Limits/Quotas on shared hosting?

[dbooksta]

I have a popular Wordpress site presently hosted at Bluehost. They have an unadvertised "CPU Quota" that I have begun to exceed. What are the limits for shared hosting accounts at HostGator?

1. PHP process memory limits?
2. CPU usage limits?
3. Anything other limits, other than disk space and bandwidth, that could apply to a shared host account running Wordpress?
4. If there are limits, can they be raised by upgrading to more expensive shared hosting packages (but without having to move servers)?

I came across one HostGator review that said that when an account exceeded an unadvertised CPU limit it was immediately shut down -- before contact was even made with the owner. It took HostGator a week to send the owner a copy of his database so he could set it up elsewhere. Can you point me to written policies or contracts for HostGator shared hosting that describe your service commitments for this type of scenario?

[GvilleRick]

The Terms of Service outlines HG policies. In particular section 7 deals with Resource Usage. The answers to your first three questions should be found there.

As for raising the limits, it is not possible on a shared server to buy more resources. If a site causes problems on the server it will be suspended, you would expect that action if someone else on your server was causing problems for you. They have stated that they will contact the owner but they will suspend first and then make contact just as most hosts will do. I'm not sure on the comments about it taking a week to get a copy of a database but it is easy enough to set up a script to email your database backup every night so that you have one available.

Unfortunately popularity of a site can cause it to outgrow shared hosting and sites that have outgrown shared hosting are going to have problems on any host.

[dbooksta]

So what is a guy in my position supposed to do? Just assume that since I'm hitting limits with one shared host that my site will hit limits at any, and that my only solution will be a dedicated server?

There's no in-between -- if you just begin to break limits on a $12/month shared host you suddenly have to pony up $100-200/month to acommodate the extra blip in traffic?

[TheExoticFish]

Have you asked HostGator if they have any unmanaged dedicated servers left ?

[GvilleRick]

Originally Posted by dbooksta

So what is a guy in my position supposed to do? Just assume that since I'm hitting limits with one shared host that my site will hit limits at any, and that my only solution will be a dedicated server?

There's no in-between -- if you just begin to break limits on a $12/month shared host you suddenly have to pony up $100-200/month to acommodate the extra blip in traffic?

It does become a tough situation. Some shared hosts are better than others and can handle a site longer. I have found HG to be about as good as they come in shared hosting and it is possible that you would be able to run the site better here than on your current host. In the long run, however, if the site continues to grow in popularity you have to think of how to address it. That can mean finding ways to finance the site through ads, membership fees, etc. or can mean having to scale back on what you offer to stay within the resource limits of shared hosting.

[TheExoticFish]

Finding ways to support a site is key IMO. Even though my forum is new and pretty small I give the option to donate to help the forum. I have had several members do this already.

As it is now I don't need help funding my forum but I still accept the donations to help offset the cost.