Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : UK2 is reducing CPU limits without warning. Is that normal?

[londrum]

Hello. Just need your advice about something, if that's okay,

I have a site hosted with UK2, and i've been seeing a big slowdown recently, and an increasing number of 503 errors, so i spoke to their support and after a little digging I found out that my CPU limit has been cut in half.
It happened about a week ago, without warning, and without me being notified. They have literally slashed my CPU limit in half, to just above the amount that my site was averaging. This is the obviously the cause of my problems.
The support guy was actually pretty good, because he was the one who spotted it, and he sent a ticket upstairs to get it sorted.

But after speaking to another support guy and getting a reply, i am getting nowhere. All they want to say is "my site is using too many resources, and i should think about upgrading (at further expense)". Well, of course it is using too many resources -- because they have slashed my limit down to what i was averaging! And this is no small cut either -- its a cut of about 50%. So i was way, WAY under what i was originally allowed.

This seems like a total con to me. Does it to you? After more than a year of working okay, they have suddenly, without warning, reduced my allowed CPU limit, causing my site to slow down and throw 503 errors. They have effectively created the problem themselves. And their only "solution" is for me to upgrade?

I have spoken to a couple of different people at support now, and sent a ticket, but if they don't budge what would you do?

I basically want to know if anyone has ever experienced a webhost cutting their CPU limit, and whether that is normal.

[MannDude]

I can totally understand why you're upset, and it's my opinion that they certainly should of informed all clients of this change. However, it's quite possible they have a clause in their TOS that states they're able to update/change plans without prior notice.

Either way, I'd certainly be disappointed too, and I'd be looking for a new home.

[FernGullyGraphics]

What was your previous CPU limit and what was it cut to? I agree with Vazapi that most providers have a clause in their TOS that allows them to change web hosting packages without prior notice, however I do feel that if they did make changes, they should have notified you of the changes.

[ALGORYTHM]

This is a cloud linux feature, if your user exceeds the allocated cpu threshold, it will limit your account automatically. You have to breach the threshold before you get limited.

http://www.cloudlinux.com/benefits/

[dazmanultra]

Originally Posted by FernGullyGraphics

most providers have a clause in their TOS that allows them to change web hosting packages without prior notice

If you are tied into some kind of a contract, most of these types of clauses would be deemed unfair in UK contract law. Significant changes to the product or service being offer would normally give the consumer the opportunity to cancel the contract at no penalty should the terms be varied beyond the original scope.

[MannDude]

Originally Posted by ALGORYTHM

This is a cloud linux feature, if your user exceeds the allocated cpu threshold, it will limit your account automatically. You have to breach the threshold before you get limited.

http://www.cloudlinux.com/benefits/

Yeah, but he was smooth sailing and operating comfortably within his limits (from the sounds of it) and then they changed the settings which is now degrading his performance.

It sounds like a ploy to simply upsell more expensive products.

"Oh, you're hitting our CloudLinux enforced CPU or RAM limits for your account. Looks like you need to upgrade to our VPS services"

[VMotionIT]

You should definitely find out the exact numbers on the CPU limit and evaluate your website needs. It _might_ have outgrown shared hosting and needs a VPS.
It is advisable to put together the numbers of:
- disk space used
- average bandwidth during the last 6 months
- average processor load
- average memory consumption (as CloudLinux limits both CPU _and_ memory)

After meditating on that numbers you will see what are your current needs pretty much without any external advice.

Best regards,

[londrum]

the numbers look okay to me.

the maximum for CPU usage was set at 12%. i spiked at about 8% a couple of times over the last 30 days (the furthest i can look back), but it was averaging out at about 3 or 4% -- way below 50% of what i was allowed. the maximum has now been reduced to just above 4%.

the figures for bandwidth, disk space usage and memory are peanuts -- 10%, 4% and <1%. so i dont want to move to dedicated hosting yet because that's just a waste of money at the moment.

[VMotionIT]

londrum, 5% is a default setting for CPU usage on CloudLinux, so if/when you'll be looking for a new home for your website make sure you ask upfront.

Could you provide exact (not percentages) numbers for the other numbers as UK2 have a number of plans and I have no idea which one you are using.

Thank you,

[iseletsk]

The default limit for CloudLinux is 25% or 1 core (whichever is smaller)
Most hosts let it be at that. The idea is that limit is high enough that if site spikes a bit, it works without issues.
Yet, if you think about it -- your site is using 5% of CPU resources on AVERAGE, which means that you are utilizing 1/20th of the server resources. This is quite a lot, as most shared hosting providers expect at least ~100-300 customers per server.
I think this is the reason they slashed your limits. I think they should have notified you, and warned you in advanced, but overall, it sounds reasonable that they are asking you to upgrade/pay more if you are using 1/20th of the server.

[londrum]

yup, i've now been told that 5% was the CPU usage limit, and not 12%, so it looks like I was always quite close to the edge. Guess I've got a bit of re-coding to do... It's still annoying that it's just lumbered on you out of the blue though, when the usage graphs that they provide show that you are well within your limits, because it's not easy re-coding a site in a short amount of time.
but anyway, thanks for your replies

[NetFusionHosting]

I think it's ridiculous that they wouldn't at least EXPLAIN why this happened let alone telling you before.

[WireNine]

Originally Posted by londrum

yup, i've now been told that 5% was the CPU usage limit, and not 12%, so it looks like I was always quite close to the edge. Guess I've got a bit of re-coding to do... It's still annoying that it's just lumbered on you out of the blue though, when the usage graphs that they provide show that you are well within your limits, because it's not easy re-coding a site in a short amount of time.
but anyway, thanks for your replies

What kind of a website do you have? Most shared providers are now utilizing CloudLinux to throttle users who abuse server resources without having to suspend their services.

[ldcdc]

This seems like a total con to me. Does it to you? After more than a year of working okay, they have suddenly, without warning, reduced my allowed CPU limit, causing my site to slow down and throw 503 errors. They have effectively created the problem themselves. And their only "solution" is for me to upgrade?

While their decision to take action without notification may be questioned, the fact is that you using 5% of a server, consistently, in a shared hosting environment, is not sustainable in the long run, with just about any host.

Simply changing your hosting provider is likely enough to put you in a similar position, if not worse: outright account suspension.

[HostXNow]

Are UK2 using CloudLinux?