy public-facing applications with automatic TLS certificates and global routing. The platform handles all proxy configuration and traffic management.
- Automatic HTTPS with Let's Encrypt certificate management
- Custom domain mapping with DNS validation
Getting Started
Account Setup
Create your Carpathian account and configure your first project workspace. Each workspace isolates resources and billing for different applications or environments.
- Sign up at the Carpathian dashboard
- Verify your email and set up two-factor authentication
- Add payment information for resource provisioning
First Deployment
Launch a simple web application to familiarize yourself with the platform workflows and management interface.
- Provision a server with the Ubuntu 22.04 base image
- Configure web routing by adding your domain name
- Access the console to install your application stack
Platform Architecture
Infrastructure Layer
Carpathian operates its own data centers with enterprise-grade hardware and network infrastructure. This provides cost predictability and performance isolation.
- Dedicated virtualization hosts prevent resource contention
- Redundant networking with automatic failover capabilities
Management Layer
The platform management system handles provisioning, monitoring, and orchestration of all resources through a unified API and web interface.
- Resource scheduling optimizes placement across available hardware
- Health monitoring tracks system metrics and application performance
- Automated scaling responds to traffic patterns and resource usage
- Security scanning continuously monitors for vulnerabilities
Application Layer
Your applications run in isolated environments with dedicated resources and configurable access controls.
- Container support for Docker-based deployments
- Process isolation prevents applications from interfering with each other
- Network segmentation controls traffic between different services
- Resource limits prevent any single application from consuming excessive resources
Data Protection
Customer data remains encrypted throughout the entire platform stack with encryption keys.
- Encryption at rest using AES-256 with customer-managed keys
- Encryption in transit with TLS 1.3 for all network connections
- Backup encryption protects archived data with separate key management
- Key rotation follows industry best practices for cryptographic hygiene
Network Security
Network traffic isolation and monitoring protect against both external attacks and internal privilege escalation.
- Firewall rules restrict network access to only required services
- DDoS protection automatically mitigates volumetric attacks
- Intrusion detection monitors for suspicious network activity
- VPN access provides secure administrative connectivity
Billing and Cost Management
Transparent Pricing
All resource costs are monthly with no hidden fees or surprise charges. You pay only for what you provision and use.
- Fixed rates for compute, storage, and network resources (hardware charges)
- No bandwidth charges for normal traffic patterns
- Predictable scaling costs with clear per-unit pricing
Support and Documentation
Technical Support
The Carpathian team provides direct technical support for all platform users with guaranteed response times and escalation procedures.
- Email support with 24-hour response guarantee
- Live texting during business hours for urgent issues
- Phone support for enterprise customers with critical deployments
- Community forums for peer-to-peer assistance. Carpathian Subreddit.
Next Steps
The Carpathian platform grows with your needs, from single-server deployments to complex multi-region architectures. Focus on building your application while the platform handles infrastructure complexity and security requirements.