Click/execute applications & basic config changes
- Tier 1
- Yes
- Tier 2
- Yes
- Tier 3
- Yes
- Tier 4
- Yes
Consulting Action Plan · Four Service Tiers
Managed Consulting Services
Choose the Consulting Action Plan tier that fits your work, from application installation and configuration through clustering, hypervisor and SAN architecture, BGP routing, database administration, and compliance audit engineering.
- 4 Consulting Action Plan Tiers
- Application to Architecture Support
- Senior Engineer-Led Tier 4
- Compliance Audit Engineering
CAP Service Levels
4
Highest CAP Level
Tier 4
Managed Consulting Services
Beyond hosting infrastructure protected by deep security, Atlantic.Net offers a comprehensive, four-tier Managed Consulting Action Plan (CAP). The right tier for your organization depends on the architecture you operate within and the depth of engineering support your applications and team need.
Each tier inherits the capabilities of the tier below it and adds new ones – from click-and-execute application support at Tier 1 up to senior-engineer architecture work at Tier 4. The summary table below shows what's included at each level so you can match the engagement to the work.
Tier 1 CAP
Tier 1 covers the basic layer of support: click/execute applications and rudimentary configuration changes. Includes data migration via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and installation of free cross-platform clients such as FileZilla on Windows.
This level of CAP covers the most fundamental configuration tasks – for example, installation of basic Windows applications. Package management on RPM-based distributions (Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, RHEL, Oracle Linux) is also covered: YUM on older systems, DNF on RHEL 8+ and modern derivatives. Both let you handle automatic updates and dependency resolution from the command line.
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Tier 1 covers the basic layer of support: click/execute applications and rudimentary configuration changes. Includes data migration via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and installation of free cross-platform clients such as FileZilla on Windows.
This level of CAP covers the most fundamental configuration tasks – for example, installation of basic Windows applications. Package management on RPM-based distributions (Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, RHEL, Oracle Linux) is also covered: YUM on older systems, DNF on RHEL 8+ and modern derivatives. Both let you handle automatic updates and dependency resolution from the command line.
Tier 2 CAP
Tier 2 is ideal for basic application management. It includes installation and configuration of cPanel or Plesk to create a streamlined web hosting environment for new sites, reseller accounts, email accounts, and DNS entries via a web-based interface.
The Tier 2 service level includes site migration for the platforms above as well as web server software such as Microsoft IIS or Apache. It also covers installing and configuring applications under our Managed Scope of Support for non-managed customers.
Tier 2 work is usually completed by a Customer Support Technician; basic tasks traditionally associated with Tier 1 work (dial-up and web-hosting support) are completed by an SOC technician.
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Tier 2 is ideal for basic application management. It includes installation and configuration of cPanel or Plesk to create a streamlined web hosting environment for new sites, reseller accounts, email accounts, and DNS entries via a web-based interface.
The Tier 2 service level includes site migration for the platforms above as well as web server software such as Microsoft IIS or Apache. It also covers installing and configuring applications under our Managed Scope of Support for non-managed customers.
Tier 2 work is usually completed by a Customer Support Technician; basic tasks traditionally associated with Tier 1 work (dial-up and web-hosting support) are completed by an SOC technician.
Tier 3 CAP
Tier 3 includes everything in Tier 1 and Tier 2, plus tasks suited for high-level, customized applications. Examples include kernel recompilation and the setup of Linux-based clustering – Pacemaker (the modern successor to the original Heartbeat project) for high-availability cluster management, and DRBD for distributed replicated block storage.
Tier 3 also covers hypervisor setup as a foundation for failover, high availability, and storage area network (SAN) deployments that provide consolidated block-level data storage. Both Type 1 and Type 2 hypervisors are supported – Type 1 includes Xen (which lets multiple operating systems run concurrently on the same hardware) and VMware ESXi for deploying and serving virtual machines, while Type 2 includes Microsoft Hyper-V running on Windows Server.
To guarantee a robust level of service, Tier 3 ensures that the Customer Support Technician responding to a request is highly skilled and well versed in the issue at hand.
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Tier 3 includes everything in Tier 1 and Tier 2, plus tasks suited for high-level, customized applications. Examples include kernel recompilation and the setup of Linux-based clustering – Pacemaker (the modern successor to the original Heartbeat project) for high-availability cluster management, and DRBD for distributed replicated block storage.
Tier 3 also covers hypervisor setup as a foundation for failover, high availability, and storage area network (SAN) deployments that provide consolidated block-level data storage. Both Type 1 and Type 2 hypervisors are supported – Type 1 includes Xen (which lets multiple operating systems run concurrently on the same hardware) and VMware ESXi for deploying and serving virtual machines, while Type 2 includes Microsoft Hyper-V running on Windows Server.
To guarantee a robust level of service, Tier 3 ensures that the Customer Support Technician responding to a request is highly skilled and well versed in the issue at hand.
Tier 4 CAP
On top of all the lower tiers, Tier 4 adds high-end services such as Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing for traffic across the public internet. BGP is most relevant to network teams at organizations that connect to two or more ISPs, where it is essential to maintain fast connectivity and add redundancy. Tier 4 also covers database administration and repair, and engineering support for compliance audits.
Tier 4 CAP work is performed by a senior engineer and includes the implementation of leading-edge and advanced current technologies.
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On top of all the lower tiers, Tier 4 adds high-end services such as Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing for traffic across the public internet. BGP is most relevant to network teams at organizations that connect to two or more ISPs, where it is essential to maintain fast connectivity and add redundancy. Tier 4 also covers database administration and repair, and engineering support for compliance audits.
Tier 4 CAP work is performed by a senior engineer and includes the implementation of leading-edge and advanced current technologies.
