How do each of cPanel's resources affect my site?
Because shared hosting websites share the same resources, to ensure best performance for all sites we have resource usage limits for CPU, RAM, I/O, inodes and entry processes. This article explains how these resources affect your site, as well as situations where you might want to upgrade your account.
Note: Specific limits vary depending on your Web Hosting plan level.
CPU
CPU represents the number of central processing units (CPUs or cores) available to your account. If your site uses a database, gets lots of traffic, relies on scripts (such as PHP), or uses many resource-intensive add-ons (like themes and plugins), increasing your available CPU will enhance your site performance.
RAM
RAM is your Web server's most crucial memory. For example, site data in RAM loads the most quickly, and having more RAM prevents your CPU from having to retrieve data from the hard disk as often. Increasing a server's RAM will increase your site's overall performance.
Input/Output (I/O)
I/O represents the speed of data transfer between the hard disk and the RAM. If you've reached your I/O limit, the site "hangs" while it waits for the data transfer to complete. Generally, sites that read and write a lot of data (like streaming media or accessing a database), benefit most from I/O enhancements.
Files
File Usage counts the number of inodes (roughly equal to the number of files plus the number of directories, including emails and email folders) in an account. When you approach the maximum number of inodes for your account, you may see issues with disk space. Adding more inodes is a simple way to solve the problem.
Entry processes
Entry processes are the number of connections your account can process simultaneously. More than just the number of site visitors, it also includes things like delivering data via HTTP, transferring data via SSH, or running a Cron job. If your site generates a lot of 508 (Resource Limit Reached) errors, upgrading the available number of entry processes makes these errors occur less often.
When increasing resources doesn't help
If there's an engineering problem with your site - a runaway script, a poorly configured plug-in, or a process creating too many files or directories in your account - adding resources may help but won't fix the problem, and you may continue to see errors. If you've added resources and these problems continue, contact GoDaddy Expert Services for professional help with your site.
More info
- Learn more about your account's resource limits.
- Here's how to upgrade your account to increase the available resources.