When you purchase a hosting plan, you're essentially renting a portion of a server's resources. Resource limits define the maximum amount of these computational assets your website can use. Think of them as the rules of the road for your site's operation on a shared server. Exceeding these limits can slow down your site or cause temporary suspension.

The primary resources that are typically limited include:

• CPU (Central Processing Unit) Time: The amount of processing power your site's scripts can use. High usage often comes from poorly optimized plugins or heavy traffic.
• RAM (Memory): The temporary working space for your site's active processes. Insufficient RAM leads to errors and slow loading.
• I/O (Input/Output) Operations: The rate of reading/writing data to the server's disk. Database-heavy sites need to monitor this closely.
• Number of Processes: How many simultaneous tasks (like PHP executions) your site can run.
• Entry Processes: Limits simultaneous connections to your site, crucial for handling visitor spikes.

These limits are in place to ensure fair usage and server stability for all customers sharing the same hardware. If your site consistently hits its limits, it's a sign you need to optimize your website's code, database, and images or consider upgrading to a plan with higher allocations, like VPS or dedicated hosting. Monitoring your usage through your hosting control panel is key to maintaining a smooth, reliable online presence.