What is a Resource Usage Policy?
It’s our way of making sure all shared hosting clients can peacefully coexist while enjoying the benefits of pooled resources on a shared server. These guidelines are based on years of performance testing and optimization. While they’re generally followed as outlined, Digital Dynamo may, at its sole discretion, determine if an activity not listed here qualifies as resource abuse.
Why We Have These Policies
Our goal is to deliver high-quality, always-online hosting, but that can’t happen if a single account overconsumes resources and slows down the entire server. These guidelines help maintain a reliable environment for everyone. Only a small fraction of accounts ever run into these limits, and most are resolved with minimal effort.
When Are These Enforced?
Most limitations are considered “soft limits.” Occasional overages are typically fine—as long as your account isn’t consistently consuming more than its fair share. If a problem arises, we’ll give you notice and 48 hours to respond. If your site severely impacts server performance, we may suspend your account temporarily while we work with you on a solution.
If you ever have questions, contact us — we’re happy to help.
General Account Limitations
You may not use your account to:
Host or engage in unlawful contests, lotteries, gambling, chain letters, spamming, or unsolicited messaging
- Distribute obscene, defamatory, or unlawful content (e.g. child pornography)
- Upload malicious software (viruses, worms, trojans, etc.)
- Host IRC daemons, shell services, or any IRC-based communication tools
- Provide free or bulk email services to the public (including opt-in lists)
- Run web spiders, scrapers, or bots (like Google Cash or AdSpy)
- Host torrent software or store torrent files (you may link to legal off-site torrents)
- Host gaming servers (e.g., Counter-Strike, Battlefield1942, etc.)
Processes
Limits per account include:
- Max 512MB of physical RAM
- Max 512MB of virtual RAM
- No single process may use more than 30 seconds of CPU time
- No single process may use more than 15% CPU
- Max 15 concurrent Apache connections
- Max 15 running processes per account
- No background daemons or listeners (e.g., Red5 requires a dedicated server)
Database Restrictions
- Max 10 MySQL connections per user
- Max 100 concurrent connections per database
- Max database size: 1GB
- Read queries: max 3,000/hour
- Write operations: max 1,000/hour
- Remote database access is prohibited; databases must be accessed via scripts hosted on the same server
Files & Directories
- Max 250,000 inodes (each file, email, and directory counts as one inode)
- Avoid more than 2,000 files per directory to prevent FTP listing errors
Emails
- Max 300 emails/hour on shared hosting
- Max 30 email checks/hour per account (exceeding may trigger “incorrect login” errors)
- Mailing lists over 5,000 recipients must be hosted on a dedicated server
- Mailing list emails must be throttled under the 300/hour limit
- Lists over 1,000 recipients may only send during off-peak hours (Sat–Sun or 1AM–8AM EST, Mon–Fri)
- Double opt-in is required for all list subscriptions
- Every message must include an opt-out method that is processed quickly
Cron Jobs
- Cron jobs may not run more frequently than once every 15 minutes
Backups
Shared hosting accounts may not be used for general file storage or backups.
You may not:
- Upload large collections of personal photos, music, or non-website-related content
- Store more than one full account backup at a time
- Leave backup files on the server permanently
We encourage regular backups, but you should download and remove them after creation.
Is This Everything?
Not quite. These are just the most common and critical limitations. You should also review our:
- Full Terms & Conditions
- Unlimited Hosting Policy
- Email & Mailing Policy
All Policies Overview
