Web Hosting - Terms and Conditions Print

These Terms and Conditions, together with any Application Forms, Quotations, SLAs, Schedules and/or Annexures, constitute the entire agreement (“The Agreement”) between you (“The Customer”) and Web Squad Connect Pty Ltd (“Web Squad”), Reg. Number: K2016/056869/07.

The Agreement shall commence on the Commencement Date as stipulated in the Application Form, and shall, unless otherwise provided for, remain in force unless and until terminated in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement. It is recorded herein that the Internet Services provided by Web Squad for access to the Internet shall be subject to the terms and conditions as set out in this Agreement, the Customer’s agreed Service SLA and furthermore subject to Telkom's Standard Conditions for Public Switched Telecommunication Services, as amended from time to time, which is incorporated herein. The Customer shall obtain a copy of such terms and conditions, which is available upon request. The Customer shall obtain a copy of the appropriate Service SLA on request or from www.websquad.co.za/legal.

1. Hosting services.

1. Web Squad Connect does NOT provide SMTP mail services by default with shared hosting packages.
2. Web Squad Connect reserves the right to suggest suitable alternatives to the client and / or charge for excessive traffic or system resources as it deems necessary, at its sole discretion. Excessive traffic or use of system resources will be determined as set out in the Acceptable Use Policy.
3. Web Squad Connect reserves the right to move a website between web servers and Internet backbones, both within South Africa and internationally as it deems necessary. If a client moves in excess of their monthly web traffic allocation, then the client will be contacted and various options will be presented.
4. Web Squad Connect reserves the right (but does not assume any obligation) to inspect the contents of data that the client transmits, receives or stores on an Web Squad Connect server to ensure compliance with this agreement, Web Squad Connect’s AUP, or any applicable laws, regulations or codes of practice.
5. The client must immediately and adequately respond to a denial of service attack (DOS / DDOS). If the client’s facilities are targeted by a DOS attack that affects other network users, the client’s service will be suspended.
6. Web Squad Connect reserves the right to request additional information relating to hosting of domains or physical and cloud servers that are registered, hosted or managed by Web Squad Connect.
7. Use of Hosting services with Web Squad Connect is strictly subject to 3rd party and upstream licensing requirements or agreements. Should incorrect or incomplete information be supplied service will be subject to suspension or terminations without prior warning.

2. Backups.

1. Clients are solely responsible for backing up their data and Web Squad Connect strongly encourages ALL Hosting clients to do so as frequently and completely as possible. Web Squad Connect will not be liable for any data loss or any other losses or damages related to backups or data recovery without exception.
2. Web Squad Connect may, in some instances, offer a separate backup service in conjunction with dedicated hosting, and will make such backups available to clients on request as and when they are available. However, Web Squad Connect does not warrant or guarantee the availability, completeness or “up to date” status of such backups.
3. Clients are ultimately responsible for their own data, and Web Squad Connect strongly encourages such clients to continue to make their own backups as frequently and completely as possible to ensure that they have recourse in the event of any failure.
4. Web Squad Connect also cannot guarantee the condition or fitness of any backups provided. Such backups are provided "as is" and are used at the client’s own risk and discretion - whether restored by Web Squad Connect by instruction from clients or by clients themselves.
5. Web Squad Connect will not be liable for any losses or damages relating to any incidents arising out of such backups being provided (or not provided) to clients on request.

3. Dedicated servers.

1. Web Squad Connect provides servers to clients for the purposes of their hosting needs. However ownership of physical hardware rests solely with Web Squad Connect at all times. Clients may not make any claim to hardware deployed for their hosting, and may not have access to Web Squad Connect property, hardware or hosting infrastructure (such as data centres) without prior consent, which must be obtained by written application with a minimum of 48 hours notice. Web Squad Connect, at its discretion, may refuse such requests within reason.

