DMEHosting Budget Servers Service Level Agreement (SLA)

DMEHosting 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 DMEHosting network. The DMEHosting Service Level Agreement (SLA) guarantees our network/equipment reliability and performance. This Service Level Agreement (SLA) applies to customers of DMEHosting who have a Budget Server. This SLA is not to be applied to the Unmetered Servers located in Chicago, IL USA.

Uptime Guarantee:
DMEHosting strives to maintain a 99.5% network and server uptime service level. This uptime percentage is a monthly figure, and is is calculated solely by DMEHosting monitoring systems or DMEHosting authorized/contracted outside monitoring services. If DMEHosting fails to meet it's 99.5% 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. DMEHosting does not credit a full month's service for minor downtime. This would not be financially healthy for DMEHosting, and in turn would only negatively affect the service level DMEHosting provides to you. "Partial refunds for partial downtime" is our standard policy. In extreme circumstances, DMEHosting 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 DMEHosting 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

* Hardware failure (faulty hardware is rare, but cannot be predicted nor avoided). DMEHosting utilizes only name brand hardware of the highest quality and performance.

* Software bugs/flaws (Expolits and bugs may develop that cause security issues or downtime)

* DNS issues not within the direct control of DMEHosting

* Network floods, hacks, attacks from outside parties or individuals

* Failure or error of any DMEHosting monitoring or measurement system

* Client’s acts or omissions, including without limitation, any negligence, willful misconduct, or use of DMEHosting service(s) in breach of DMEHosting Policy and Service Guidelines (AUP), by Client or others authorized by Client.

Connectivity:
DMEHosting goal is to make the DMEHosting network available to Client free of outages for 99.5% of the time. An "outage” is defined as an instance in which Client is unable to transmit and receive IP packets due to a DMEHosting service failure for more than 15 consecutive minutes, excluding service failures relating to DMEHosting scheduled maintenance and upgrades. The DMEHosting network does not include client premises equipment or any Telco access facilities connecting Client's premises to such infrastructure. DMEHosting goal is to keep Average Round-Trip Latency on the DMEHosting network to 85 milliseconds or less. DMEHosting defines “Average Round-Trip Latency”, with respect to a given month, as the average time required for round-trip packet transfers between the DMEHosting network and major US backbone peering points during such month, as measured by DMEHosting. DMEHosting goal is to keep Average Packet Loss on the DMEHosting network to 1% or less. DMEHosting defines “Average Packet Loss”, with respect to a given month, as the average percentage of IP packets transmitted on the DMEHosting network during such month that are not successfully delivered, as measured by DMEHosting.

Measurement:
DMEHosting will periodically (on average every 5 minutes) monitor DMEHosting 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 DMEHosting network but not other networks to which Client may connect. DMEHosting 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 DMEHosting and made available to Client.

Hardware Failure:
DMEHosting stands behind all equipment on our network. Faulty hardware is rare, but cannot be predicted nor avoided. DMEHosting utilizes only name brand hardware of the highest quality and perfomance. DMEHosting 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 DMEHosting contracts with Cisco™ and backbone providers in regard to the emergency repair service in case of such an issue. DMEHosting will replace all faulty hardware on dedicated servers (rented or leased servers), at no charge to the Client, with an unlimited free replacement policy. This includes parts ordered as upgrades. DMEHosting will replace all faulty hardware on all non-purchased dedicated and wireless access customer premise equipment, at no charge to the Client, unless equipment has been tampered with, or damage is caused by direct neglect/action(s) of Client.

Credits:
Credit requests must be made on the DMEHosting web site, by filling out the "Service Level Agreement (SLA) Request" form. Each request in connection with network/server outages/downtime must be received by DMEHosting 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 DMEHosting within five days after the end of such month. The total amount credited to a Client for DMEHosting not meeting SLA service levels will not exceed the service fees paid by Client DMEHosting for such services for the period in question. Each validly requested credit will be applied to a Client invoice within 30 days after DMEHosting receipt of such request. Credits are exclusive of any applicable taxes charged to Client or collected by DMEHosting. Upon Client’s request (in accordance with the procedure set forth below), DMEHosting will issue a credit to Client for network/server outages/downtime occurring during any calendar month that are reported by Client to DMEHosting and confirmed by DMEHosting measurement reporting. Such credit will be equal to one day’s worth (1/30th) of the monthly fees paid by Client, (for all service fees paid if network outage, or specific affected service fees paid if individual server downtime) multiplied by each hour (or portion thereof rounded to nearest next hour) of the cumulative duration of such outage/downtime. If Average Round-Trip Latency on the DMEHosting network for a calendar month exceeds 85 milliseconds, then upon Client's request, DMEHosting will issue a credit to Client equal to six day's worth (1/5th) of the monthly service fees paid by Client for such month. If Average Packet Loss exceeds 1% during a calendar month, then upon Client’s request, DMEHosting will issue a credit to Client equal to six day's worth (1/5th) of the monthly service fees paid by Client for such month.

General:
DMEHosting 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, DMEHosting makes no claims regarding the availability or performance of the DMEHosting 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.