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What is the inode limit, and what happens when it is reached?
What is the inode limit, and what happens when it is reached?

Understanding what are inodes and the inode limit on your hosting plan

Updated over a week ago

An inode (index node) is a data structure that stores important information and attributes about all the files or directories on your hosting. Each file or directory counts as one inode, and since the web and cloud hosting plans have a set maximum number of inodes, it is important to keep your inode count below the limit.

For a powerful and flexible hosting alternative without inode limits, consider a VPS hosting plan 🚀

To check the current inode usage on your account, go to Websites Dasbhoard, and search for Resources Usage on the sidebar. Scroll down to find the Disk an inodes charts - the one to the right indicates the current number of inodes and the inode limit of your hosting plan:

For a more detailed breakdown, refer to this guide: How to check the number of inodes and disk usage per directory 💡

What happens if the inode limit is reached?

Once the inode limit is reached, you will no longer be able to create any additional files or directories, even if there is still available space on the disk. Your website might also stop working properly, and the file manager may show some errors.

When you reach 80% or more of the inode or disk space limits, we'll present you with some advice and troubleshooting options in the Resource Usage section. You can also take the following actions at any time:

  1. Reduce the inode count – This is the first measure you can take and is especially useful if you are also approaching the disk size quota. Remove any files and directories you no longer need. You can use the File Manager or FTP:

    1. Remove any add-on websites or subdomains you no longer need - make sure to download the file backups and databases as well as back up your email messages before proceeding.

    2. If your website is WordPress-based, delete any unused backups created by plugins, as well as old staging environments. Deactivate and uninstall unused plugins or themes.

    3. For any website type, delete old manual backups, cache files, and redundant files such as resized images, leaving only the currently used ones.

    4. Check the .logs directory – while some files may be deleted automatically, others that are unnecessary might still remain.

  2. Boost for 24 hours – You can temporarily increase your disk storage if you can't access the file manager due to the limit being reached.

  3. Leverage the hosting capacity – If you've already checked and definitely need all your current files, consider upgrading your hosting plan to increase the inode limit along with other resources for your website.

NOTE

  • For web and cloud plans, emails, database and automated backup storage are independent of the hosting storage; therefore, they do not count toward the disk or inode quota.

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