What CloudLinux does on shared hosting, and why you should ask about it
The CPU on a shared server is a single queue. CloudLinux puts a cap on every account. Here's how it works, and how it shows in the panel.
Zygore team · · 5 min read
A shared hosting server hosts dozens of sites. They all share the same CPU, memory and disk. With nothing to stop it, the site that asks for most gets most: a badly written plugin, a heavy cron or a brute-force attack on one account slows all the others down. The affected customer did nothing and their site is slow.
What CloudLinux does
CloudLinux is a Linux-based operating system built for this case. Two pieces do the work:
- LVE (Lightweight Virtual Environment). Each account is assigned a cap on CPU cores, memory and simultaneous processes. It can use up to that. If it reaches it, it slows itself down, not the others.
- CageFS. Each user sees a filesystem of their own, with their files and processes, as if alone on the machine. A compromised site can't read or touch another account's files.
How it shows at Zygore
The caps the server applies are the same ones you see on each plan's card and in your site's overview in the panel: 2 cores and 3 GB on Inicia, 4 and 6 GB on Crece, 6 and 12 GB on Escala. If your site gets close to its limit, you see it before it's a problem. And the fix is in the same panel: upgrade with pro-rating, or check what's consuming it.
What CloudLinux isn't
It's not a guarantee of “reserved” resources: it's a cap nobody can invade. If you need truly reserved resources and few neighbours, that's semi-dedicated; if you need a whole machine, the managed VPS. Nor is it a promise of speed: speed comes from the web server, the cache and the disk. What CloudLinux guarantees is that what happens in another account stays there.