4. Cloud hosting.

1. Web Squad Connect reserves the right to manage the cloud environment at its discretion for the overall benefit of cloud hosted clients. Any virtual machine which Web Squad Connect deems at its sole discretion to have a negative effect on the environment may be powered down or suspended.
2. Web Squad Connect deploys all new cloud servers with HyperV or Proxmox tools pre-loaded. VMadditions is integral to the smooth running of virtual servers, including managing resources and smooth and safe rebooting. VMadditions must be running at all times, as shutting it down will severely affect the performance of the server, and efficiency of the core controllers i.e. affecting other clients’ virtual servers.
3. Web Squad Connect strictly forbids the creation of nested VM's, or virtual instances within a virtual server. This severely degrades overall performance and will be treated as a violation of Web Squad Connect’s AUP and Terms & Conditions (contrary to the intended use of the product).
4. Web Squad Connect also strictly forbids any misuse of shared or cloud resources, such as RAM Disks (use RAM memory as storage disk space), which abuses resources and compromises the integrity of the cloud environment.
5. Web Squad Connect may also, at its discretion, restrict the server to limited IOPS (Input Output Operations Per Second) where a client’s use of available virtual resources is negatively affecting the overall environment.
6. Web Squad Connect reserves the right to move a cloud server between our virtual environments and Internet backbones, both within South Africa and internationally as it deems necessary.
7. Web Squad Connect deploys all Cloud servers with an initial OS disk of 60GB. Additional disks can be added in up to 500GB increments, up to the maximum size allowed by the chosen package.

5. 99.9% website uptime guarantee.

Web Squad Connect guarantees that its hosting services will attain 99.9 availability, subject to the following.

1. The 99.9 website uptime guarantee is applicable only if the web server on which a client's web hosting service resides crashes or goes down at an unscheduled time. This guarantee is not valid if there is any network problem between the client and the web server which prevents the client from seeing the web server, for instance - if the client's ISP's link to the respective data centre goes down or is faulty, but the web server Web Squad Connect hosts is still up, Web Squad Connect is not responsible for the client not being able to reach their website.
2. Web Squad Connect is not responsible if any third party operated network or service experiences problems and outages (i.e. all network infrastructure and links, client's internet connection, firewall service managed by external parties). If the applicable web server is up and running at all times then the website will be deemed to have achieved 99.9 uptime.
3. The 99.9 uptime guarantee does not apply to any scheduled downtime for maintenance of any of the Web Squad Connect web servers. If there is scheduled maintenance to be done the client will be notified at least 24 hours in advance. The scheduled maintenance will always be done after hours (based on Central African Time (CAT)) and the web server downtime will be kept to a minimum.
4. The 99.9 uptime guarantee does not apply if Web Squad Connect suspends the client’s service as allowed in terms of this agreement.
5. Third party monitoring service reports may not be used for justification due to a variety of factors including the monitor's network capacity/transit availability. The uptime of the server is defined as the reported uptime from the operating system and the Apache Web Server which may differ from the uptime reported by other individual services.
6. Disputes arising out of the Uptime Guarantee must be submitted in writing and claims may not exceed fees paid (either monthly or on a pro-rata basis) to Web Squad Connect for services not received during downtime. No direct or indirect losses or damages resulting from downtime may be claimed. Service Level commitments will also be taken into account when reviewing disputes. Where agreed provisions have been met, such disputes will be dismissed.
7. The services provide access to the internet, which is subject to bandwidth constraints, system failures and all manner of other factors that may impact on the client’s access, for which Web Squad Connect accepts no responsibility.

6. Use at client’s risk.

1. Web Squad shall not be liable in terms of the Agreement in delict, contract, warranty or otherwise for any consequential or direct damage suffered by the Customer or any third party which arises out of or is pursuant to any negligent act or omission of Web Squad or its consultants/employees due to boycotts, strikes and lock-outs of all kinds, go-slows, occupation of premises, and work stoppages, however not limited thereto. Nevertheless, the Customer shall not withhold payment in these circumstances. The Customer acknowledges that the Services are used at his own risk. Web Squad will not be liable in delict, contract, warranty or otherwise for any consequential or direct damage suffered by the Customer or third party: 
   1. Resulting from the Customer's or third party's access to and use of the Services, hacking, unauthorised interference with data, loss of business information or data, distributing technology to counter security, virus or other malicious service attacks, spam, errors or any other online infringements. 
   2. Which arises out of or is pursuant to any failure to provide continuous access to the Services, or is pursuant to any negligent act or omission of Web Squad or its consultants or employees or is pursuant to any gross negligent or wilful act or omission of Web Squad or its consultants or employees. 
   3. Resulting from material, which may be accessible through use of and access to the Internet Services, and the Customer's access to, assimilation of, and distribution of all and any material accessed via the Internet, is at the Customer's sole risk. 
   4. Resulting from the Customer's or third party's use of the Internet for unlawful purposes, including but not limited to, fraudulent activities, child pornography or other obscene material. 
   5. In no event, whatsoever, shall Web Squad or its consultants or employees be liable to the Customer for loss of profits or for incidental, special or consequential damages arising out of or in connection with, but not limited to: Internet Services, support services, Hardware, Firewalls, Software and Web hosting rendered by Web Squad in terms of the Agreement or the delivery, installation, servicing, performance or use of Software.