High use Policy

If a server does experience higher than normal load, as they will on infrequent occasion, CDO systems administrators use a variety of metrics to quickly pinpoint the cause. In some cases the cause is transient and not part of a larger pattern or problem. In other cases, however, the load is caused by a specific user consistently using more than a reasonable share of the system's resources. Obviously our systems administrators have some leeway in deciding what constitutes "reasonable" resource usage, however they are expected to act benevolently. We don't go out of our way to attract new customers only to ask them to leave.

When we encounter a site with high resource usage, we always work with the site owner to help them identify and address the root cause as quickly as possible. In some cases, however, we are regrettably forced to temporarily disable a site (or part of a site) in order to prevent a server from becoming unstable or slow. If this happens, we immediately notify the site owner and inform them that we are standing by to offer assistance. All tickets relating to these temporary suspensions are placed in a separate ticket queue which is given top priority. Our goal in these cases is to find a solution that doesn't require the customer to move their site; customers don't want to change hosts any more than we want to lose their business.

When working with customers, we will try to help you track down the cause of your site's resource problems. In some cases, the issue can be fixed relatively easily, perhaps by adding an index to a database table or enabling static page caching. In other cases, the solution is slightly more involved and may entail modifying your site to use more efficient software, or optimizing code yourself. But there are times when there is no simple solution for reducing the amount of resources a site uses. Sometimes a site has simply outgrown shared hosting. In these cases, we will recommend that you look into a more robust hosting solution - perhaps a VPS or dedicated server.

Resource usage is a reality of shared hosting, as the term "shared" implies. You're in an environment with other customers, and that carries with it certain restrictions and responsibilities. You can't manage your site with impunity, and you can't expect that, under all circumstances, you will be able to max out the bandwidth allocated to your account. There are other, more significant--albeit less tangible--limitations that can be and often are reached first.

As a shared hosting provider, we have a responsibility to ensure that all sites have access to their fair share of the server's resources when needed. The fact of the matter is that some sites just don't belong on a shared hosting account, and we would be remiss in our duties if we allowed them to remain on our servers. You can expect any responsible hosting provider to do the same.

You can keep track of the resources your site uses via cPanel. If you do expect your site to exceed a limit in the near future, please contact support. This allows us better monitor and prepare for the situation. We are usually only too happy to temporarily up your resource limits to make sure your site stays online, during a mention on TV for example.

Author: Support Desk

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