What is the IO Limit?
The IO limit is arguably the hardest to understand, and it is the hardest to understand what is causing the suspension. This guide will do its best to explain the limit, and how you can avoid it.
The IO limit is a measure of how much your website interacts with our servers. IO is measured in MB per second, and represents the rate at which your site is using our servers' resources. Unlike other fair-use limits, we use a “strikes” system with the IO limit, as we understand that spikes in usage are common.
Each time your site hits the IO limit, it is assigned a “strike”. If your site accumulates so many “strikes” in a set period of time, it is suspended for 24 hours.
What are the causes of the IO limit?
Since IO is a measure of the interaction between your site and our servers, the cause of the IO limit is the actions your website is taking. For example, the following things tend to cause high IO usage:
- Backup and Import plugins
- Uploading lots of files using WordPress’s inbuilt file manager
- Installing Large Themes/Plugins from WordPress Admin
- Using a large PHP script that interacts with the files on your website
How do I prevent hitting the IO limit?
Here are a few suggestions to help prevent the suspension for the IO limit in the future. The best way to prevent it again is to determine what happened in the hours leading up to the suspension, and avoiding those actions in the future.
- Backup your website manually, don’t use plugins
- Upload files to WordPress over FTP, not the Admin Dashboard
- Install Plugins and Themes over FTP, not the Admin Dashboard
- Reduce the amount of time a PHP script modifies local files
When will my account be unsuspended?
Accounts suspended for the IO limit are unsuspended after 24 hours. We don’t unsuspend accounts earlier upon request. If you want, you can upgrade to premium hosting where the IO limit is higher.
