Support Procedures and the do's and don'ts on Dedicated/Colocation Servers

 Note: items in red mean that such item has been recently added

    This document describes the type of support PremiaNet will provide in relation to dedicated servers and colocation services. It is very important you read it in full.

    It also describes events for which PremiaNet will charge an hourly service fee and scheduling of server changes and other major events.

    These rules are part of your contractual agreement and might be modified in the near future with no prior notification:

    • PremiaNet is responsible for hardware provided by us to the customer. If a hardware part fails, PremiaNet will replace it, usually within an hour or two, never more than 24 hours. This, of course, depends on availability of parts. Although PremiaNet tries to keep spare parts in stock at all times, rare parts for custom servers might not be available. If it is not in stock, PremiaNet will do everything in its power to obtain the part from a local merchant (during their business hours) or order it for next day delivery (Saturday and Sunday deliveries are not available). In the meantime, we will provide a temporary server of lesser or higher performance if the temporary server is compatible with the server's current setup. We are not responsible for late delivery from the supplier or shipping company.

    • DEDICATED SERVER SERVICES: PremiaNet will provide the customer with a brand new server (unless specified otherwise) that has been tested for at least 24 hours. To be on the safe side, please allow for up to 1 week before putting the server into final production. A good rule of thumb is that any manufacturer's defect in a computer part will show up within the first 7 to 14 days of usage. This is a general rule that applies to anything electronic and not just to servers provided by PremiaNet.

    • 24/7 toll free phone support is reserved for emergencies only (your server is down, hardware failure, network problem, etc.). Any service that is not an emergency (billing questions, software related questions, etc.) will be attended only via email. PremiaNet guarantees a quick reply via email during our regular hours (almost all day). If it is an emergency where you need to request service beyond what's included with your plan by using our remote hands service, you can call us anytime.

    • DEDICATED SERVER SERVICES: PremiaNet does not manufacture the hardware used on your server, thus, we can't guarantee it is free of defects or bugs.

    • PremiaNet does not provide support for control panel software, such as Ensim, Plesk, and others, as part of your regular monthly fees. Support for these control panels are provided by their respective companies, or, through PremiaNet's remote hands service.

    • DEDICATED SERVER SERVICES: the operating system to be installed on a server is not guaranteed to be free of defects and bugs, as such thing is impossible. We will install all security patches available at the time the server is provided to the customer. Installing future security upgrades is the responsibility of the customer. If you need help with that, let us know.

    • DEDICATED SERVER SERVICES: the operating system will be installed from a master copy PremiaNet has already designed and then it will be fully upgraded with all available security patches. Any special configurations, partitioning, etc, might require a service fee to be applied as it will require manual installation.

    • Please be aware that PremiaNet, as with just about all other hosts, does not provide training nor is our responsibility to teach you how to do something with your server beyond what is offered with your plan. That is, we can't teach you how to do programming, script or design a web site, among other things. If you do not know how to do something, our remote hands service is available at any time to do custom work for you. Regular hourly rates apply.

    • WINDOWS SERVERS: do not touch Active Directory functions unless you absolutely know what you are doing. Active Directory is mostly for Local Area Networks and not for Internet servers. Usually, it can take more time to fix an Active Directory "mess" than it is to replace the operating system with a new installation. Such service is not included with your plan.

    • WINDOWS SERVERS: servers running Microsoft Windows are, by default, insecure. Constant security issues come up, which become exploitable via viruses and worms. You *must* maintain your server upgraded with all patches on a daily basis. Any virus or worm infecting your server, and requiring clean up, will require paid remote hands service. All Windows based servers provided by PremiaNet contain all security upgrades that were available the day the server was delivered to the customer. To confirm, please run Windows Update the first time you log in and notify us of any upgrades that are missing.

    • WINDOWS SERVERS: you are not allowed to install *and* start Microsoft SQL without first installing all MS SQL patches and security upgrades. Starting a non-upgraded MS SQL will almost guarantee infection with the Slammer worm. Trust us, it will only take a few minutes to get infected.

    • WINDOWS SERVERS: how do you know your server is infected? Usually, worms will use up the entire bandwidth available to your server to spread to other servers. You will see full usage of your circuit on your bandwidth graphs. On our side, we will see that traffic leaving our network to the Internet and other servers within our network. If your server infects another customer's server, you will also pay part of their clean up.

    • WINDOWS SERVERS: virus or worm infection on your machine will mean immediate shutdown of it. The security of our network, other customers, and other networks on the Internet, is of the highest priority. The server will not be reactivated for the customer to clean up, as most users don't know how to do that. In just the few minutes from reactivation to the customer logging in to the server, the server would have infected hundreds of other vulnerable machines on the Internet.

    • WINDOWS SERVERS: if possible, do not use Windows' built-in FTP server, as it is usually exploited to "t@@g" your server. It means that your server may become a distribution machine for Warez networks, illegal file sharing, illegal music and porn distribution, etc. If you use another FTP server software, do *not* enable public/anonymous uploads. Clean up of this will involve paid remote service, and, you will have to cover the expense of the bandwidth consumed by this activity.

    • Google is your friend. Whenever you have a problem with software or the operating system, look it up. Of all possible problems you can have, someone else has already been through them and has reported the solution. You can also learn a lot from looking them up.

    • If customer had originally requested a custom installation of an operating system, it will take longer to reinstall it in case it is required to do so as the installation is done manually and it's not a duplicate of images PremiaNet has already previously prepared. Such work has to be scheduled.

