Service Level Agreement

AppStarConsulting 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 network. The Service Level Agreement (SLA) guarantees our network/equipment reliability and performance. This Service Level Agreement (SLA) applies to customers of AppStarConsulting web hosting services.

Uptime Guarantee:
We strive to maintain a 99.5% network and server uptime service level. This uptime percentage is a monthly figure, and is is calculated solely by monitoring systems or authorized/contracted outside monitoring services. If we fail to meet our 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. We do not credit a full month's service for minor downtime. "Partial refunds for partial downtime" is our standard policy. In extreme circumstances, we 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 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 AppStarConsulting
• Client's acts or omissions, including without limitation, any negligence, willful misconduct, or use of our service(s) in breach of our Policy and Service Guidelines by Client or others authorized by Client.

Connectivity:
Our goal is to make the 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 hosting server service failure for more than 15 consecutive minutes, excluding service failures relating to scheduled maintenance and upgrades. The network does not include client premises equipment or any Telco access facilities connecting Client's premises to such infrastructure. Our goal is to keep Average Round-Trip Latency on the network to 85 milliseconds or less. We define "Average Round-Trip Latency", with respect to a given month, as the average time required for round-trip packet transfers between the network and major US backbone peering points during such month. Our goal is to keep Average Packet Loss on the network to 1% or less. We define "Average Packet Loss", with respect to a given month, as the average percentage of IP packets transmitted on the network during such month that are not successfully delivered.

Measurement:
The network will periodically (on average every 10 minutes) be monitored for 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 network but not other networks to which Client may connect. We reserve the right to periodically change the measurement points and methodologies we use without notice to Client. Full network and server reporting will be posted to a location designated by us and made available to Client.

Hardware Failure:
The hosting facility sands behind all equipment on the network. Faulty hardware is rare, but cannot be predicted nor avoided. The hosting facility utilizes only name brand hardware of the highest quality and perfomance. The hosting facility 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 contracts with Cisco™ and backbone providers in regard to the emergency repair service in case of such an issue. The hosting facility 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.

Credits:
Credit requests must be made by emailing to info@appstarconsulting.com. Each request in connection with network/server outages/downtime must be received 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 within five days after the end of such month. The total amount credited to a Client for not meeting SLA service levels will not exceed the service fees paid by Client for such services for the period in question. Each validly requested credit will be applied to a Client invoice within 30 days after receipt of such request. Credits are exclusive of any applicable taxes charged to Client or collected by AppStarConsluting. Upon Client's request (in accordance with the procedure set forth below), we will issue a credit to Client for network/server outages/downtime occurring during any calendar month that are reported by Client and confirmed measurement reporting. Such credit will be equal to one MONTH's worth of service. If Average Round-Trip Latency on the network for a calendar month exceeds 85 milliseconds, then upon Client's request, we 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, we will issue a credit to Client equal to one MONTH's worth of service.

Account cancellations
Your account can be cancelled ONLY by submitting a cancellation request by emailing us. Once received and validated the account will be cancelled within 60 minutes.

General:
AppStarConsulting 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, we make no claims regarding the availability or performance of the 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.