In a shared hosting environment, a server’s resources are what economists would call a common pool resource, meaning that although having plenty of available system resources benefits everyone, no single user has an incentive to ensure that they don’t use too many resources themselves. In an effort to protect against the tragedy of the (server) commons, we have placed limits on the amount of a server’s resources that any given user may consume. While these are limits, server abuse is not limited to these policies and is up to Energized I.T.’s discretion what constitutes server abuse. Please note that these resource policies are applicable towards shared, reseller, and semi-dedicated hosting services.
Understand that these policies are in place to protect you, our customers, from poor service quality. Generally, if we need to impose a restriction on an account for resource abuse, that account is in violation of at least two of these policies (or one policy to a very serious degree) and is adversely affecting the other clients on their server. The large, large majority of sites, at least 99.5%, will never even have to take these limits into consideration. That being said, it’s good to make yourself aware of them.
It is also important to note that many of these limits can be seen as “soft” limits. They are not actively enforced, and you can run up to or even over most of them without issue. If, however, you start to affect the overall performance of a server, we do need to have limits and policies in place. Without them it’s incredibly hard to explain to the customer, in quantitative terms, exactly how a site is consuming too many system resources. If an account is found to be in violation of these Resource Usage Policies, we will do our best to work with clients to give 48 hours, 5 days, or 10 days notice depending on the severity of the violation. We reserve the right as outlined in the TOS to suspend a site if it is causing a severe problem.
Unsolicited Bulk/Commercial Email / SPAM
The use of Energized I.T. LLC servers and networks to transmit unsolicited bulk/commercial email (also know as spam) is strictly forbidden. Under no circumstance is the transmission of spam acceptable or tolerated.
The transmission of spam from our servers and networks can cause irreparable monetary and reputation damage. All damages caused by spamming will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Any client caught explicitly spamming from our servers or networks will have their account immediately terminated & without notice.
Backups
Energized I.T.’s servers are not allowed be used as a backup/storage system and only one cPanel/SiteAdmin backup for that same account is allowed.
Adult Content
Under no circumstance is adult content permitted on Energized I.T.’s servers or networks. All adult oriented pictures, videos, links, written content and similar is strictly prohibited. Should you require hosting for adult oriented content, please contact a host who specializes in this hosting realm.
Chat Applications
All interactive chat web applications are strictly prohibited on Energized I.T.’s servers. This includes but is not limited to chat applications written in PHP, Perl, CGI, Python, Ruby, etc. in addition to IRC or IRC bots. Any web application that provides ‘real-time’ chat is not permitted. Shoutboxes, Chatboxes and other web based chat programs other than those specifically provided by Energized I.T. are prohibited.
Web Applications & Web Accessible Scripts
All web applications that are out of date and actively being exploited will be shut down immediately without notice. As a webmaster you should evaluate your web based applications and scripts on a regular basis to ensure they’re secure and up to date.
General
If you have a question on whether or not your content is in violation, please email our Abuse Department for clarification.
Processes
Processes invoked by the web server, cron, shell or any other method should not exceed the following limitations:
Database Restrictions
Files and Directories
Web
Email and Mailing Lists
Cron Jobs
Shell
Failure To Comply With Policy
Failure to fully comply with these terms is grounds for account suspension and/or termination (with or without refund, subject to Energized I.T.’s discretion). All accounts and/or servers contained within Energized I.T.’s network must adhere to the above policies.
We reserve the right to remove any account without prior notice. If we terminate your account for violating policy, you will forfeit your rights to a refund–and none will be given. No refunds for advanced payment.
Our Approach to Excessive Resource Usage
For more information on our general philosophy regarding resource usage, as well as our approach to dealing with instances of excessive resource usage, you can review our somewhat idealogical but highly informative wiki article on Overselling and Resource Usage.
Questions
The examples listed herein are a guide and may not be an exhaustive list. If you have a question on whether or not your content is in violation, please email our Abuse Department for clarification.
The examples listed herein are a guide and may not be an exhaustive list. If you have a question on whether or not your content is in violation, please email our Abuse Department for clarification.