Service Level Agreement
Information Technology Systems
The University of Texas at Austin
Effective Date: 9/24/2008
Last Edited 6/20/2008
Score
Overview
The ITS MySQL Service is an open source database solution used in conjunction with ITS Services, such as Web Central and UT Direct. The ITS MySQL Service provides a database back-end for customers who would like to use a database for Web content ranging from large-scale Web applications to internally developed applications or Web pages.
Review Process
This document defines the practices that Information Technology Services (ITS) will use for the MySQL service. The details of this document may be reviewed and amended as required, or at least annually, to accurately reflect business and service needs.
Time Conventions
Unless otherwise indicated, business hours are from 8 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays and reduced schedule days.
Scope
Users of the Fully Managed MySQL Service offering.
Service Criticality
This service has been identified as Very Important, based on the ITS Critical Services Assessment Criteria. Please refer to the Critical Services Assessment Criteria for more information on the assessment methodology.
Service Description
The list below provides a summary of the base features for the ITS MySQL Service:
- One Gigabyte of space
- Maximum of six databases per contract
- One MySQL application account per database
- One MySQL database management account per contract
- Database Management access from PHPMyAdmin and the MySQL CLI Client
- Database redundancy to reduce downtime
- 24-hour operator coverage
- Nightly incremental backup of SQL via Tivoli Storage Manager
- Coordination with departmental Technical Support Contacts (TSC)
- Notification to customers via email of system changes and maintenance
Supported Computing Environment
The service and support levels documented in this SLA assume certain minimum configurations in the user desktop environment. For customers to remotely manage their database(s) they must use a cookie enabled web browser to access the provided PHPMyAdmin site or a SSH client to connect to UTS. Client software can be downloaded from the Bevoware Web site assuming the operating system meets the minimum installation requirements.
For the latest information on tested systems and a complete list of supported procedures, refer to the ITS (Bevoware) Web site: https://www.utexas.edu/its/bevoware.
Technical Support
Technical support, problem report/resolution, and requests for changes are provided through either the TSC or the ITS Help Desk, depending upon whether a contract has a departmental Technical Support Contact.
End users always start with Tier 1, which is basic support. Tier 2 is the second support level and is reserved for more complex issues. Departmental desktop support staff and the ITS Help Desk may escalate issues to Tier 2.
Tier 1 Support
- For users with a departmental TSC, Tier 1 support for end-user problems is provided by the TSC. This is the preferred approach to resolving an issue most efficiently.
- In cases where a TSC is not available, Tier 1 support for end-user problems is provided by the ITS Help Desk during Help Desk hours at:
-* http://www.utexas.edu/its/help
-* 512-475-9400
Tier 2 Support
- Departmental TSC's or the ITS Help Desk may escalate issues to Tier 2 support.
- Tier 2 support is available during normal business hours.
- An initial response back to the requester is provided within one business day.
Additional information and technical support can be found in the online documentation at:
http://www.utexas.edu/its/mysql/answers/.
Service Availability
This section provides information about the normal schedule of times when the service is available, the times specified for scheduled maintenance, and defines expectations for reporting service problems and changes.
Normal Service Availability
ITS MySQL Service is designed to be available for customer use 24-hours-per-day, seven days-per-week, 365 days-per-year (24x7x365) excluding scheduled maintenance times.
Scheduled Maintenance
Scheduled maintenance for the MySQL service is essential for upgrades and to maintain security, and may occur as necessary with one week's prior notice. Services may not be available during the scheduled maintenance periods.
