SLA Levels — Shared / StartUp Hosting
This document describes the available Service Level Agreement (SLA) tiers for the Shared – StartUp Hosting product. It is intended to be comprehensive so both technical and non-technical customers understand the coverage, responsibilities, escalation process, and limitations for each SLA level.
SLA-1 — Premium Hosting Support
Purpose
For clients whose websites or online systems are mission-critical and require maximum uptime, rapid intervention, and prioritized handling of incidents.
Scope
- Full infrastructure and platform support (server, network, DNS, SSL, mail routing and platform-level configuration).
- Priority incident handling for outages, degraded performance, email failures, and security incidents affecting service availability.
- Proactive monitoring and alerting with 24×7 response for critical incidents.
- Assistance with hosting-level configuration and support for standard supported stacks (PHP, MySQL/MariaDB, cPanel features).
Target Metrics
| Response Time | Within 1 hour for critical incidents; within 2 hours for high-priority incidents. |
|---|---|
| Resolution Target | Best-effort continuous remediation until service is restored; target ≤ 6 hours for infrastructure incidents where applicable. |
| Availability Guarantee | 99.95% uptime per calendar month (excludes scheduled maintenance and excluded events). |
| Monthly Support Hours Included | 20 hours (applies to non-emergency tasks, configuration assistance, or migration support). |
| Per-Task Cap | 2 hours per task before a change request/estimate is required. |
Monitoring & Proactive Work
- 24×7 uptime monitoring with automated alerting.
- Active log monitoring for selected issues (errors, resource saturation) and proactive resource tuning suggestions.
- Priority queue for any tickets classified as critical or high-impact.
Incident Classification & Examples
- Critical: Site unreachable, checkout/payment failures, major email outage affecting delivery, severe resource exhaustion — triggers immediate escalation.
- High: Significant performance degradation, intermittent downtime, major SSL/DNS misconfiguration issues.
- Medium: Non-critical performance issues, backup restore requests, configuration clarifications.
- Low: Cosmetic issues, general questions, documentation requests.
Escalation Path
- Initial triage by the Level 1 on-call engineer (within Response Time).
- If unresolved, escalate to Senior Engineer / Infrastructure Specialist.
- If still unresolved, escalate to Technical Lead and account manager for coordinated remediation, including resource allocation or temporary mitigation (e.g., increased resources, emergency scaling where feasible).
Exclusions
- Application-level code bugs (custom WordPress plugins, themes, or third-party applications) unless specifically purchased as an add-on.
- Third-party service outages (CDN provider, external API) — we will assist with diagnostics and mitigation but cannot guarantee resolution of third-party providers.
- Intentional misuse, resource abuse, or malware caused by client activity; cleanup may be billable.
- Tasks requiring root access and custom server builds outside the shared platform capabilities.
Client Obligations
- Provide valid contact and escalation information for incident handling.
- Grant necessary account access, control panel credentials, and cooperation when requested.
- Apply client-side fixes where indicated (content, plugin updates) or purchase the required add-on support.
- Maintain backups for content and application data where client-side changes are frequent (we provide backups as described below but clients should also maintain their own copies for critical data).
Scheduled Maintenance
Scheduled maintenance windows will be announced at least 48 hours in advance. Maintenance windows are excluded from uptime calculations. For SLA-1 customers, emergency maintenance will be minimized and communicated immediately.
Service Credits
When uptime falls below the monthly SLA guarantee due to provider fault (excluding scheduled maintenance and excluded events), a credit policy may apply. Credits are limited to a percentage of the monthly hosting fee for the affected service and do not constitute a refund of fees. Credits must be requested within 14 days of the incident. The exact credit percentage and conditions can be defined contractually per account.
SLA-2 — Business Hosting Support
Purpose
Balanced hosting support intended for growing businesses that need reliable hosting with business-hours priority support and predictable response/resolution times.
Scope
- Infrastructure and platform support during extended business hours (Mon–Sat where applicable).
- Assistance with DNS configuration, SSL installation, email routing issues, and resource optimization advice.
- Monitoring for availability and alerts during supported hours; critical alerts will still be responded to but follow defined business-hour response window.
Target Metrics
| Response Time | Within 4 hours for high/critical incidents during support hours; within 8 hours for standard incidents. |
|---|---|
| Resolution Target | Target ≤ 24 hours for infrastructure incidents where applicable; ≤ 3 business days for standard issues. |
| Availability Guarantee | 99.90% uptime per calendar month (excludes scheduled maintenance and excluded events). |
| Monthly Support Hours Included | 10 hours/month (applies to non-emergency tasks and configuration requests). |
| Per-Task Cap | 1.5 hours per task before a change request or estimate is required. |
Monitoring & Response
- Automated monitoring with business-hours alerting; after-hours critical incidents are triaged per policy but handled with lower priority compared to SLA-1.
- Logs and diagnostics are provided as part of incident follow-up; in-depth forensic or extended log retention may be billable.
Incident Examples
- DNS or SSL misconfiguration impacting some users.
- Performance degradation during peak hours requiring tuning.
- Mail delivery issues needing troubleshooting within support hours.
Escalation Path
- Initial triage by support agent within Response Time.
- Escalation to senior engineer for complex or persistent issues.
- Account manager notified for high-impact incidents affecting business operations.
Exclusions & Client Obligations
- Same exclusions as SLA-1 for application-level code, third-party outages, and malicious client actions.
