Terms and Conditions

🛠️ General Service Guidelines for Linux Hosting & Support

This document outlines how Advantage Web (myself) aims to deliver services to you in a fair, transparent, and practical way. It is not a legal contract, but a set of general working principles for hosting and supporting websites and apps on selected quality Australian-based Linux platforms.

Whilst this service is offered to developers, small business, trades, or individuals, work engaged depends on delivery and ongoing maintenance capacity.

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⚙️ Nature of Services

• This is a mid-tier service, bridging the gap between basic cPanel hosting and high-end development teams, thereby offering additional scope for your choices or offerings.

• Services are delivered by myself as an individual, not a 24/7 support team. Reasonable response times and best practices are followed.

• Projects are designed for low-maintenance, low-risk operations on reliable cloud infrastructure.

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📡 Hosting Platforms

• Amazon AWS is preferred for production services due to its performance, stability and architecture.

• cPanel services are valid for a designed purpose and appropriate sizing, and are recommended for hosting on VentraIP in Australia. The nature of the Advantage Web service is to identify and utilise VPS services and their benefits of reliability and performance at surprising low costs.

• Other Linux platforms like Linode (Akamai) can be used at the client’s discretion, but with higher risk awareness. Linode has lower cost to AWS.

• I reserve the right not to use certain platforms (e.g., Ubuntu or Amazon Lightsail) in production environments and may advise best practice to proceed.

• Some clients require use of a development/test system prior to production. Prototyping/testing is a good approach.

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📉 Downtime & Liability

• No system is perfect. Downtime, crashes, or software errors can happen, including 3rd party issues.

• I aim to minimise risk, (as per my workforce experience and professional delivery of services) but do not accept liability for system outages, performance issues, unknowns, or related billing charges.

• We backup data regularly (snapshots, files, databases) using manual and scripted methods.

• Basic Disaster Recovery principles are followed, but no guarantees are made regarding full recovery in all cases. (I have never lost a system.)

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🔄 Project Scope & Changes

• Work will remain within the agreed scope. Scope creep involves additional time and extent of work. Technical requirements are within the scope of my skill sets and what is technically achievable. While a client may engage other professionals for a team-delivery of service, Advantage Web does not provide this service – for example us of third parties to develop software apps and management of the same.

• A project CAP (maximum cost) may be set if requried, but additional costs may apply if the work significantly exceeds expectations or scope changes.

• Projects are expected to be completed promptly, unless intentionally extended.

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💬 Communication & Project Roles

• A single point of contact is preferred from the client side for clarity and decision-making.

• Projects include non-technical updates via email.

• Clients may bring in their own technical administrators after completion or during if so scoped.

• If tasks are assigned to the client (e.g., content, credentials), they should be done in a reasonable timeframe to avoid delays.

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🔁 System Monitoring & Performance

• New systems are monitored for 2 weeks post-installation at no cost.

• Systems are not designed to be pushed to limits of CPU, RAM, swap space, database, or PHP memory.

• If overloaded, systems may need resizing or distribution across multiple Linux instances.

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🔒 Privacy, Security & Licensing

• I follow good privacy practices. Communication and data handling are professional and respectful.

• All software and content used must have valid licensing, permissions and copyrights.

• If unlicensed software or “invalid” content is discovered, the client must resolve this before project completion.

• Project content must be ethical and lawful.

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🔄 Ownership, Termination & Handover

• The client may end a project at any time. So may Advantage Web if circumstances are deemed to require it. Advantage Web may discontinue a project if there is conflict with the intention of these services, or decline provision of a project without explanation.

• In either case, no liability or refund is implied.

• Clients may transfer system ownership or administration, where I assist with a transparent handover.

• Projects may be uninstalled and restored to the original system within a reasonable period (e.g., 2 weeks) if not satisfactory.

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📆 Maintenance & Updates

• Maintenance windows and update schedules are agreed in advance.

• Manual updates and health checks may be scheduled twice a year, or sooner if critical security issues are found. Automated scripts may be deployed. You have choice in these decisions.

• WordPress updates may occasionally cause issues; I use backups and recovery plans to protect systems. Advantage Web provisions the Linux platform in preference to maintaining WordPress (or other apps) itself. These arrangements may vary if agreed.

• Major updates (e.g., OS, PHP versions) may require re-installation or migration.

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💰 Payments & Invoicing

• Billing is  invoiced as No Tax via PayPal or direct bank deposit.

• Payment is expected within 30 days of invoice.

• Work begins upon written confirmation via email.

• I do not offer refunds unless at sole discretion.

• I do not provide detailed cost breakdowns or reallocate time/money between tasks or as credit.

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📑 Intellectual Property

• Some elements of my work may contain original code or methods that remain my intellectual property.

• Clients agree not to resell or share proprietary parts of my work outside their project.

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🔄 Change, Flexibility & Confidentiality

• These guidelines are indicative, not rigid. Flexibility is welcome.

• I do not publish changes to these terms, but discussions are always open.

• This document is confidential and should not be shared outside your organisation or decision making people.

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💡 Preferred Technologies

• Web Servers: Nginx (preferred), Apache2/httpd, or OpenLiteSpeed (case-by-case).

• Operating Systems: Amazon Linux 2023 (preferred), followed by Debian 12 at time of writing.

• PHP and database versions will align with current supported standards.

• I prefer clients manage their own apps or WordPress post-installation, or use their existing providers for regular upkeep.

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Non-Liability Statement

While every effort is made to provide reliable, professional, and technically sound services, all services offered are provided without warranty or guarantee of uninterrupted performance, perfection, or immunity from faults, downtime, or external issues.

As a single independent service provider, I do not have the resources of a large company or support team. Therefore, it is not reasonable or acceptable for me to be held liable for losses, damages, service interruptions, technical faults, billing issues from third parties, or other problems that may arise during or after the course of a project.

I will always act in good faith, follow best practices, and aim to deliver and support systems that are reliable and secure. However, I cannot assume responsibility for:

• Unforeseen or uncontrollable events ( e.g., hardware failures, platform changes, cyberattacks, outages, etc.)

• Issues caused by third-party software, platforms, plugins, or service providers

• The client’s own decisions, content, security practices, or system use after handover

• Losses or damages resulting from system limitations or project changes

All services are undertaken with mutual fairness in mind, and I reserve the right to withdraw from a project in exceptional circumstances, with no future liability.

By engaging my services, clients accept that no legal liability, damages, or ongoing responsibility shall be assigned to me, or beyond the reasonable scope of the work as I understand the agreed terms and as performed, and that any disputes will be approached with an intent to resolve respectfully and informally.

🧾 Summary

I am here to support you with reasonable, practical solutions using solid platforms and professional conduct. While this is not a high-end team service, I aim to provide fair, robust, and ethical service with clear expectations, minimal risk, and transparency.