    • The fixing of the server's operating system (or reinstallation) due to an attack or intrusion will require a service fee to be paid. PremiaNet is not responsible for the software installed on the server and any security vulnerabilities within it.

    • If an attack occurs against a server, depending on severity, PremiaNet reserves the right to either block the server from the Internet or shut it down completely to protect our network. This also applies on any event where customer's server is the source of an attack or illegal activity.

    • If someone gets unauthorized access to a customer's server, and such intruder causes an increase in bandwidth usage, the customer will be responsible for the expenses of such bandwidth. Remember, the only way someone can get in is if they have the customer's password or the customer's server had a security vulnerability. The customer is responsible for making sure passwords are not stolen and is responsible for security upgrades.

    • Please, don't transmit your passwords over unsafe channels. Using things such as FTP or Telnet, which send your password unencrypted through the Internet, are a security hazard. All these protocols have secure versions that you can use, such as secure FTP (sftp), SSH (instead of Telnet), etc.

    • Hard drives *do fail*. They could fail within their first day, week, first month, or they could last years. Unfortunately, there is nothing PremiaNet can do about that. A hard drive is a mechanical device with moving parts, just the same as the engine in your car can fail anytime, even when brand new. PremiaNet is responsible for replacing your hard drive in such event, but it is impossible for us to be responsible for your data and those of thousands of other customers. Please do regular backups.

      If you want to prevent such a catastrophe and high uptime is important for you, please, consider a RAID device for your server or requesting a second hard drive to which you can synch your data to.

    • Please behave well on the Internet to not provoke attacks against you. These days, any kid can launch an attack against your server.

    • Providers of shell accounts, IRC servers, or other IRC related services, are not allowed at PremiaNet. Although we want to satisfy the needs of your business, these services often attract some users with the wrong intentions.

    • PremiaNet's support service includes only remote reboot of your server, as in just about every other dedicated/colocation hosting provider. In most instances, you will have access to a remote reboot device. Please use it before contacting tech support if you see your server is unresponsive.

    • You are not allowed to do major changes to your operating system's kernel and/or configuration outside of business hours (9AM to 6PM Pacific time) without prior warning due to the risk of your server not coming up after rebooting and requiring remote hands service to be scheduled. Please warn us before doing that so that we can schedule time to be ready in case your server does not come back up.

    • You are not allowed to halt or shutdown your server, unless it is an emergency and it is the only way to protect your server from an intruder or damage. Be aware that, from time to time, a server (specially Windows servers) might not come back up and might require manual intervention.

    • WINDOWS SERVERS: you are not allowed to do anything to the partitions on the server, specially setting another partition to be "active". This *will* render your server inoperable.

    • WINDOWS SERVERS: make sure that files you download to install have no viruses. A large part of all Windows 2000 Servers we install are destroyed by their users the first day they start installing software. If you install Anti-Virus software such as Norton's or McAfee's, be careful, as they sometimes install a firewall (read more on this below). Also, Norton's and McAfee's anti-virus solutions have been known to cause problems on the Windows 2000 Server platform and can crash it. F-Prot is known to work very well.

    • Do not do changes to your network configuration without warning us first. Your server will be provided with the correct configuration fully functional. Any changes that you do to the server's network configuration that renders a server inoperable (or causes disruption on the network) will require a service fee to fix.

    • Increases on bandwidth can be done anytime, however, decreases can only be done effective the last day of the month. The reason for this is that bandwidth providers, when they receive an increase of bandwidth from us, will include such bandwidth increase in our billing for the entire month and not just for part of the month.

    • If your server does not boot up correctly after changes are done to its operating system (this includes, but is not limited to, changes to kernel, network or installation of software) and fixing the problem takes more than 5 minutes or requires a higher level expert, such service will incur in a service fee. If you have doubts about a change you need to do, please send us an email with what you need to do and we'll let you know if it's ok to do so.

    • Please be careful when installing firewalls, specially on Windows servers. Usually, these firewalls, once they start, close all access to your server. Since you are not physically in front of the server, this will block your access and will require one of our technicians to remove the firewall to allow you to get in. Such event will incur a service fee.

      If you need a firewall installed, send us an email to let us know about it.

    • PremiaNet does not guarantee compatibility between hardware and software, although we do everything technically possible to ensure compatibility.

    • DEDICATED SERVER SERVICES: at the end of service, you may purchase the server for your personal use. The price and shipment cost will be established by PremiaNet depending on age of server and usage. Windows licenses rented from PremiaNet for your server can't be sold and won't be included if you buy the server. This is due to Microsoft's intellectual and licensing restrictions.

    • PremiaNet reserves the right to shut down and deny service to a customer at any time for any reason.

    • PremiaNet will not install hardware provided by a customer into a dedicated server.

    • Customer may be able to provide software to be installed on a server, however, a valid license must be provided to be housed in our office. At the end of the service, such license will be returned to you at the usual shipping rates established by PremiaNet. The installation might incur a service fee.

    • Any software related problem will incur in a service fee if it takes more than 5 minutes to solve. Usually, we already know the solution to most problems users have with managing their servers. In such cases, there would be no support fees.

    • PremiaNet's word is final when determining what is a hardware and what is a software problem. No outside opinions from "experts" are accepted unless full documentation of the analysis is provided.

    • PremiaNet wants to set a standard on technical support for dedicated servers. While other companies are quite unhelpful, A+ Hosting guarantees the best in service, and quick (something rare in this industry). Any problem you have, let us know. You might be surprised at how helpful and dedicated we can be. And remember, feedback is very important to us.

PremiaNet reserves the right to modify these policies at any time. We are not responsible for any typographical or translation errors.