Why am I getting a 500 error?
Note that server resources are separate from bandwidth. Because you are on a shared server, we have to enforce limits so that sites are "good neighbors" to each other. If your site is not being a good neighbor, it will generate a 500 error.
The allowed server resources are:
- 5% CPU daily, and
- 5% memory (RAM) daily
Databases are limited to 16 max user connections with a max query time of 8 seconds and the process should not consume more than 16 MB of memory.
You can view your log files by using FTP, connecting to your domain name, and looking in the /logs directory for resource.log. The log will tell you which script exceeded the resources and when.
When your site's code exceeds these resources the errors occur. You have two choices here:
1) Optimize your site's code so that less server resources are being used and so that you fall within our limits of the shared server. We are running lots of WordPress, Drupal, and other sites that comply with the server limits. Enable caching so that the application does not hit the database so often. W3 Total Cache is a good plugin for WordPress
2) Upgrade to a Virtual Private Server (VPS), which allows higher resource limits. We do not sell VPS right now but can recommend Rackspace Cloud Servers, or A2 Web Hosting.
Category: Knowledgebase
Created on: June 9th, 2008
