What is resource usage in control panel?

July 4, 2024

Resource usage in control panel refers to the monitoring and management of the resources allocated to your hosting account. These resources typically include CPU, memory (RAM), disk space, bandwidth, and in some cases, the number of input/output operations per second (IOPS), inodes, and other metrics. Understanding and managing resource usage is crucial for maintaining optimal website performance and ensuring that your hosting environment operates within its limits.

What Is Resource Usage?

On servers, there is a limited amount of resources available for use at any one given time, for all users on that server. The main resources that we monitor for high usage would be CPU usage and disk space usage.

CPU Usage

The processors or CPU cores on a server handle any tasks that your account sends to them, with typical tasks including running a server-side PHP script, connecting to a database, or sending an email.

Because there is a set number of CPU cores per server, the amount of time that your account can request processing time from the CPUs is limited on a shared hosting platform. One user monopolizing CPU usage even unintentionally can lead to delays for other user’s website requests, so this is why we monitor this usage and send out notices when we see problematic levels of CPU usage.

Disk Usage

Once the CPU has processed the instructions for the tasks it needs to complete for your account, it typically is going to require reading or writing information to the hard drive on the server.

Because the hard drive is shared by all the users on the server, excessive read or write requests to the SSD can delay other users’ requests from getting fulfilled in a timely manner. One user with an excessive amount of un-optimized MySQL queries for example could potentially cause other user’s MySQL requests to delay or even time-out, so we also monitor this resource and alert when we notice high usage.

Key Metrics in Resource Usage in control panel

  1. CPU Usage:
    • Description: The amount of processing power your website or applications are using.
    • Importance: High CPU usage can slow down your website and affect other users on a shared server. It can also indicate inefficient code or high traffic.
  2. Memory (RAM) Usage:
    • Description: The amount of RAM being used by your website or applications.
    • Importance: Insufficient memory can lead to slow performance or even website crashes. High memory usage might be caused by large applications or memory leaks.
  3. Disk Space:
    • Description: The amount of storage space used by your files, databases, emails, and other data.
    • Importance: Running out of disk space can prevent file uploads, database operations, and email reception. Regular monitoring helps in maintaining sufficient free space.
  4. Bandwidth:
    • Description: The amount of data transferred between your website and its visitors over a specific period.
    • Importance: Exceeding your bandwidth limit can result in additional charges or website downtime. High bandwidth usage usually correlates with high traffic or large file downloads.
  5. IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second):
    • Description: The number of read/write operations performed by your disk.
    • Importance: High IOPS can indicate heavy database activity or frequent file access, affecting disk performance and website speed.
  6. Inodes:
    • Description: The number of files and directories in your hosting account.
    • Importance: Exceeding the inode limit can prevent file creation and lead to performance issues.

Common High Resource Usage Problems

There are a lot of common things that could lead to high resource usage problems, and the list below is not meant to be 100% exhaustive, but rather the most common issues to our knowledge we see happening on accounts.

If you encounter a resource usage-related problem that is not mentioned here, please use the Your Opinion Matters! form up at the top-right of this article to inform me. This way we can continue to expand our list and make it that much easier for the next customer that has a similar problem.

  • Excessive amount of errors.
  • Viruses and other malicious activity.
  • Inefficient coding of your website.
  • Intensive cron jobs or scheduled tasks.
  • Unattended forums getting used for spam.
  • Heavy disk activity coming from IMAP e-mail accounts.
  • Excessive amount of plugins/modules on your application.
  • Excessive amount of spam comments, or guestbook entries.
  • No form of database caching to reduce duplicate database queries.
  • Excessive e-mail spam filtering, forwarding, and BoxTrapper usage.
  • Large surges in traffic going to a site not optimized for that level of traffic.
  • Search engine crawlers and automated robots activity not being controlled.
  • Excessive amounts of CPU processing especially related to image manipulation.

Monitoring Resource Usage in control panel

Most control panels, such as cPanel, Plesk, and DirectAdmin, provide tools to monitor these resources. Here’s how you can typically access and interpret resource usage information:

  1. cPanel:
    • Resource Usage (CPU and Concurrent Connections): Go to “Metrics” > “Resource Usage” to view detailed reports on CPU and entry processes (concurrent connections).
    • Disk Usage: Navigate to “Files” > “Disk Usage” to see a breakdown of your disk space usage.
    • Bandwidth: Check “Metrics” > “Bandwidth” for detailed bandwidth reports.
  2. Plesk:
    • Resource Usage: Go to “Statistics” > “Resource Usage” to see CPU, memory, disk space, and other metrics.
    • Disk Usage: Navigate to “Statistics” > “Disk Space Usage” for a detailed view of your disk usage.
    • Bandwidth: Check “Statistics” > “Traffic” for bandwidth usage details.
  3. DirectAdmin:
    • Resource Usage: Check “Account Manager” > “Resource Usage” for an overview of CPU, memory, disk space, and bandwidth.
    • Disk Usage: Navigate to “Account Manager” > “Disk Usage” for detailed information.
    • Bandwidth: Go to “Account Manager” > “Bandwidth Usage” for bandwidth details.

Managing Resource Usage

To manage and optimize your resource usage, consider the following practices:

  1. Optimize Code and Queries:
    • Ensure your website code is efficient and optimize database queries to reduce CPU and memory usage.
  2. Use Caching:
    • Implement caching mechanisms (e.g., browser caching, server-side caching) to reduce server load and improve performance.
  3. Optimize Images and Files:
    • Compress and optimize images and other media files to save disk space and reduce bandwidth usage.
  4. Regular Cleanups:
    • Remove unnecessary files, backups, and unused plugins/themes to free up disk space and reduce inode usage.
  5. Monitor Traffic:
    • Use analytics tools to monitor website traffic and identify spikes that may require resource adjustments.
  6. Upgrade Hosting Plan:
    • If your website consistently exceeds resource limits, consider upgrading to a higher-tier hosting plan with more resources or moving to a VPS or dedicated server.

Conclusion

Resource usage in control panel is essential for maintaining the health and performance of your website. By regularly checking your resource metrics and implementing best practices for optimization, you can ensure that your site runs smoothly and efficiently within the limits of your hosting environment.