How to Check Hosting Resource Usage in cPanel

To keep your website running smoothly, it is a good idea to regularly monitor how it is using server resources such as processing power, memory (RAM) and the number of active processes. If a website frequently exceeds the capacity of the hosting package, it may experience slowdowns or temporary unavailability of the site.

Table of contents

• Resource Usage (cPanel)
  • 1. Access to the Resource Usage tool
  • 2. Basic Overview (Dashboard)
  • 3. Current usage
    • 3.1 Current usage table
    • 3.2 Graphical overview of server resource consumption
    • 3.3 Usage summary table
  • 4.Snapshot of resource consumption
• How to deal with capacity overruns?

Resource Usage (cPanel)

System capacity consumption can be monitored in the cPanel dashboard, where the Resource Usage tool is available. It provides a clear overview of the capacity consumption of the hosting package and the history of server resource consumption. By reviewing this data, it is possible to detect any errors or overloads and to ensure that websites run without interruption.

1. Accessing the Resource Usage Tool

Follow these steps to access the tool that allows you to view the capacity usage of your hosting package:

1. Log in to the cPanel control panel (login instructions).

2. Find the Metrics section and click on Resource Usage.

2. Basic Overview (Dashboard)

The tool first displays theDashboard, where in the upper part you can see if there have been any overloads in the last 24 hours. If the site is running smoothly, the message Your site had no issues in the past 24 hours is displayed.

A little lower down, you can also click on the DETAILS button to access a more detailed overview of the resource usage. You can also click on the Current usage tab to get to this item.

3. Current usage

Clicking on Current usage will display detailed information about the current and historical capacity usage of the hosting package. The content is divided into three sections:

• Current usage table
• a graphical overview of server resource usage
• Usage summary table

3.1 Current usage table

This table shows the current state of consumption of server resources. Columns include:

• SPEED Usage – CPU power consumption
• I/O Usage – the speed at which data is read/written to disk
• IOPS – number of disk operations per second
• NPROC – total number of active processes
• Entry Processes – number of concurrent HTTP/PHP requests
• Physical Memory Usage – working memory (RAM) usage

3.2 Graphical overview of server resource consumption

The current resource consumption table is followed by graphs showing the load at a given time in the past. The default display is ” Today“, but you can change it if you wish:

• Timeframe– the minimum timeframe is 10 minutes,
• TimeUnit – the option to display data by day, hour or minute.

The capacity consumption graphs of the hosting package are broken down by individual system resources.

CPU Usage

Shows the CPU power consumption, which determines the speed of script execution and data processing. If the line reaches 100%, the CPU capacity is fully utilised.

Physical Memory Usage

Shows the memory (RAM) usage required to run scripts, plugins and CMS systems. Overruns can lead to errors, e.g. Internal Server Error 500.

Input/Output Usage

Shows the speed of reading/writing to the disk (in MB/s). Increased usage usually occurs when uploading larger files or importing data.

I/O Operations

Shows the number of read/write operations per second. Frequent values at the upper limit indicate intensive file access.

Entry Processes

Shows the number of concurrent input requests to the server (HTTP/PHP). It is the number of scripts that are currently in the processing phase. An increased number of processes may indicate that the website has high traffic, but it may also indicate that the website is not properly optimised or has complex applications installed. An excessive number of concurrent processes can lead to a 503 (Service Unavailable) error or a 508 (Resource Limit Is Reached) error.

Processes

Shows the number of all active processes (NPROC) – PHP, CGI, cron, shell, etc., that are powered by the hosting package, not just those in the initialization phase. If the number of processes reaches the upper limit, additional requests are rejected.

Faults

Shows errors due to server resource overruns (e.g. RAM or CPU). A higher number of errors indicates the need to optimise the website or to switch to a more powerful hosting package.

3.3 Usage summary table

Below the graphs there is a table showing a more detailed overview of the consumption of all resources over time. Each row contains:

• From/Totimeframe – the time “from/to” when the consumption was measured.
• individual resource values – SPEED (processing power), PMEM (memory), IO (data transfer rate to disk), EP (number of input processes), NPROC (number of all active processes), IOPS (number of read/write operations to disk).

The table is useful to analyse when an increased consumption or error occurred on a hosting package.

4. Snapshot of resource consumption

The Snapshot functionality allows you to view the consumption of server capacity at a specific moment in time. In contrast to the Current usage tab, which displays data for a selected period of time, Snapshot displays the status of resource usage at a specific time in the past.

You can select a date and then a snapshot if several snapshots were created on a given day. This is useful when you want to analyse what was happening on the server at the time your website experienced slowdowns or errors.

Snapshot allows you to view the following data:

• Process list – a list of active processes that your hosting package was running at a given time.
• Database Queries – a list of active database queries, which helps to detect slow or “stuck” queries.
• HTTP Queries – a list of active HTTP requests, which helps to check the load on the server caused by a large number of visitors or bots.

How to deal with performance overruns?

Have you noticed that your hosting package is frequently experiencing resource overages? Make sure your website is performing better by taking the steps below.

• Optimise your website/application – remove unnecessary plugins and graphical templates that can slow down performance. Also, reduce the size of images by using compression tools (e.g. TinyPNG), which will help the page load faster.
• Locate system-wasting plugins – if you’re using WordPress, use the free Query Monitor plugin to identify plugins with the highest server resource usage, slow queries and other issues that slow down your site. Use this information to remove unnecessary or problematic plugins and replace them with more optimised alternatives.
• Include caching– install and configure a caching plugin (for WordPress: LiteSpeed Cache / WP Super Cache / WP Fastest Cache) to cache frequently used data, reducing server load and speeding up website responsiveness.

• Check traffic – monitor your website traffic regularly(instructions for checking statistics with AWStats), as sudden or consistently high traffic can increase resource consumption. If this is the case, it may be worth considering upgrading your hosting package to provide better performance and stability.
• Contact our support team – if you are unable to identify the causes of your hosting package overages, we at NEOSERV can help you analyse your resource consumption. We will also be happy to advise you on how to improve your website performance and, if necessary, which hosting package will be optimal for your needs.

In addition to the basic web hosting packages, NEOSERV also offers high-performance Turbo hosting for owners of high-traffic websites, larger online stores or resource-intensive applications. The increased processing power, memory and optimised data access of this type of hosting ensures that your website runs reliably and lightning-fast, even during peak traffic times.

For further assistance, please call us on 059 335 000 or email us at info@neoserv.si.