Grant Application — ZeroTail Grants

Infrastructure Grant Application

The ZeroTail Infrastructure Grant provides completely free computing resources to individuals and organizations driving positive impact. By submitting this application, you are requesting approval to join the program.

Once approved, you will receive a sign-in link by email to access the recipient portal, where you can request raw servers, compute pods, managed applications, and agency services from our datacenter.

Eligibility Application

Provide detailed information about yourself and your project so we can evaluate eligibility and allocate appropriate resources. Request only what you currently need—you can request more later if your project grows.

Section 1: Applicant Profile

Primary Category Select your category first. The rest of the application and verification options will appear below.

Full Name

Email Address Use your institutional email when applicable.

Personal email (optional) A non-institutional address where we can reach you if your primary email changes.

Academic Verification

Choose one verification method below. Each option is a complete path—you only need one.

Verification method Verify with your institution (StudID) Institutional email — verify with your university address Manual ID review call (~5 min)

Section 2: Project Overview

Project Name or Organization

Project Mission

Why are you applying?

Portfolio or Publications URL Optional but recommended for independent researchers and open source maintainers.

Section 3: Anticipated Infrastructure Needs

You do not need to request exact server specifications here. This helps us gauge whether we have the datacenter capacity to support your project before we approve you. You will request specific services separately once eligible.

Anticipated Services (check all that apply)

Virtual Private Server (VPS) Dedicated Server Compute Pods (managed containers) Managed Web Hosting Managed Applications Custom Domain / Web Design FTP / SFTP Storage Box (bulk file storage, backups, archives)

Technical Overview

Section 4: Legal & Compliance

Review the program policies below before accepting.

Section 1: Terms of Service (ToS)

1.1 Acceptance and Eligibility

To access the Services, you must be at least 18 years of age. Eligibility for this program is strictly limited to verified non-profits (e.g., providing 501(c)(3) documentation), active students, affiliated academic researchers, and independent researchers who can provide verifiable proof of legitimate research projects (such as published papers, active public grants, or research portfolios).

1.2 U.S. Export Controls and Sanctions

By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any country to which the United States has embargoed goods or services (e.g., OFAC-sanctioned nations), nor are you listed on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.

1.3 “As Is” and “As Available” Service

The Services are provisioned using spare hardware at ZeroTail’s discretion. THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED STRICTLY ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. ZEROTAIL EXPLICITLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. The privacy certifications, uptime guarantees, and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) associated with ZeroTail’s commercial offerings do not apply to these grant Services.

1.4 Resource Allocation and Modification

Resource limits (including but not limited to RAM, shared CPU cores, and storage) are allocated dynamically based on your submitted application. ZeroTail reserves the right to modify, throttle, or reduce your allocated resources at any time, without prior notice, based on hardware availability, network capacity, or your usage patterns.

1.5 Data Access and Privacy

ZeroTail respects your privacy and does not routinely access user virtual machines or hosted applications. However, ZeroTail reserves the right to access, inspect, or monitor your server, network traffic, or hosted data to investigate suspected violations of our policies, respond to abuse reports, or comply with valid legal processes (such as subpoenas or court orders) under U.S. law.

1.6 Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless ZeroTail LLC, its officers, directors, and employees from and against any claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of your use of the Services, your violation of these Policies, or your infringement of any third-party rights.

1.7 Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT SHALL ZEROTAIL LLC, ITS DIRECTORS, OR EMPLOYEES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA, REVENUE, PROFITS, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

1.8 Governing Law and Severability

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Wyoming, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. If any provision of these Policies is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

Section 2: Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

2.1 Prohibited Activities

The Services may not be used for any illegal, abusive, or destructive activities. Prohibited activities include, but are not limited to:

Resource Exploitation: Cryptocurrency mining, distributed computing for financial gain, or network plotting (e.g., Chia).
Malicious Content: Hosting, distributing, or linking to malware, ransomware, phishing sites, or exploit kits.
Network Abuse: Executing DDoS attacks, port scanning, IP spoofing, or unauthorized interception of network traffic.
Commercial Use: Hosting commercial or for-profit enterprises, unless explicitly permitted in your approved grant.
Illegal Content: Hosting Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) or any content that violates U.S. federal or state law.

2.2 Copyright Infringement & DMCA Policy

ZeroTail complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). We will investigate reports of copyright infringement and reserve the right to remove or disable access to infringing material. ZeroTail maintains a strict “repeat infringer” policy and will terminate Services for users who repeatedly violate intellectual property rights.

2.3 Email Hosting and Anti-Spam Policy

For users granted email hosting, public registration on your hosted email domains is strictly prohibited. ZeroTail requires full compliance with the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act. You may not send unsolicited bulk email (spam). ZeroTail actively monitors IP reputation and forwards abuse reports. If an abuse report is received regarding your email or IP address, ZeroTail will take immediate action, up to and including instant termination of your Services.

2.4 Revocation of Access

ZeroTail reserves the right to suspend or revoke your access to the Services at any time, for any reason, with or without cause, at our sole discretion.

Section 3: Fair Use Policy (FUP)

3.1 Shared Infrastructure (“Noisy Neighbor” Policy)

Your virtual servers are provisioned using shared infrastructure. You may not sustain 100% utilization of your allocated CPU cores for extended periods, nor may you generate excessive disk I/O or network traffic that degrades the performance of the host node or negatively impacts other users.

3.2 Resource Upgrades

Users may request additional resources by submitting a detailed explanation of their project requirements. ZeroTail will review and award additional resources solely based on our evaluation of your project’s merit and our current spare hardware capacity.

Section 4: Backup and Sunset Policy

4.1 Best Effort Backups and User Responsibility

ZeroTail provides limited, “best-effort” Proxmox snapshots of your virtual machines. However, these backups are never guaranteed. You are solely and fully responsible for maintaining your own independent, off-site backups of all data, databases, and configurations. ZeroTail assumes absolutely no liability for data loss under any circumstances.

4.2 Sunset and Migration Assistance

While ZeroTail reserves the right to terminate accounts immediately for AUP violations, in the event of a standard grant expiration, planned service retirement, or hardware decommissioning (a “Sunset”):

Notice: ZeroTail will provide a minimum of fourteen (14) days advance written notice to the email address on file.
Migration Support: During this 14-day period, ZeroTail will provide reasonable, complimentary assistance to help you migrate your data off our infrastructure (e.g., providing raw file access, database dumps, or DNS transfers).
Data Deletion: Once the 14-day notice period expires, the server will be permanently decommissioned, and all data will be irrevocably deleted.

You must scroll to the bottom of the policies above before submitting.

I certify that I am at least 18 years of age. I understand that grant services are provided “as is” using spare hardware, and ZeroTail’s commercial SLAs and uptime guarantees do not apply. I understand that prohibited activities include cryptocurrency mining, malware hosting, network abuse, and unauthorized commercial use. I understand that grant approval is granted solely at ZeroTail’s discretion based on spare hardware availability and project merit (Discretionary Approval). I have read and agree to the Terms of Service, Acceptable Use Policy, and Backup Policy.

Data Privacy & Zero-Retention Policy

ZeroTail LLC is fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). We despise data brokers. Optional StudID verification uses your institution’s academic SSO—we receive only affiliation metadata, not your institutional password. For students who choose a live ID review call, your ID is shown on camera only during the call and no image or copy is retained. Non-profit determination letters you upload are viewed once by a human for approval and are then permanently and irreversibly deleted from our local servers. We do not store, share, sell, or train AI on your verification data.

Bot Verification

Complete this privacy-friendly verification before submitting your application.