Service Level Agreement

Our service level agreement (SLA) sets out what levels of availability and support the client is guaranteed to receive for website hosting and email hosting on h2o digital servers and how compensation is provided should those responsibilities ever fail to be met.

It also explains what penalties will be applied to the client should it fail to meet these levels.

Server Network

The networks in h2o selected data centres have been engineered to provide redundancy. This means if any single component fails, there is another piece of equipment that will take over.

We guarantee 99.9% uptime on our data centre networks, which is defined as the connection from the outbound port of the data centre and the network card on the web server.

In the event of any h2o digital network outage of more than 1 hour we will credit 100% of any hosting fee for the affected month and is limited to this amount.

h2o digital will be responsible for its network and not for the general conditions of the internet. Delays that occur outside of our data centre routers caused by ISP failures, or third party services (including DNS propagation) resulting in degradation of service cannot be guaranteed by h2o digital.

Server Hardware

h2o guarantees the functionality of all server hardware components within their selected data centres and will replace any failed component at no cost to the client.

Hardware is defined as the processors, RAM, hard drives, motherboard and other hardware included with the server.

In the event of any h2o hardware failure which results in an outage of more than 4 hours, h2o will credit 100% refund of any hosting fee for the affected month and is limited to this amount.

Server Infrastructure

Our selected data centres are temperature monitored and maintained by multiple air conditioning systems. All servers have fully redundant uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems as well as backup generators for use during utility power outages.

In the event of any infrastructure outage of more than 4 hours, we will credit 100% refund of any hosting fee for the affected month and is limited to this amount.

Exclusions

This SLA is written in a spirit of partnership. h2o digital will always do everything possible to rectify every issue in a timely manner.

However, there are a few exclusions. Our SLA does not apply to:

  • Any equipment, software, services or other parts of the system that is not listed above
  • Software, equipment or services not purchased via and managed by h2o
  • The use of h2o email hosting services which are hosted on h2o web servers. These services are provided free of charge (FOC), so do not carry an SLA.
  • The use of Microsoft Office 365 email systems, where the client has a direct relationship with Microsoft. h2o may often aid in the set up of Office 365 and is paid for by the client directly to Microsoft – any SLA in this scenario is between the client and Microsoft.

Additionally, our SLA does not apply:

  • The problem has been caused by using equipment, software or services in a way that is not recommended
  • The client has made unauthorised changes to the configuration or set up of affected equipment, software or services
  • The client has prevented the supplier from performing required maintenance
  • The issue has been caused by unsupported equipment, software or other services
  • The configuration of any client software, including web browsers and email clients.

Our SLA does not apply in circumstances that could be reasonably said to be beyond h2o’s control. For instance: floods, war, acts of god and so on.

Our SLA also does not apply if the client is in breach of its contract with the supplier for any reason (e.g. late payment of fees).

Having said all that, h2o digital aims to be helpful and accommodating at all times, and will do its absolute best to assist our clients wherever possible.

h2o responsibilities

h2o digital will provide and maintain h2o digital systems used by the client.

Additionally, h2o digital will:

  • Ensure relevant software, services and equipment are available to the client in line with the uptime levels listed above
  • Respond to support requests within agreed timescales
  • Take steps to escalate and resolve issues in an appropriate, timely manner.
  • Maintain good communication with the client at all times.

Client responsibilities

The client will use h2o digital provided systems as intended.

Additionally, the client will:

  • Notify h2o digital of issues or problems in a timely manner
  • Provide the supplier with access to equipment, software and services for the purposes of maintenance, updates and fault prevention
  • Maintain good communication with the supplier at all times.

Credit Requests

To receive an SLA credit please email us within 10 days of the outage. Please include all dates and times of unavailability. Once a request has been verified we will credit your account within 7 days.

April 2018