The short answer: in cPanel, under Metrics > Resource Usage, you can see your account’s CPU, memory, entry processes (EP), number of processes (NPROC), I/O and IOPS, over time and against the limit that applies to it. The Statistics sidebar shows the same resources right now. This article is the route, click by click, and what to write down on each screen. What each resource is lives in CPU, RAM and disk I/O in plain words; how to read the lines on the graphs, in reading the Resource Usage graphs.
Where to see each thing
| What you want to know |
Where it is in cPanel |
The unit it uses |
| CPU |
Resource Usage, the CPU Usage graph; right now, in the Statistics sidebar |
A percentage: 100% is one processor core. Compare it with the limit line, not with a whole machine. |
| Memory |
Resource Usage, Physical Memory Usage and, on some servers, Virtual Memory Usage |
Bytes (MB or GB) |
| Entry processes (EP) |
Resource Usage, the Entry Processes graph |
The number of requests running at the same time |
| Number of processes (NPROC) |
Resource Usage, the Number of Processes graph |
The number of processes alive at the same time |
| I/O and IOPS |
Resource Usage, the I/O Usage and IOPS graphs |
I/O as a speed (KB/s or MB/s); IOPS as operations per second |
| Everything, right now |
The Statistics sidebar: each resource with its current value and the account’s maximum |
The same ones, plus space and files (inodes) |
| What was running when it hit the limit |
Resource Usage > Snapshots, when your version shows them |
A list of the processes and requests at that moment |
| Errors at the same time |
Metrics > Errors |
Lines with the date, the file and the message |
Step by step
| 1 |
Log in to the cPanel of the account you want to check. If you have several hosting accounts, each has its own limits and its own graphs: look at them one at a time.
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| 2 |
Look at the Statistics sidebar first. Each resource shows its value at this moment and the account’s maximum. If the list looks short, use expand stats. It is a photograph: it tells you how things are now, not how they were.
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| 3 |
Open Metrics > Resource Usage. The first page sums up the last 24 hours in one sentence: no problems (Your site had no issues in the past 24 hours), close to the limits (Your site might hit resource limits soon) or limited (Your site has been limited within the past 24 hours), and it says which resource.
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| 4 |
Click Details and pick the period. There are short ones (the last few minutes, the last hour) and long ones (24 hours, 7 days, 30 days). For an incident today, 24 hours; to see whether usage is growing, 7 or 30 days.
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| 5 |
Go through the graphs one by one: CPU, memory, EP, processes, I/O and IOPS. On each, note three things: whether the curve touches the limit line, whether there are faults (the times it actually hit the ceiling), and at what time.
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| 6 |
If your version has a table view, use it for the exact figures in each interval: Average, Max, Limit and Fault.
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If there were faults, open Snapshots, where available, and pick the moment of the fault. It lists the processes and requests that were running: that is where the name of the guilty script or address shows up.
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| 9 |
Keep what you saw: a screenshot of each graph with faults, with the period visible. If you need help, that is what to send us.
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cPanel menu names change with the version and the language. If your cPanel is in another language, look for the same position on the screen: Resource Usage sits in the Metrics section.
To bring each resource down, once you have seen it: CPU, memory, entry processes, number of processes and I/O. In your account in Meu Interweb, once usage passes 75%, a banner also appears on the service page: your plan limits at a glance.
Optimise or upgrade?
| What you see |
Optimise or upgrade? |
| The summary says there were no issues and the curves are far from the line |
Neither. The plan is enough. Look again after the next change to the site. |
| Faults only at moments you recognise: an import, a backup, a campaign |
Optimise. Move the task to another time or another place: disk I/O at the limit. |
| CPU or EP faults at any hour, even with few visitors |
Optimise. It is the site, not the plan: what eats CPU on a website. |
| Faults grow week after week, with more real visitors |
Upgrade. The site really needs more. |
| You have already optimised and the summary still says “limited” nearly every day |
Upgrade. |
Bigger plans
The limit that applies to your account is the line on this screen, and each plan has its own: CPU from 1 core (100%) on Pro and Plus to 4 cores (400%) on Business Ultra, memory from 1 GB to 8 GB, entry processes from 20 to 100, processes from 60 to 200, I/O from 10 MB/s to 50 MB/s and IOPS from 1,024 to 8,192. The full table, plan by plan, is in your plan limits at a glance. After an upgrade, the limit line sits higher on the same graphs: that is how you see the difference. How to do it: how to upgrade your plan; which step to pick: which hosting plan comes next.
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If Resource Usage does not appear in your cPanel, or says monitoring is switched off (Resource Usage monitoring disabled), do not draw conclusions from elsewhere: commands such as free or uptime in the Terminal describe the whole server, not your account. Open a support ticket and we will look at it with you.
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Make it a short habit. A glance at the 24-hour summary once a week, and always after a change to the site (a new plugin, a theme, a campaign). Comparing before and after is the quickest way to learn what weighs.
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Seen faults and cannot tell where they come from? Open a support ticket with the period and the screenshots of the graphs.
Open a support ticket
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