Service Level Agreement – Artefact Associates SLA

Artefact Associates  is proud to offer an exceptional level of performance, reliability, and service. That is why we are making commitments to our customers in the form of a Service Level Agreement (SLA) which provides certain rights and remedies regarding the performance of the Artefact Associates network. The Artefact Associates  Service Level Agreement (SLA) guarantees our network/equipment reliability and performance. This Service Level Agreement (SLA) applies to customers of Artefact Associates web hosting, reseller, dedicated server, co-location, e-commerce, and dial-up/dedicated access services.
 
Uptime Guarantee:
Artefact Associates  strives to maintain a 99.9% network and server uptime service level. This uptime percentage is a monthly figure, and is is calculated solely by Artefact Associates monitoring systems or Artefact Associates  authorized/contracted outside monitoring services. If  Artefact Associates fails to meet it’s 99.9% uptime guarantee, and it is not due to one of the exceptions below, credits will be made available to each client, upon request, on a case by case basis. Artefact Associates  does not credit a full month’s service for minor downtime. This would not be financially healthy for Artefact Associates, and in turn would only negatively affect the service level Artefact Associates  provides to you. “Partial refunds for partial downtime” is our standard policy. In extreme circumstances, Artefact Associates  may distribute full month credits, but this is dealt with on a case by case basis. Details on how credit amounts are calculated can be found below.
 
Exceptions:
Customer shall not receive any credits under this SLA in connection with any failure or deficiency of the Artefact Associates  network caused by or associated with:
”    Circumstances beyond reasonable control, including, without limitation, acts of any governmental body, war, insurrection, sabotage, embargo, “Acts of God” (ie…fire, flood, earthquake, tornado, etc…), strike or other labor disturbance, interruption of or delay in transportation, unavailability of or interruption or delay in telecommunications or third party services, failure of third party software or inability to obtain raw materials, supplies, or power used in or equipment needed for provision of the Service Level Agreement
”    Telco Failure (ie…Verizon™ cutting a fiber line somewhere)
”    Backbone peering point issues (ie…UUnet™ having a router go down in Virginia that wipes out internet service for the entire East Coast)
”    Scheduled maintenance for hardware/software upgrades
”    DNS issues not within the direct control of Artefact Associates
”    Client’s acts or omissions, including without limitation, any negligence, willful misconduct, or use of Artefact Associates  service(s) in breach of Artefact Associates Policy and Service Guidelines (AUP), by Client or others authorized by Client.
 
Connectivity:
Artefact Associates  goal is to make the Artefact Associates  network available to Client free of outages for 99.9% of the time. An “outage” is defined as an instance in which Client is unable to transmit and receive IP packets due to a Artefact Associates  service failure for more than 15 consecutive minutes, excluding service failures relating to Artefact Associates scheduled maintenance and upgrades. The Artefact Associates  network does not include client premises equipment or any Telco access facilities connecting Client’s premises to such infrastructure. Artefact Associates  goal is to keep Average Round-Trip Latency on the Artefact Associates  network to 85 milliseconds or less. Artefact Associates  defines “Average Round-Trip Latency”, with respect to a given month, as the average time required for round-trip packet transfers between the Artefact Associates  network and major US backbone peering points during such month, as measured by Artefact Associates. Artefact Associates goal is to keep Average Packet Loss on the Artefact Associates  network to 1% or less. Artefact Associates  defines “Average Packet Loss”, with respect to a given month, as the average percentage of IP packets transmitted on the Artefact Associates  network during such month that are not successfully delivered, as measured by Artefact Associates.
 
Measurement:
Artefact Associates  will periodically (on average every 10 minutes) monitor Artefact Associates  network and server availability using software and hardware components capable of measuring application traffic and responses. Client acknowledges that that such measurements may not measure the exact path traversed by Client’s internet connection, and that such measurements constitute measurements across the Artefact Associates  network but not other networks to which Client may connect. Artefact Associates  reserves the right to periodically change the measurement points and methodologies it uses without notice to Client. Full network and server reporting will be posted to a location designated by Artefact Associates  and made available to Client.
 
Hardware Failure:
Artefact Associates  stands behind all equipment on our network. Faulty hardware is rare, but cannot be predicted nor avoided. Artefact Associates  utilizes only name brand hardware of the highest quality and perfomance. Artefact Associates  will replace all faulty hardware affecting performance levels of equipment within 48 hours, which includes hardware issues that cause server crashes or speed issues. Hardware failure resulting in complete network/server outage/downtime will be corrected within two hours of problem identification. Router failure is an exception to this SLA guarantee, and may require on-site Cisco™ engineers or backbone provider emergency personnel to correct the problem. Router failure is governed by current Artefact Associates  contracts with Cisco™ and backbone providers in regard to the emergency repair service in case of such an issue. Artefact Associates will replace all faulty hardware on dedicated servers or managed vps (rented or leased servers), at no charge to the Client, with an unlimited free replacement policy. This includes parts ordered as upgrades.
 
Credits:
Credit requests must be made on the Artefact Associates  web site, by emailing to billing@artefactbd.com. Each request in connection with network/server outages/downtime must be received by Artefact Associates  within five days of the occurance. Each request in connection with Average Round-Trip Latency or Average Packet Loss in a calendar month must be received by Artefact Associates  within five days after the end of such month. The total amount credited to a Client for Artefact Associates  not meeting SLA service levels will not exceed the service fees paid by Client Artefact Associates  for such services for the period in question. Each validly requested credit will be applied to a Client invoice within 30 days after Artefact Associates  receipt of such request. Credits are exclusive of any applicable taxes charged to Client or collected by Artefact Associates. Upon Client’s request (in accordance with the procedure set forth below), Artefact Associates will issue a credit to Client for network/server outages/downtime occurring during any calendar month that are reported by Client to Artefact Associates  and confirmed by Artefact Associates  measurement reporting. Such credit will be equal to one MONTH’s worth of service. If Average Round-Trip Latency on the Artefact Associates  network for a calendar month exceeds 85 milliseconds, then upon Client’s request, Artefact Associates  will issue a credit to Client equal to one MONTH’s worth of service. If Average Packet Loss exceeds 1% during a calendar month, then upon Client’s request, Artefact Associates  will issue a credit to Client equal to one MONTH’s worth of service.
 
 
 
General:
Artefact Associates  reserves the right to change or modify this SLA to benefit the Client, and will post changes to location currently housing this SLA at time of modification, which will be made available to Client. Except as set forth in this SLA, Artefact Associates  makes no claims regarding the availability or performance of the Artefact Associates  network or servers. Specific terms/points of this SLA may be adjusted on a case by case basis by the specific Service Agreement signed/agreed by client. In case of difference terms/points in SLA and Service Agreement, the Service Agreement terms/points prevail over this general SLA policy. The Service Agreement signed/agreed by client, is above and beyond this SLA, and Service Agreement terms are in affect, including, but not limited to, limitations of liability.