Virtual Private Server (VPS) Services Addendum

Legal Counsel's Note

This is one of your most crucial customer-facing documents. The key sections are designed to mitigate your highest-risk areas. Section 2 clearly defines the 99.5% Uptime SLA, its compensation tiers, and—most importantly—the exclusions. Explicitly excluding scheduled maintenance and customer-caused errors is vital. Section 3 is paramount; it places the ultimate responsibility for data backup squarely on the customer. While you may offer a backup service, framing it as a "best-effort" convenience without warranty is a critical liability shield against data loss claims. This clause alone can prevent significant legal and financial exposure.

Last Updated: [September 8, 2025]

This Virtual Private Server (VPS) Services Addendum (the "Addendum") applies to all customers who order VPS services from NCSE NETWORK LTD ("NCSE"). This Addendum supplements the NCSE Master Terms of Service, and together they form the complete service agreement. In the event of any conflict between this Addendum and the Master Terms of Service, the terms of this Addendum shall prevail.

1. Definition of Service

1.1. The Virtual Private Server (VPS) service (the "Service") consists of an isolated execution environment created through virtualization technology on a physical server. This environment is allocated its own dedicated operating system, CPU cores, memory, storage space, and network resources.

1.2. Resource Specifications: The specific resources available to the Customer (e.g., number of CPU cores, amount of RAM, storage capacity, monthly data transfer allowance) are defined by the plan specifications listed on the order page. The Customer agrees not to overuse or abuse the allocated resources in any way.

2. Service Level Agreement (SLA)

2.1. Host Uptime: NCSE provides a 99.5% host uptime guarantee. Uptime is calculated based on the availability of the host node and its network connectivity.

2.2. SLA Compensation: If the service uptime falls below 99.5% in any given billing month, the Customer is eligible to request a Service Credit to be applied to their next invoice, according to the following tiers:

*   **99.49% to 95.00%:** **10%** of the monthly service fee.
*   **94.99% to 90.00%:** **30%** of the monthly service fee.
*   **89.99% to 80.00%:** **50%** of the monthly service fee.
*   **Below 80.00%:** **100%** of the monthly service fee.

2.3. Credit Request Procedure: The Customer must request SLA compensation by submitting a support ticket through the client portal within seven (7) days of the downtime event. The request must include relevant supporting evidence.

2.4. SLA Exclusions: The following are not counted as downtime and are not eligible for SLA compensation:

*   **Scheduled Maintenance:** Maintenance windows for which NCSE has provided prior notice.
*   **Customer Actions:** Service interruptions caused by the Customer's misconfiguration, application failures, or violations of the AUP.
*   **Third-Party Factors:** Events outside of NCSE's reasonable control, such as DDoS attacks, major internet backbone outages, or Force Majeure events.

3. Backup and Data Responsibility

3.1. Customer Responsibility: THE CUSTOMER IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INTEGRITY AND SECURITY OF ALL DATA (CUSTOMER CONTENT) WITHIN THEIR VPS AND MUST ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN THEIR OWN INDEPENDENT, OFF-SITE BACKUP STRATEGY.

3.2. NCSE's Backup Service: If NCSE offers an automated backup service as an add-on or included feature, this service is provided on a "best-effort" basis and comes with no guarantee of data integrity. NCSE shall not be liable for any loss resulting from backup failure, or from corrupt or incomplete backup data. We strongly advise customers not to rely on this as their sole source of backups.

4. Software Licensing and Responsibility

4.1. Operating System and Software: The Customer is solely responsible for the legality, licensing, and security of all software installed and used within the VPS, including the operating system and any third-party applications.

4.2. Security Updates: The Customer is responsible for promptly applying security patches to their operating system and applications to mitigate potential security risks. If NCSE provides a "Managed" service, this responsibility may fall to NCSE, the scope of which will be defined separately.