ALPHA STATUS: This service is in active development and not production-ready.

Acceptable Use Policy

Last Updated: November 30, 2025

1. Introduction

TierHive is a product and service owned and operated by KernelKeepers LTD. By using TierHive, you agree to be bound by the Terms of Service of Kernel Keepers, which apply at all times, as well as this Acceptable Use Policy.

2. Alpha Status and Stability

TierHive is currently in Alpha status and will not be considered stable or fully reliable until the product reaches Beta stage.

  • Data loss can occur at any time without warning
  • Your backups are your sole responsibility
  • While we offer additional backup methods, these backups may also be lost due to the unstable nature of any Alpha program of work
  • Services may experience downtime, corruption, or complete data loss
  • Features may change, be removed, or behave unpredictably

DO NOT use TierHive for production workloads, critical data, or any service where data loss would be unacceptable.

3. Pricing Structure

Token prices are subject to change with notice. Part of the Alpha phase is determining the correct pricing structure, which may increase or decrease based on operational costs, resource utilization, and market conditions.

4. Service Level Expectations

This is not an enterprise-grade service and should never be considered as such. The aim of TierHive is to bring low-priced developer and hobby resources to anyone, which can come at the cost of stability, performance, and reliability.

  • We do not guarantee any specific uptime or Service Level Agreement (SLA)
  • Support is provided on a best-efforts basis
  • Services operate in a shared resource environment with inherent limitations
  • Performance may vary significantly based on overall system load

5. Prohibited Activities

5.1 Email and Communications

No bulk or transactional email of any kind is permitted, without exception, unless sent via one of our approved relay services (available in the control panel once logged in). This includes but is not limited to:

  • Marketing or promotional emails
  • Mailing lists or newsletters
  • Automated transactional emails (order confirmations, password resets, etc.)
  • Mass communication of any kind

5.2 Network and Bandwidth Usage

  • TOR nodes are strictly prohibited - No TOR relays, exit nodes, or any TOR infrastructure
  • Torrenting is prohibited - No BitTorrent or similar P2P file sharing protocols
  • Personal use VPN services are permitted, but do not negate any other terms of this policy
  • No network scanning, port scanning, or security testing of external systems
  • No participation in DDoS attacks or similar malicious network activity

5.3 Illegal and Harmful Content

The following activities are strictly prohibited and will result in immediate suspension:

  • Any illegal activity under UK law or the laws of your jurisdiction
  • Hosting, distributing, or linking to child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
  • Hosting or distributing pirated software, media, or other copyrighted content
  • Phishing, fraud, or impersonation schemes
  • Distribution of malware, viruses, or other malicious software
  • Cryptocurrency mining without explicit prior approval
  • Hosting or facilitating online gambling services
  • Sale or distribution of illegal substances, weapons, or contraband
  • Harassment, stalking, or threats against individuals or groups
  • Content that incites violence, terrorism, or hatred
  • Adult content involving minors or non-consensual acts
  • Doxxing or unauthorized publication of private information

5.4 Disruptive Activities

  • Activities that degrade service performance for other users
  • Attempts to circumvent resource limits or access controls
  • Unauthorized access to other users' systems or data
  • Running services that consume excessive CPU, RAM, disk I/O, or network bandwidth
  • Open proxies or services that anonymize malicious traffic
  • IRC bots or other automated systems that abuse network resources

6. Resource Limits and Shared Environment

We allow certain selectable limits as configured within the control panel. However, this is and always will be a shared resource environment.

If it is deemed that your usage is not suitable for a shared environment, we may:

  • Provide notice that this service is not suitable for your use case
  • Impose additional limits without prior notice
  • Suspend services if resource abuse continues
  • Terminate your account for repeated violations

7. Domain and HAProxy Management

We allow you to add your domains and subdomains to our HAProxy service within the control panel. However:

Important Domain Policy:

Should you leave the service (i.e., have no active services in your account for more than 90 days) but leave your domain DNS records pointed at our IP addresses, we may redirect or use those domains as we see fit without limitation or further permission.

It is your responsibility to update DNS records when leaving the service.

8. Support Services

Support is complimentary, not a right. We will respond to support requests as soon as possible in all cases, but we do not guarantee response times or resolution timelines.

Abuse of the support system, including but not limited to:

  • Excessive or unreasonable support requests
  • Abusive language or threats toward support staff
  • Fraudulent claims or misrepresentation
  • Using support channels for prohibited activities

Will result in access to the support system being removed, and may result in account suspension or termination.

9. Enforcement and Consequences

Any breach of these policies will result in immediate suspension of services, with the likelihood of permanent termination of your account.

We reserve the right to:

  • Suspend services immediately without prior notice for policy violations
  • Terminate accounts permanently for serious or repeated violations
  • Cooperate with law enforcement regarding illegal activities
  • Retain data for investigation or legal compliance purposes
  • Refuse refunds for accounts terminated due to policy violations

Depending on the severity of the violation, we may report illegal activities to appropriate law enforcement agencies without prior notice to you.

10. Monitoring and Compliance

We may monitor resource usage, network traffic patterns, and system logs to ensure compliance with this policy and to maintain service quality for all users. This monitoring is automated and designed to detect policy violations and resource abuse.

11. Changes to This Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Acceptable Use Policy at any time. Changes will be effective immediately upon posting to this page. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the modified policy.

12. Reporting Violations

If you become aware of any violations of this Acceptable Use Policy, please report them through the support system in the control panel at https://control.tierhive.com/support.

Summary: Use Common Sense

If an activity is illegal, morally questionable, disruptive to other users, or would be unwelcome on any reputable hosting platform, it is not allowed on TierHive. This is a low-cost, shared resource environment intended for legitimate development and hobby projects.