Which statement correctly differentiates a Service Level Agreement (SLA) from a Service Level Objective (SLO)?

Which statement correctly differentiates a Service Level Agreement (SLA) from a Service Level Objective (SLO)?

• A. SLA is an internal reliability target; SLO is a contractual uptime commitment.
• B. SLA defines service costs; SLO defines security levels.
• C. SLA and SLO are interchangeable terms.
• D. SLA is the contractual uptime commitment; SLO is an internal target used to measure service reliability.

Answer: (D)

The main idea is that SLAs are contractual commitments with customers, while SLOs are internal performance targets used to measure and drive reliability. An SLA specifies what the provider promises in terms of uptime, response times, support, and remedies if promises aren’t met, and it is legally binding. SLOs are the internal metrics used by the team to gauge whether the service is meeting those promises—things like availability percentages, latency, or error rates—driving improvements and operational decisions. This distinction makes the statement that the SLA is the contractual uptime commitment and the SLO is an internal target used to measure service reliability the best fit. Other options misplace the nature of contracts, costs, or security, or treat SLAs and SLOs as interchangeable.

The main idea is that SLAs are contractual commitments with customers, while SLOs are internal performance targets used to measure and drive reliability. An SLA specifies what the provider promises in terms of uptime, response times, support, and remedies if promises aren’t met, and it is legally binding. SLOs are the internal metrics used by the team to gauge whether the service is meeting those promises—things like availability percentages, latency, or error rates—driving improvements and operational decisions. This distinction makes the statement that the SLA is the contractual uptime commitment and the SLO is an internal target used to measure service reliability the best fit. Other options misplace the nature of contracts, costs, or security, or treat SLAs and SLOs as interchangeable.