Shared Web Hosting SLA

General Overview

This is a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the UCLA campus community (Clients) and Humanities Technology (HumTech), documenting the shared web hosting service HumTech provides. It outlines the service one can expect from HumTech (response times, availability, etc.) as well as the responsibility of those utilizing the service.

This agreement is reviewed January of every year, though changes may occur more frequently.

Service Description

HumTech offers a shared web hosting service that allows faculty, staff, and graduate students (clients) within the Humanities Division to host their university related websites.

Clients will be given an account through the software cPanel where they can manage their space with the following functionality:

  • 2GB of storage, with more available upon request and potentially at a cost
  • LAMP web stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL Database, PHP)
  • File transfer via cPanel’s File Manager
  • PHP configuration
  • phpMyAdmin for database management
  • Manual backups and downloads available via cPanel at any time
  • Automated weekly backups going back 4 weeks

Responsibilities

HumTech

  • HumTech will provide initial setup (including installation of WordPress upon request).
  • HumTech will regularly perform maintenance updates to Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP, and follow other best practices to maintain the security of website servers (required by UCLA IT Security).
  • HumTech will provide clients with updates as needed regarding the operational stability of the service and report concerns or suggestions for enhanced performance.
  • HumTech will monitor and auto-update WordPress and associated plugins used on websites.
  • HumTech will respond to work requests in a timely manner.
  • HumTech will check in annually with clients to ensure websites are still in use. Websites whose owners cannot annually confirm continued use will be removed and archived.
  • HumTech will immediately take websites offline that pose major security risks until client is able to resolve the issue. For non-major security risks, HumTech will send clients three requests to resolve the issue over the course of 3 weeks before taking websites offline.

Client

  • Clients are responsible for managing and maintaining the content of their website unless previously agreed to. “Content” includes, but isn’t limited to, text, images, pdf’s, coding files, applications such as WordPress, and any plugins associated with the application.
  • Clients are responsible for any issues on their website that may result from a security update, such as updates to WordPress, WordPress plugins, and PHP. Coding and programming support will not be provided unless previously agreed to.
  • Clients must ensure HumTech has access to the installed CMS at all times.
  • Clients must respond to HumTech’s annual check-in to confirm continued use of website. If no response is provided within 30 days, the website will be removed and archived.
  • Clients are responsible for resolving major website security issues to bring their affected website online. For non-major security issues, clients have three weeks to respond to reported security issues to prevent their website from being taken offline.
  • Clients must agree to Humtech’s Terms and Conditions.

Service Commitment

Service Availability

Web hosting is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with a target up time of 99%. Regularly scheduled maintenance windows may result in downtime and will be announced in advance to the client using the email address most recently provided.

Service Request

For service requests, email support@humnet.ucla.edu. Standard business hours for service requests are between 8am – 5pm, Monday through Friday, excluding university holidays.

Upon receiving a service request, we target the following levels of service on a first-come, first served basis:

  • Target response time – within 2 days (14 hours)
  • Target resolution time – within 5 days (40 hours)

Initial setup for web hosting may take longer depending on requirements.

Incidents

In the event of an incident that stops the web hosting service from functioning, HumTech will work immediately to resolve the issue. If an individual website stops working, it is the responsibility of the client to manage the resolution of the issue. Clients can send a service request to HumTech who can help on a best effort basis.

Security

Scans for potential vulnerabilities on Humanities websites and servers are regularly conducted by UCLA IT Security. HumTech will reach out immediately in the event that a vulnerability is discovered that requires action from a client.

  • Per mandate by the Cyber Responsible Executive/Dean of Humanities, if security vulnerabilities are not resolved within 30 calendar days, HumTech will block public access to the website/server. The timing of this block may be increased or decreased depending on the severity of the vulnerability.
  • cPanel access is limited to UCLA IP’s or through UCLA VPN.
  • We install and provide limited support for WordPress. Any other content management system (ex. Drupal and Joomla) has to be installed and managed by the client.