What is a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for web hosting?
You probably know that a Service Level Agreement (SLA) is extremely important when choosing a web hosting provider, but if you’re not entirely sure what a web hosting SLA is, this guide is for you.
While good old word of mouth still plays a role in marketing, it can only take your business so far these days. Sooner or later you will find that the lack of an online presence can significantly cripple your business and stagnate its growth.
So whether you want to take your business online, move from a brick-and-mortar store to an ecommerce platform, or bring your blogging project to life – you’ll need to choose a web hosting service and make sure it’s a solid one.
This is where Service Level Agreements come into play.
Before selecting one web hosting provider over another, check a few things first, including service reliability, uptime score, features, security, and customer support.
It is wise to consider whether any of these sections are supported by an SLA, which will help ensure performance. But first, let’s clarify what that is and why you should worry about it.
What is a Service Level Agreement (SLA)?
SLA, short for Service Level Agreement, is a type of contract that takes place between two parties and in most cases this is a customer and a service provider.
This contract defines the level of service expected to be provided by a service provider to a customer and often includes multiple metrics against which the service is measured, as well as remedies or penalties in case the service is not at the appropriate level.
This allows a customer to be assured that they will receive the service they signed up for, or some type of compensation if the service is unsatisfactory.
For example, a web hosting company promises 99.9% network availability per year, specific response times, and site loading speed. However, this agreement may also include customer support, specific levels of support, and promising priority to premium customers.
More often than not, an SLA will be part of the terms of service or as part of the same section, so make sure you read it before subscribing to a service.
What about network SLA exclusions?
In the simplest terms, SLA exclusions are one-off cases where the agreement does not apply. Network SLA exclusions are therefore specific exclusions related to network availability.
This allows web hosting providers to avoid the occasional event of network unavailability, such as scheduled maintenance for hardware/software upgrades.
In addition, these exclusions may take effect in the event of acts of God or events beyond reasonable control, such as acts of war, insurrection, labor strikes, riots and pandemics such as Covid-19.
Important parts of an SLA
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) in web hosting is a formal contract that sets out the expected service levels between the hosting provider and the customer. These are the essential components:
Service overview
The foundation of any hosting SLA starts with a comprehensive service overview that clearly identifies all parties involved and outlines the scope of services. This section sets out the basic expectations and responsibilities of both the provider and the customer, including the specific services covered by the agreement and the duration of the contract.
Performance Guarantee
At the heart of any hosting SLA is the uptime guarantee, typically promised at 99.9% or higher, which guarantees website availability. This section also defines crucial performance metrics such as server response times and load capacity. These metrics are carefully measured and monitored to ensure compliance with agreed standards.
Support fame work
Technical support is a critical part of the SLA and describes the availability of assistance channels, including telephone support, email and ticketing systems. The agreement specifies response time commitments for varying severity levels of issues and outlines escalation procedures for unresolved issues.
Security infrastructure commitments
The security framework within an SLA includes data protection measures, encryption standards and infrastructure specifications. This section typically describes backup procedures, disaster recovery protocols, and data center specifications to ensure robust service delivery and data protection.
Compensation structure
When service levels do not meet the guaranteed standards, the SLA contains clear compensation terms. This usually takes the form of service credits or financial compensation, calculated based on the duration and severity of the service disruptions. The agreement must clearly state how these credits are calculated and applied.
Exclusions
The SLA should cover planned maintenance windows and clearly define what is outside the scope of the agreement. This includes circumstances beyond the provider’s control, such as cases of force majeure or issues arising from changes on the customer side. Regular review periods are typically built into the agreement to ensure it remains relevant and effective over time.
Why should you worry about SLA?
It doesn’t matter whether you are a customer or a service provider, both parties will certainly benefit from an SLA. This is because the clauses in an SLA will serve as evidence of any terms that the two parties agreed to before completing the sign-up process. This way, if either party violates or deliberately ignores the stated terms, the other party has the legal right to take action to correct the mistake.
This is especially important when choosing a web hosting provider, as an SLA should include crucial information about the hosting resources you are going to get, such as storage space, bandwidth, RAM, and number of CPUs.
It should also state the service time period, response time, and time frame for troubleshooting. For example, if you report an issue with your service to the provider’s technical team, an SLA specifies how long you will have to wait before receiving a response.
In addition to reading an SLA carefully, you should pay special attention to the fine print, as this is something that can make or break a deal for you. Usually an SLA sounds too good to be true until you read the fine print.
Additionally, as you thoroughly review each point of an SLA, you’ll want to have a clear idea of the value for money you’ll get from a web hosting provider of your choice.
Let’s take Liquid Web as an example of this: yes, they seem quite pricey at first, but when you look at the level of service you get with them, the price will look quite reasonable. Liquid Web guarantees 100% network uptime and this guarantee ensures that the most important routing devices within their network are always reachable. If Liquid Web does not meet this SLA, the dedicated hosting customer will receive a credit for double the amount of downtime. So if you had one hour of downtime, that means you get 10 hours of credit.
On the other hand, most web hosting providers (such as Scala Hosting) offer a standard uptime guarantee of so-called three-nines – that is 99.9% of uptime. And then there are providers like iPage who boast that they have a 99.9% uptime guarantee, but do not support this with an SLA and do not offer any compensation.
So when looking for a web hosting provider, don’t forget to carefully study an SLA and pay special attention to the fine print.
The importance of a good SLA when choosing a web hosting service
An SLA can tell you a lot about a company and its attitude towards its customers: are they customer-oriented, product-oriented or do they lie somewhere in between? It also shows whether a web hosting provider takes its business seriously, as an SLA is a prerequisite for professionalism.
In addition to showing commitment to your customers, SLAs show you what exactly you can expect from the web hosting provider, thus avoiding any misunderstandings.
Furthermore, by specifying all Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), the agreement sets expectations about the provider’s performance. It will help customers choose the right provider while helping the provider stay focused on customer satisfaction and maintain its services.
What happens if a web host violates the SLA?
When a web hosting provider violates its Service Level Agreement (SLA), several consequences come into play. A violation occurs if the provider fails to meet promised service levels, for example if it falls below the guaranteed uptime percentage or does not respond to support tickets within the agreed time.
The most direct consequence is usually financial compensation for the customer. This usually takes the form of service credits or refunds, which are calculated based on the severity and duration of the violation.
For example, if a website experiences downtime beyond the guaranteed uptime percentage, the provider may offer a prorated refund or credit a percentage of the monthly hosting fee.
In addition to the immediate financial consequences, SLA violations can have serious consequences for the hosting provider’s reputation and customer relationships.
The provider is expected to communicate transparently about the violation, explain the cause and present a clear plan to prevent similar problems in the future.
If violations become frequent or severe, customers may have the right to terminate their contract without penalties, and the provider may be able to take legal action if the SLA is legally binding.
Check for an SLA before signing up for a web hosting service
Because an SLA contains all the critical information about the usage and amount of hosting resources, it is one of the first things you should consider when choosing a web hosting provider.
It covers not only the service period, but also the reliability of that service, the uptime guarantee, compensations, response time, and the time frame for troubleshooting.
So, before signing up with a web hosting provider, you should dive deep into their Service Level Agreement.