CAP Tier Comparison
| Capability | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | Tier 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Click/execute applications & basic config changes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FTP & data migration (FileZilla, command-line clients) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| YUM / DNF package management on RPM-based Linux | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| cPanel / Plesk install & configuration | – | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Site migrations and IIS / Apache configuration | – | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Applications under Managed Scope of Support | – | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Kernel recompilation | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| HA clustering (Pacemaker, DRBD) | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| Hypervisor setup (Xen, VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V) | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| SAN setup & storage architecture | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| BGP routing for multi-ISP connectivity | – | – | – | Yes |
| Database administration & repair | – | – | – | Yes |
| Engineering support for compliance audits | – | – | – | Yes |
| Engineer assigned | SOC Technician | Customer Support Technician | Senior Customer Support Technician | Senior Engineer |
FTP & data migration (FileZilla, command-line clients)
- Tier 1
- Yes
- Tier 2
- Yes
- Tier 3
- Yes
- Tier 4
- Yes
YUM / DNF package management on RPM-based Linux
- Tier 1
- Yes
- Tier 2
- Yes
- Tier 3
- Yes
- Tier 4
- Yes
cPanel / Plesk install & configuration
- Tier 1
- –
- Tier 2
- Yes
- Tier 3
- Yes
- Tier 4
- Yes
Site migrations and IIS / Apache configuration
- Tier 1
- –
- Tier 2
- Yes
- Tier 3
- Yes
- Tier 4
- Yes
Applications under Managed Scope of Support
- Tier 1
- –
- Tier 2
- Yes
- Tier 3
- Yes
- Tier 4
- Yes
Kernel recompilation
- Tier 1
- –
- Tier 2
- –
- Tier 3
- Yes
- Tier 4
- Yes
HA clustering (Pacemaker, DRBD)
- Tier 1
- –
- Tier 2
- –
- Tier 3
- Yes
- Tier 4
- Yes
Hypervisor setup (Xen, VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V)
- Tier 1
- –
- Tier 2
- –
- Tier 3
- Yes
- Tier 4
- Yes
SAN setup & storage architecture
- Tier 1
- –
- Tier 2
- –
- Tier 3
- Yes
- Tier 4
- Yes
BGP routing for multi-ISP connectivity
- Tier 1
- –
- Tier 2
- –
- Tier 3
- –
- Tier 4
- Yes
Database administration & repair
- Tier 1
- –
- Tier 2
- –
- Tier 3
- –
- Tier 4
- Yes
Engineering support for compliance audits
- Tier 1
- –
- Tier 2
- –
- Tier 3
- –
- Tier 4
- Yes
Engineer assigned
- Tier 1
- SOC Technician
- Tier 2
- Customer Support Technician
- Tier 3
- Senior Customer Support Technician
- Tier 4
- Senior Engineer
Frequently Asked Questions About Managed Consulting
What is Atlantic.Net's Managed Consulting Service?
Managed Consulting is a four-tier engagement framework – the Consulting Action Plan, or CAP – that puts Atlantic.Net engineers on your IT projects. Tier 1 covers click-and-execute application support; Tier 4 covers senior-engineer architecture work like BGP routing, database administration, and compliance audit support. Each tier inherits the capabilities of the tier below it.
What does CAP stand for?
CAP stands for Consulting Action Plan. It's the framework Atlantic.Net uses to scope consulting engagements to a specific tier of work and engineer skill level so that pricing and outcomes are predictable.
How do I choose the right tier?
Pick the tier that matches the most complex work you anticipate. If you need basic application installation and configuration changes, Tier 1 or Tier 2 is enough. If you need clustering, hypervisor setup, or SAN architecture, Tier 3 is the right starting point. If you need BGP, database administration, or compliance audit engineering, Tier 4 is required. The Atlantic.Net sales team will help you scope the right tier based on the work you describe.
What's included in Tier 1?
Click/execute application support, basic configuration changes, FTP-based data migration with clients like FileZilla, and package management on RPM-based Linux (YUM on older systems, DNF on RHEL 8+ and modern Rocky/AlmaLinux). Tier 1 work is performed by an SOC technician.
What's the difference between Tier 2 and Tier 3?
Tier 2 focuses on application-management work: installing and configuring control panels (cPanel, Plesk), web servers (IIS, Apache), and applications under our Managed Scope of Support. Tier 3 adds infrastructure-level work: kernel recompilation, HA clustering with Pacemaker and DRBD, hypervisor setup (Xen, VMware ESXi, Hyper-V), and SAN architecture. Tier 3 work is performed by a senior Customer Support Technician.
When should I consider Tier 4?
Tier 4 is for organizations that need senior-engineer-led work. Common triggers are BGP routing for multi-ISP connectivity, deep database administration and repair, complex storage architecture, and engineering support for HIPAA, PCI DSS, or SOC 2 compliance audits. Tier 4 work is performed by a senior engineer.
Does CAP include compliance audit support?
Tier 4 includes engineering support for compliance audits – helping you produce documentation, evidence, and configuration artifacts your auditor needs. Atlantic.Net does not perform the audit itself; that is done by a third-party assessor. The hosting infrastructure your workloads run in is independently audited for SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, HITECH, and PCI DSS, and those audited controls are available for your audit team to cite.
Can I upgrade or downgrade tiers later?
Yes. Tier changes are coordinated through your account team. Most customers start at the tier that matches their current architecture and move up as projects expand or as their environment matures.
Does CAP cover existing third-party applications?
Tier 2 and above cover applications that fall under our Managed Scope of Support. Application logic, custom code, and query analysis are out of scope across all tiers; those are typically handled through a Professional Services agreement.
How is the Managed Consulting service priced?
Pricing is based on the tier selected, the scope of the engagement, and the engineer level required. Atlantic.Net's sales team will scope the work and provide a quote tailored to your environment.
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