Service Level Agreement (SLA)

01Purpose and scope

Operator: the administration of the CastShield project (the “Operator”, “we”). Contact details are set out in the “Contacts” section.

This SLA defines the target availability level of the Service, the procedure for measuring it, the support conditions and the compensation (service credits) applicable where the targets are not met.

The SLA applies to the Client only in respect of those Plans for which it is expressly stated to apply. For Plans where no SLA is stated, the Service is provided “as is” without availability targets.

In the event of a conflict between the SLA and the Terms of Service regarding service levels, the SLA prevails; in all other respects the Terms of Service apply.

02Terms and definitions

• “Availability” (Uptime) — the share of the Billing period during which the Service operates in accordance with this SLA, expressed as a percentage.
• “Downtime” — a continuous period during which the Service is unavailable for a reason within the Operator’s area of responsibility and not falling within the exclusions in the “Exclusions from the calculation” section.
• “Billing period” — the calendar month for which the actual Availability level is calculated.
• “Scheduled maintenance” — pre-announced technical maintenance of the Service carried out within a maintenance window.
• “Incident” — an event that causes unavailability or material degradation of the Service, recorded by the Operator’s monitoring points or confirmed by a Client request.
• “Response time” — the target interval between the registration of a Client request (or Incident) and the first substantive response from the Operator’s support team. Response time is not the same as resolution time.
• “Service credit” — compensation credited to the balance of the Client’s Account where the target Availability level is not met, expressed as a percentage of the fee for the Billing period.

03Target availability level

The Operator aims to ensure a target Availability level of at least 99.9% per Billing period (calendar month) for Plans to which the SLA applies.

Calculation formula: Availability = (Total time of the Billing period − Downtime − Excluded time) ÷ (Total time of the Billing period − Excluded time) × 100%. “Excluded time” means the periods listed in the “Exclusions from the calculation” section.

The specific target Availability value for each Plan is stated in the Plan description; where no explicit value is given, the 99.9% benchmark applies.

04Measurement methodology

Availability is measured using the Operator’s monitoring tools (monitoring points) that are independent of the Client’s protected infrastructure. The Operator’s monitoring data is the primary source for calculating Availability.

Downtime of the edge filter means: the inability to establish a connection to the Service’s entry point (the edge filter) for normal game traffic for a reason within the Operator’s area of responsibility, while the Client’s backend server is operational.

Downtime of the control panel means: the unavailability of the web control panel and/or the configuration management API for a reason within the Operator’s area of responsibility. Unavailability of the panel does not affect the passage of game traffic through the edge filter and is accounted for separately.

Brief unavailability lasting less than 2 consecutive minutes may not be counted as Downtime. Rounding and aggregation of measurements are performed by the Operator.

05Exclusions from the calculation

Periods of unavailability or degradation of the Service caused by, in particular, the following are excluded from the calculation of Availability and Downtime:

• force majeure: natural disasters, accidents, military action, acts of authorities and other events beyond the Operator’s reasonable control;
• a DDoS attack whose volume or intensity exceeds the protected bandwidth or the capacity provided by the selected Plan;
• Scheduled maintenance carried out with notice in accordance with the relevant section;
• the acts or omissions of the Client, misconfiguration on the Client’s part, the failure of the Client’s backend server or of the hosting on which the Protected server is located;
• failures of third-party networks, providers, telecom operators, DNS, payment and other external services not under the Operator’s control;
• suspension or restriction of access due to the Client’s breach of the Terms of Service, non-payment of the Plan or as required by law.

06Scheduled maintenance

The Operator may carry out Scheduled maintenance to service, update and develop the Service. Where possible, such work is planned for the period of lowest load (the maintenance window).

The Operator notifies the Client of Scheduled maintenance at least 24 hours before it begins — via the website, the control panel and/or by email. The duration of the maintenance window is stated in the notice.

Emergency maintenance to address security threats or critical failures may be carried out without prior notice; the Operator endeavours to notify the Client within a reasonable time. The time of Scheduled and emergency maintenance carried out in accordance with this section is excluded from the Availability calculation.

07Support and response time

Support is provided by email at abuse@castgame.net and/or through other channels stated on the website or in the control panel. Requests are registered as of the moment they are received by the Operator.

Target response time by severity level: critical (the Service is fully unavailable) — 1 hour; high (material degradation, partial unavailability) — 4 hours; normal (questions, change requests, non-critical defects) — 1 business day.

The severity level of a request is initially set by the Client and may be adjusted by the Operator based on the actual impact on the Service. Response time is calculated within the support hours stated for the relevant Plan.

08Service credits and compensation

If the actual Availability level for a Billing period falls below the target, the Client may request a service credit of 10% of the fee for the relevant Billing period (a tiered credit scale may apply depending on the size of the shortfall: 10% where Availability is below 99.9%, 25% below 99.0%, 50% below 95.0%).

The service credit is added to the balance of the Client’s Account and may be used to pay for the Service in future periods. The credit is not paid out in money, is not cashable and is not transferable to third parties.

The service credit is the Client’s sole and exclusive remedy in connection with any failure to meet the Availability targets.

The aggregate amount of service credits for a single Billing period may not exceed 50% of the fee for that period (the overall cap). Credits are not granted for periods excluded under the “Exclusions from the calculation” section, nor for Plans to which the SLA does not apply.

09Procedure for requesting compensation

To obtain a service credit, the Client sends a request to abuse@castgame.net within 30 days of the end of the Billing period in which the Client believes the target Availability level was not met. Requests submitted after this deadline may not be considered.

The request must include: the identifier of the Account and the affected Plan/Protected server; the dates and time intervals of the alleged Downtime (with the time zone); a description of the impact on the Service; and, where available, logs, screenshots and the Client’s own monitoring data.

The Operator reviews the request, comparing it with its own monitoring data. In the event of discrepancies, the Operator’s data prevails. Following the review, the Operator either grants the service credit or refuses it with reasons.

10SLA limitations

The SLA does not apply to free and trial Plans, nor to test, demonstration and preview (beta) features of the Service.

Protection against DDoS attacks, bots, spam and cheats is a “speed-bump” measure provided on a best-effort basis. The SLA does not guarantee absolute invulnerability of Protected servers and does not cover attacks whose volume exceeds the protected bandwidth or the capacity of the Plan.

The SLA does not extend the Operator’s liability beyond the limits set out in the Terms of Service. Service credits are the only form of compensation under this SLA.

11Changes to the SLA

The Operator may amend this SLA, including the targets and the amounts of service credits. The current version and the date of the last update are stated on this page. Continued use of the Service after the changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated version of the SLA.

This SLA is an addendum to the Terms of Service and applies together with it.

12Contacts

Operator: the administration of the CastShield project.

Email for SLA claims and enquiries: abuse@castgame.net.