Overview
When a site slows down, goes offline with a database connection error, or you are wondering whether your plan still fits, your usage data is one of the first places to look. It shows how much CPU, RAM, storage, and traffic your environment is using, and how close it is to its limits. That tells you whether a problem is resource-related, which site is causing it, and whether the fix is optimization or more resources.
Usage data appears in two places. Each site’s overview shows the requests that site receives and a snapshot of its environment. The environment’s Usage tab shows detailed graphs over time. All sites in an environment share its resources, including staging sites. If you host several sites on one environment, for example client sites, a busy or poorly optimized site can affect performance for all of them.
In this article, you will find where to view your usage data, what each figure means, and how to use it in the situations you are most likely to face.
Where to find your usage data
Site overview
The site overview is a quick health check for one site and the environment it runs on.
Step 1: Open your site
Log in to the Levamo dashboard and select the site from the Sites page. The site opens on the Overview tab.
Step 2: Review requests
The Requests panel shows the total number of requests the site received and the daily average. Use the dropdown in the top-right corner of the panel to switch between Last 24 hours, Last 7 days, and Last 30 days.
Step 3: Review the environment snapshot
The Environment panel shows the environment’s region, PHP version, and status, along with current CPU usage, RAM usage, local storage, and backup storage.
Environment usage
The Usage tab shows how the environment’s resources have been used over time, measured against its limits.
Step 1: Open the environment
Go to the environment in one of two ways:
From a site: On the site’s Overview tab, click Manage environment in the Environment panel
From the main navigation: Select Environments, then select the environment
Step 2: Open the Usage tab
Click Usage in the environment’s top menu. Local storage and backup storage appear at the top, followed by graphs for traffic, CPU, and RAM.
Step 3: Choose a time range
Use the dropdown above the graphs to switch between Last hour, Last 24 hours, Last 7 days, and Last 30 days.
Hover over any point on a graph to see the exact usage and limit at that moment, along with the date and time.
Note:
On the Last hour view, data points and limits are calculated per minute. All other ranges use hourly data points.
What each figure measures
Requests
Requests count every request made to a site, not just page views. One page load usually triggers several requests for images, scripts, and stylesheets, and background activity such as REST API calls, AJAX, and cron adds more. This is why requests are much higher than the visitor numbers in your analytics.
Requests are the only figure reported per site, which makes them the best way to see which site on a shared environment is the busiest.
Requests are not the same as your plan’s estimated visits, which count front-end pageviews and are a guidance figure, not a limit. See Understanding estimated visits on Levamo.
Traffic
Traffic shows inbound bandwidth: the rate at which data reaches the environment from all of its sites, measured in Mbps (megabits per second). The dashed red line marks the environment’s traffic limit. Hover over the graph to see the exact rate and limit at any point.
CPU
CPU shows how much processing power the environment is using. The site overview shows it as a percentage, and the Usage tab shows it in MHz or GHz. The dashed red line marks your plan’s base CPU allocation. Hover over the graph to see exact figures, for example 21 MHz of usage against a 1.4 GHz base allocation.
Cached pages use very little CPU. Uncached work uses much more: carts, checkouts, logged-in members, searches, form submissions, and admin activity. This is why WooCommerce stores, membership sites, and LMS platforms usually need more CPU than content sites with similar traffic.
RAM
RAM is the memory the environment uses to run WordPress, PHP, the database, and object caching. Its usage rises with concurrent visitors and with plugins that load a lot of data on each request. The site overview shows it as a percentage, and the Usage tab shows it in MB or GB. The dashed red line marks your plan’s base RAM allocation. Hover over the graph to see exact figures.
How scaling works
On Business plans and above, CPU and RAM scale automatically when demand rises. The dashed red line on each graph shows your plan’s base allocation, which is 100% of the resources included with your plan. Usage above the line is normal. It means scaling is absorbing extra load, and you do not need to do anything.
Scaling has a hard cap at 200% of the base allocation, which is twice the value of the red line. For example, if the CPU line sits at 1.4 GHz, the environment can scale up to 2.8 GHz. The cap is not drawn on the graph. When usage reaches it, requests can slow down or fail until load drops.
Starter plans do not include dynamic scaling.
Local storage
Local storage is the NVMe SSD space included with your plan. It holds WordPress files, databases, media uploads, and the core services the environment needs to run. Every site in the environment uses it, including staging sites.
When local storage fills up, the database fails to write data. Other services the environment relies on can also start to fail. Because storage is shared across the environment, this affects every site on the environment at the same time, not just the one using the most space.
Important:
A full disk takes down every site on the environment. Keep an eye on the storage bar, and act well before it reaches the limit.