- Clients must supply access and run requested diagnostics within the requested timeframe; SLA timers pause if the client does not respond.
Scheduled Maintenance
Maintenance windows are planned and communicated with at least 48 hours notice. Where possible, maintenance will be scheduled outside core business hours but may occur during them when required for security fixes.
SLA-3 — Basic Hosting Support
Purpose
Entry-level support for small websites and projects where budget is prioritized and immediate response is not critical.
Scope
- Support limited to platform basics (cPanel access, password resets, basic DNS guidance, and help with 1-click installers).
- Routine maintenance and scheduled updates performed during regular business hours.
- Non-critical incidents handled in standard queue order.
Target Metrics
| Response Time | Within 24–48 business hours. |
|---|---|
| Resolution Target | Target ≤ 3 business days to 5 business days depending on complexity. |
| Availability Guarantee | 99.5% uptime per calendar month (excludes scheduled maintenance and excluded events). |
| Monthly Support Hours Included | 5 hours/month. |
| Per-Task Cap | 1 hour per task before a change request / estimate is required. |
Monitoring & Response
- Automated monitoring exists but business-priority follow-up applies; non-critical alerts will be handled in queue.
- Critical infrastructure outages will still be acknowledged but with longer response windows relative to higher SLAs.
Examples of Covered Requests
- Password resets, cPanel access assistance, basic DNS link configuration.
- Guidance for 1-click installer usage and basic troubleshooting steps.
Exclusions & Client Obligations
- No emergency or weekend support. Complex debugging, custom integrations, and code fixes are excluded unless separately contracted.
- Client must provide sufficient information in tickets; missing information will delay response and pause SLA timers.
SLA-4 — Self-Managed Hosting
Purpose
For technically capable clients and developers who prefer to manage their own hosting environment, updates, and application-level troubleshooting while retaining basic infrastructure support.
Scope
- Provider responsibility is limited to infrastructure availability: network, physical host, virtualization, basic OS-level environment as provided by the shared platform.
- Provider will respond to and handle infrastructure-level outages, network incidents, and data center issues only.
- Application-level support (themes, plugins, custom code, application configuration) is the client’s responsibility.
Target Metrics
| Response Time | Within 48–72 business hours for infrastructure incidents (non-emergency). |
|---|---|
| Resolution Target | Based on incident impact; prioritized after SLA-1/2/3 customers for non-critical matters. |
| Availability Guarantee | Provider will maintain operational infrastructure; explicit uptime guarantees are lower and may be limited in contract. |
| Monthly Support Hours Included | None for application-level work; infrastructure assistance included as per policy. |
| Per-Task Cap | Not applicable for application-level tasks; infrastructure tasks handled case-by-case. |
Monitoring & Responsibilities
- Client is expected to run their own monitoring or rely on provided minimal monitoring for the host.
- Provider will inform clients of infrastructure incidents and provide diagnostics; mitigation for application issues is not included.
Client Obligations
- Maintain application updates, plugin/theme updates, and security patches for their applications.
- Maintain their own backups and disaster recovery procedures; provider backups may be retained but not guaranteed for rapid restores.
- Supply logs and debugging information when requesting infrastructure support; lack of data can delay triage and resolution.
General Hosting SLA Terms (Applies to all SLA Levels)
Definitions
- Response: The time from when a ticket/alert is received to when an initial acknowledgement and triage is performed.
- Resolution: The time to remediate the incident to a functional state. Resolution targets are objectives, not absolute guarantees; complex incidents may require additional time or client cooperation.
- Scheduled Maintenance: Pre-announced maintenance windows for platform upgrades, security patches, or performance tuning. These are excluded from uptime calculations.
Exclusions (Representative)
- Downtime caused by third-party services (external CDNs, payment gateways, DNS hosts) beyond the provider’s control.
- Security incidents caused by client misconfiguration, compromised credentials, or unsupported third-party code.
- Acts of God, force majeure, and events outside reasonable control of the provider.
- Customer-caused outages (malicious scripts, uncontrolled bot traffic, abusive behavior).
Change Requests & Overage Billing
- Tasks exceeding the monthly included hours or per-task cap will require a change request. Change requests will be quoted and require client approval before work commences.
- Overage work is billed at the applicable hourly rate (rate defined in the contract or service order).
Backups & Restores
- Automatic backups are performed per plan (daily snapshots are typical for StartUp hosting). Restoration requests are handled per SLA level and within included hours; expedited restores may incur fees.
- Backups are a safety net; customers should also maintain their own backups for critical data.
Security & Malware
- Basic malware scanning and platform-level protections are provided. Cleanup of hacked sites due to vulnerable custom code may be billable unless covered by a specific security add-on.
SLA Changes & Upgrades
- Customers may upgrade SLA level at any time; the upgrade takes effect from the next billing cycle unless otherwise agreed.
- Downgrades are permitted but cannot be applied retroactively to already open tickets or incidents.
Service Credits
- Where applicable, service credits for downtime are evaluated on a case-by-case basis and are subject to verification of metrics. Credits are limited to a percentage of the affected monthly hosting fee and are not cumulative as a refund.
- Service credit requests must be submitted within 14 days of the incident and will be processed according to the provider’s documented policy.
Onboarding & Provisioning
- Account provisioning and initial setup are performed at order activation. SLA timers start after the account is marked active and the customer has been provided with access details.
- Onboarding assistance (DNS setup, basic configuration) is included per plan and subject to the monthly hours of the chosen SLA where applicable.
