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Unlimited Hosting Is Limited HostingImagine a web host has a server with 600 gigabytes of hard drive space and 3000 GBs of total bandwidth (3 terabytes) per month. They offer plans that are “Unlimited” and 250 customers are already on the server, so that a total of 550 GB of space and all 3TB bandwidth has already been used this month.And the web host is still selling accounts on that server! How is this possible?OversellingThe answer is that the actual amount of space and bandwidth used by a hosting account is often much lower than the resource cap. Most web masters use only a small fraction of their allowed limit (if there is one). If the drives are full, a new one can be added. Bandwidth can be purchased to cover a small overage. This is what is known as “Overselling.”Most web hosts that oversell services do not take CPU resources into consideration. Processor resources are finite – you can’t just add in another on demand. And you, the hosted user, are stuck on a server that is constantly running all out just to keep up because of the sheer number of accounts hosted alongside you.Overselling is why there are are so many web hosting companies out there and why so many seem to open up or shut down every day. Existing companies oversell to the point that the service tanks, the user gets fed up and finds an new host that is also overselling – a big plan at a crazy price is hard to pass up. As more and more clients jump ship, the old hosts pick up speed and the new ones get crushed under the load.Overselling Sucks!Now, overselling and unlimited hosting plans are not universally bad. For most users, this kind of shared hosting is perfectly fine. However, some sites are more CPU intensive, relying heavily on databases and PHP. WordPress sites are a common example – as sites become more popular, larger, or add more features and plugins, it’s not necessarily the disk space or bandwidth that becomes strained, it’s the server’s RAM and processors.Many web hosts consider excessive use of these resources to be cause for canceling your hosting account. This is commonly called “TOS’ing” an account. Unlimited Hosting does not cover CPU resources. Having a popular site can actually be a violation of your Terms of Service!
How Do I Know How Overloaded My Server Is?Log into your cpanel. Click on “Service Status.” You should now see a table of stats and a row of colored circles. Here are some signs your server might be overloaded:1. Any of the status lights are NOT green
2. Any of the services are down
3. Server load is constantly over.90 (1 means NONE of the processors has cycles to spare)
4. Memory or Disk usage is consistently above 80%These are not signs that your site is a resource hog, only indicators of how hard your server is working to serve all the hosting accounts. Just because your site is not a CPU hog doesn’t mean someone else’s site isn’t making yours slow and unstable.What Can I Do To Limit My Resource Use?Here are some ideas to keep your account from getting canceled:1. Use a cache. There are several different cache plugins available for WordPress. Caches store data that can be reused for multiple users, instead of having the site reload data from the database every time a visitor makes a request.2. Use a CDN. Content Delivery Networks store your site’s most commonly used files offsite and deliver them directly to your visitors.3. Make fewer database calls. Using fewer WordPress plugins, or forum extensions will easy the load on your database server.These tips will will also make your site faster.Help! My Web Host TOS’d Me Off My Unlimited Hosting Plan!If your site gets shut down for resource abuse, you have a few options:1. You can rent a virtual private server or dedicated server. This can be expensive, especially if you are not an experienced server administrator and need a “managed” solution.2. You can try signing up for another unlimited plan at another web host, but be sure to limit your resource use from now on, or you’ll probably get in trouble again.3. Find a shared hosting provider that does not oversell. Web Hosts that do not oversell are rare and usually charge higher rates than more popular oversold web hosts, but are far cheaper and easier to use than dedicated or virtual servers.