Problem Reporting and Change Notification
ITS will notify customers using the ITS Services Status page of service availability and service delivery issues for the MySQL. To the maximum extent possible, installation of service, application, and security updates will be performed during scheduled maintenance.
| Type | Business Impact | Customer Notification | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moderate | Changes or problems that may affect the service and have a broad business impact. | ITS will notify TSC's of changes one week in advance via e-mail, and will update the ITS Services Status page. | Kernel upgrade which will require a reboot of the server. |
| Major | Changes that may affect the service, with a significant impact to the customers' business. | ITS will meet with TSC's ten business days in advance, will notify TSC's one week in advance via e-mail, and will update the ITS Services Status page. | New version of Operating System or MySQL. |
| Critical (After-Hours) | Changes that must be performed in order to correct issues and having some impact on end-users. Impact to business does not warrant immediate correction. | ITS will notify TSC's as soon as possible after knowing such a change is required via e-mail, and will update the ITS Services Status page. | Hung process on server needs to be cleared to maintain database connectivity. |
| Emergency (Immediate) | Changes that must be performed in order to correct issues and having a major impact on end-users. Impact to business requires immediate action. | ITS will update the ITS Services Status page immediately. Will notify TSC's via e-mail after change implementation. | Non- responsive master server and a manual switch to the slave server needs to be performed. |
The ITS Services Status page: http://www.utexas.edu/its/alerts/
Key Service Indicators
List of Metrics/Measures
| Measurement | Definition | Performance Target |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Availability | The percent of time that the service is available when removing dependencies and infrastructure services. | 99.9% |
| Customer Satisfaction Percent | The percent of Satisfied or Very Satisfied responses on annual user satisfaction survey. | 90% |
| Database creation response time | Time from receiving database creation request and creation of the database. | 3 Business Day |
| Problem Acknowledgment response time | Time from receiving the request to contacting the user. | 1 Business Day |
Note:
The Overall Availability percentage is calculated as the hours that ITS MySQL Service is available in the reporting period, divided by the total hours in the reporting period.
Dependencies
ITS MySQL Service is dependent upon UT Web Central, data center power, UT network, and related systems. The performance metrics provided are those specific to the service and those systems directly supporting it.
Service Report Card
ITS will publish performance for this service in the public ITS Services Report Card.
Other Party Responsibilities
In addition to the services provided by ITS, subscribers (users) of the service and identified owners/administrators agree to certain important responsibilities. All parties agree to be aware of and adhere to the university's Acceptable Use Policy.
Departmental IT Support Staff
- Read the ITS MySQL Service documentation at http://www.utexas.edu/its/mysql/answers/.
- Maintain knowledge of the currently installed version of MySQL and its features.
- Regularly check UTS mail box for service announcements.
- Provide and maintain contact information with ITS for support purposes.
- Assign and provide ITS with contact information for a secondary TSC that will assume all responsibilities of the primary TSC when the primary TSC is unavailable.
- Use supported client software.
- Be aware of and adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy at http://www.utexas.edu/its/policies/responsible.html.
- For purposes of resolving customer issues, be willing and available to provide critical information to ITS in a timely ^1^ manner when requested.
- Provide Tier 1 support for the department.
Note:
ITS should receive feedback within four business hours for issues of Emergency status, one business day for issues of Critical status, three business days for issues of Major status, and five business days for issues of Moderate status.
Cost of Service
ITS Systems has been trained and has experience in the proper procedures for securing Category I through Category III data. The ITS MySQL Service offers data storage for Category II and Category III data. Currently this service does not support the storage of Category I data. ITS Systems is responsible for the storage system, operating system, and the associated software. However ITS Systems does not own the data nor is it responsible for the content of the data. Failure to comply with the recommendations set forth by ITS Systems will result in termination of the provided service. The customer will have the option to remove the Category I data before ITS terminates the contract. The storage of Category I data will be assessed during the annual SLA review process.
Find data classification standards at the following site:
http://www.utexas.edu/its/policies/opsmanual/dataclassification.html\
Security
ITS Systems has been trained and has experience in the proper procedures for securing Category I through Category III data. The ITS MySQL Service offers data storage for Category II and Category III data. Currently this service does not support the storage of Category I data. ITS Systems is responsible for the storage system, operating system, and the associated software. However ITS Systems does not own the data nor is it responsible for the content of the data. Failure to comply with the recommendations set forth by ITS Systems will result in termination of the provided service. The customer will have the option to remove the Category I data before ITS terminates the contract. The storage of Category I data will be assessed during the annual SLA review process.
