SLA
In plain terms
A formal commitment to a level of service, often with penalties.
Going deeper
A Service Level Agreement is a contract promising specifics like uptime or response time, with consequences if missed. It sets expectations between a provider and its customers.
Under the hood
Defines measurable targets and remedies (credits); meaningful SLAs specify how uptime is measured and what's excluded (maintenance windows).
Examples
99.9% monthly uptime, <200ms response, cloud-provider SLAs with service credits.
Think of it like...
Like a pizza chain's '30 minutes or it's free' promise: a written guarantee with a penalty if they fall short.