Support Scope: What Exactly Is Covered?

Your ticket is open, but the response is "out of support scope"

It's 2 AM and your site is returning a 500 error. You open a ticket, and eight hours later the response comes: "This is out of support scope." No solution given, not even a clue. You're frustrated, and rightly so — but part of that frustration stems from a misunderstanding that should have been resolved before you made the purchase.

The support scope at any hosting company is the explicit boundary between "the infrastructure we rent to you" and "the application you've built on top of it." This boundary is precisely defined at ServerNet, and in this article, I want to tell you exactly where it lies. Not in marketing language, but in the language one engineer uses to write for another.

Where the line is: infrastructure is ours, application is yours

The simplest formula is this: anything down to the operating system and web server layer is our responsibility. Anything above that — application code, application databases, framework configuration, cron jobs you've written yourself — is your responsibility. This means if MySQL crashes, we bring it back up. But if your query takes 40 seconds because it lacks an index, that's a problem with your code, not the infrastructure.

How does this boundary manifest itself in practice?

• Covered: disk failure, DDoS attack, misconfiguration in Apache/Nginx, issues with DNS name servers, Linux kernel security updates, fixing bugs in the control panel.
• Not covered: debugging your PHP code, optimizing application database queries, installing and configuring WordPress or Laravel, resolving plugin conflicts, troubleshooting third-party scripts.

A concrete example: if your site crashes due to excessive RAM usage, we find the problem and restore the service. But if that RAM usage is caused by an infinite loop in your code, our job is to tell you where the problem is — not to rewrite your code for you.

This is where people go wrong: many customers think "Linux hosting" means a dedicated system administrator who will do whatever they ask. When they open a ticket saying "my WordPress code is throwing an error" and get an "out of scope" response, they feel deceived. How can you spot this mistake? A ticket where you've attached application log files and expect us to fix the PHP error for you. We'll read the log and tell you which line the problem is on — but you have to fix that line yourself.

What technical support scope at ServerNet exactly includes

At ServerNet, the technical support team is required to step in for the following:

1. Resolving service outages — anything that takes your site offline, regardless of the root cause, is our top priority. We restore the service first, then investigate the cause.
2. Hardware and virtualization issues — NVMe failure, hypervisor defects, problems with the data center's internal network.
3. Basic web server configuration — changing the PHP version, enabling modules, adjusting the php.ini file within reasonable limits (e.g., memory_limit up to 512M).
4. Infrastructure security issues — malware scanning at the system file level, closing unnecessary open ports, reviewing server access logs.
5. Migration — if you're migrating from another server to ServerNet, our team helps you transfer files and databases. See the full checklist for this process in the ServerNet migration guide.

This list is comprehensive but not exhaustive. Borderline cases are reviewed by the technical team at their discretion. The golden rule: if your problem prevents you from using the service, open a ticket. Even if it's out of scope, we'll at least point you in the right direction.

The path for requesting help outside the scope: what options do you have

When you get the "out of scope" response, you have three paths forward. Remember their order of importance:

First: our documentation. A huge volume of common issues — from email configuration to database optimization — is answered in the documentation and knowledge base. Search before opening a ticket. There's a 60% chance your answer is already written there.

Second: managed services. If you don't want to be your own system administrator, choose Linux hosting with a higher management level. This service includes support for the application layer as well — WordPress installation, core updates, fixing common PHP errors. It costs more, but for someone who doesn't have the time, it's the smartest purchase.

Third: the community and external resources. Stack Overflow, the framework's own documentation, and specialized forums. If your problem is rare, chances are someone has already solved it and written up the answer.

An important note: opening another ticket and insisting "you must fix it" has the opposite effect. The support team has its limits — not out of laziness, but out of responsibility. If we modify your code and that modification causes data loss, the legal liability falls on us. That's a risk no professional company will take.

Why this boundary exists: the economic and technical logic

You might think this boundary exists just to avoid doing work. But the logic behind it is simple: every application is unique. WordPress with 50 plugins, a custom Laravel application, and a Magento store — each is a separate world of problems. No support team can be an expert in all of them. If we claimed we were, we'd be lying.

The price of standard Linux hosting reflects this scope. You're paying for stable infrastructure, not for a dedicated development team. If you need application support, you have to pay for it — either with your own time, or with more money for a managed service.

An honest trade-off: choosing a managed service means giving up control. You can't install every PHP module you want, or modify the kernel as you please. For 95% of users, this limitation doesn't matter at all. But if you know exactly why you need a specific module, a standard service with limited support is the better choice.

How to open a ticket that gets the fastest response

The quality of your ticket directly determines how fast and accurate the response will be. A good ticket has four elements:

1. A precise description of the problem — not "the site isn't working," but "I've been getting a 502 error since 2:30 PM, while it was working yesterday."
2. Relevant logs — the output of journalctl -u nginx --since "2 hours ago" or the contents of the web server's error.log.
3. Recent changes — "I installed a caching plugin yesterday," "I upgraded PHP from 8.1 to 8.2 last week."
4. What you've already done — "I restarted it," "I cleared the cache," "I checked the .htaccess file."

This information allows our team to either solve the problem in the first response, or clearly state that it's out of scope and why. A ticket saying "my site is broken" with no details usually gets a follow-up question — and that's an extra round-trip that costs you 2 to 4 hours.

If you've just purchased a service, read the First 24 Hours Checklist. Most issues that arise in the first week — from DNS to email — are covered there and don't require a ticket.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does ServerNet support install WordPress?

Initial WordPress installation on standard Linux hosting is not part of the support scope. But if you have a managed service, our team handles installation, updates, and fixing common errors. For standard service, installation guides are available in the documentation, and if you encounter a specific error during installation, open a ticket and we'll guide you.

If my site gets hacked, will support clean it up?

Cleaning malware from your application files is outside the support scope. However, if the attack is at the infrastructure level — such as a DDoS or server intrusion — our team steps in and cleans and secures the server. For the application, we'll walk you through the cleanup process step by step, but the execution is up to you.

Can I request that a specific plugin be installed on the server?

Yes, if the plugin is at the operating system level — such as ImageMagick or a PHP module — our team will install it. But if it's a WordPress plugin or a library for your application, you need to install it yourself. Installing application plugins through the control panel usually takes a few minutes and doesn't require our involvement.

How much does out-of-scope support cost?

ServerNet offers hourly support services for out-of-scope cases, priced based on the complexity of the work. Before starting, you'll receive a cost estimate, and no work is done without your approval. This path is for situations where you can't solve the problem yourself and free guidance isn't enough.