Introduction

Tornado Computer 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 Tornado Computer network. The Tornado Computer Service Level Agreement (SLA) guarantees our network/equipment reliability and performance. This Service Level Agreement (SLA) applies to customers of Tornado Computer web hosting, reseller, dedicated server, co-location, e-commerce, and dedicated access services

Uptime Guarantee

Tornado Computer strives to maintain a 99.5% network and server uptime service level. This uptime percentage is a monthly figure, and is calculated solely by Tornado Computer monitoring systems or Tornado Computer authorized/contracted outside monitoring services. If Tornado Computer 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. Tornado Computer does not credit a full month's service for minor downtime. This would not be financially healthy for Tornado Computer, and in turn would only negatively affect the service level Tornado Computer provides to you. "Partial refunds for partial downtime" is our standard policy. In extreme circumstances, Tornado Computer 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 Tornado Computer 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, 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). Tornado Computer only utilizes only name brand hardware of the highest quality and performance.
* Software bugs/flaws (Exploits and bugs may develop that cause security issues or downtime)
* DNS issues not within the direct control of Tornado Computer
* Network floods, hacks, attacks from outside parties or individuals
* Failure or error of any Tornado Computer's monitoring or measurement system
* Client's acts or omissions, including without limitation, any negligence, willful misconduct, or use of Tornado Computer's service(s) in breach of Tornado Computer's Policy and Service Guidelines (AUP), by Client or others authorized by Client

Connectivity

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

Measurement

Tornado Computer will periodically (on average every 15 minutes) monitor Tornado Computer 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 Tornado Computer's network but not other networks to which Client may connect. Tornado Computer reserves the right to periodically change the measurement points and methodologies it uses without notice to Client

Backup Policy

As a courtesy, Tornado Computer provides a backup service on shared hosting accounts. You can request our administrators to run a backup of your site or any files for a one-time charge. Although Tornado Computer tries to ensure these backups are complete and accurate, we cannot guarantee data integrity. It is possible that a site and/or file may not be able to be restored incase of a server crash.

We will restore data from our backups in case server trouble arises, but we do not perform restores to fix customer errors. If you accidentally delete a file or damage your website data, we are in no way responsible for this. If you need us to restore data from an incident such as that when it wasn't our fault, we will have to charge a reasonable fee to do so, depending on the complexity of the restore.

Tornado Computer recommends that the customer periodically and frequently backup their site to their local computer. On most accounts there is a backup manager that can assist you in this process.

A backup may not be included with a dedicated server type plan. We recommend that dedicated server customers purchase a backup option to protect data. Even with a backup plan, Tornado Computer recommends that customer still maintain offsite backups since even backup services have a risk of failure

Hardware Failure

Tornado Computer's stands behind all equipment on our network. Faulty hardware is rare, but cannot be predicted nor avoided. Tornado Computer utilizes only name brand hardware of the highest quality and performance. Tornado Computer 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. Tornado Computer will replace all faulty hardware on dedicated servers (rented or leased servers), at no charge to the Client (except if it is due to customer abuse such as excessive reboots), with an unlimited free replacement policy. This includes parts ordered as upgrades

Credits

Credit requests must be made on the Tornado Computer web site, by contacting our Billing Department. Each request in connection with network/server outages/downtime must be received by Tornado Computer within five days of the occurrence. Each request in connection with Average Round-Trip Latency or Average Packet Loss in a calendar month must be received by Tornado Computer within five days after the end of such month. The total amount credited to a Client for Tornado Computer not meeting SLA service levels will not exceed the service fees paid by Client Tornado Computer for such services for the period in question. Each validly requested credit will be applied to a Client invoice within 30 days after Tornado Computer receipt of such request. Credits are exclusive of any applicable taxes charged to Client or collected by Tornado Computer. Upon Client's request (in accordance with the procedure set forth below), Tornado Computer will issue a credit to Client for network/server outages/downtime occurring during any calendar month that are reported by Client to Tornado Computer and confirmed by Tornado Computer 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 network for a calendar month exceeds 85 milliseconds, then upon Client's request, Tornado Computer 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, Tornado Computer 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

Tornado Computer 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, Tornado Computer makes no claims regarding the availability or performance of the Tornado Computer's 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