Backup storage
Backup storage is a separate allocation used only for backups. Levamo takes automated daily backups, stored off-site and incrementally, so each backup saves only what changed since the previous one. Filling your local storage does not affect your backups, and the reverse is also true.
Using your usage data
Your site is slow or timing out
Start on the Usage tab with the Last hour or Last 24 hours view, and compare the CPU and RAM graphs to their red lines. Hover over any spike to see its exact time and value, which helps you match it to activity on your sites.
Usage approaching twice the red line: The environment is close to its hard cap and is short on resources. Check the traffic graph to see whether the load lines up with a traffic increase.
Usage above the red line but well below twice its value: Scaling is handling the load. If the site is still slow, the cause is likely elsewhere.
Usage below the red line: The slowdown is likely not resource-related. Common causes are a slow external API, a heavy database query, or a plugin issue. The environment’s Logs tab can help you narrow it down.
High CPU with flat traffic: Something other than visitors is creating the load, such as a plugin, cron jobs, or bots.
One site is slowing down the others
Because sites share their environment’s resources, one site can affect every other site on it. To find the source:
Open each site’s overview and set Requests to the same time range
Compare the totals and daily averages to see which site is the busiest
Check whether the time of the CPU or RAM spikes on the Usage tab lines up with activity on that site, such as a sale, an import, or a scheduled task
If one site consistently needs far more resources than the others, consider moving it to its own environment so it cannot affect the rest.
You are preparing for a launch or sale
Before a product launch, a marketing campaign, or a sale, open the Usage tab on Last 30 days and look at your highest CPU and RAM peaks. Compare them to the hard cap, which is twice the value of the red line. If your normal peaks already come close to the cap, there is little headroom for a surge, and you should address that before the event.
Tip:
Contact the support team before a major event. They can review your setup and recommend optimizations or a plan change ahead of time, which is much easier than reacting during the event.
You are deciding whether to upgrade
Going above the red line is normal and does not mean you need a bigger plan. An upgrade is worth considering when:
CPU or RAM regularly comes close to the hard cap, twice the value of the red line
Usage sits well above the red line most of the time, leaving little room for spikes
You have already optimized caching and plugins, and usage remains high
You plan to add more sites to the environment and current usage leaves little room
Optimize first, since it is often the cheaper fix. Full page caching and object caching can reduce CPU and RAM usage significantly. See Caching on Levamo. When you are ready, see How to upgrade your plan.
Your storage is full or running low
If your sites are showing “Error establishing a database connection,” check local storage first. A full disk is one of the most common causes. The storage bars on the site overview and the Usage tab both show how much is used out of the total for the environment.
If your sites are already offline, contact our support team first. They can assess disk usage and work with you in real time to restore access.
To free up space or get more:
Local storage: Clear unused media, old plugins, logs, and staging sites you no longer need. See Best practices to reduce disk utilization in WordPress. You can also add storage in 10GB blocks. See How to add additional local storage to your plan.
Backup storage: Add backup storage. See How to add additional backup storage to your plan and Managing backups.
If local storage is regularly above 80%, add storage or clean up before it becomes an outage. Media libraries and database tables tend to grow steadily, so usage rarely goes down on its own.
Important information
Requests are reported per site. Traffic, CPU, RAM, local storage, and backup storage are reported for the whole environment, including staging sites.
The red line on the CPU and RAM graphs shows your base allocation. On Business plans and above, usage can scale above it up to a hard cap of 200%. Storage does not scale automatically.
A full local storage disk affects every site on the environment, not only the site using the most space.
Usage data covers up to the last 30 days. To track longer trends, note your peak figures each month.
FAQ
Why are my sites showing “Error establishing a database connection”?
A common cause is that the environment’s local storage is full, which stops the database from writing data. Check the storage bar on the site overview or the Usage tab. If storage is not full, contact the support team so they can investigate other causes.
Is it a problem if my usage goes above the red line?
No. On Business plans and above, the red line shows your base allocation, and CPU and RAM scale above it automatically when needed. The hard cap is 200% of the base allocation, or twice the value of the red line. If usage regularly comes close to that cap, review your caching and plugins, or consider upgrading.
Why are my requests so much higher than my visitor count?
Each page load triggers multiple requests for images, scripts, and other assets, and background activity adds more. Requests measure server activity, not people.
Will I be charged if my traffic goes over my plan’s estimated visits?
No. Estimated visits are a guidance figure, not an enforced limit. If your sites consistently outgrow the plan, the support team may recommend optimization steps or an upgrade.
Do staging sites count toward my usage?
Yes. Staging sites run in the same environment as your live sites and share its CPU, RAM, and storage. Idle staging sites use little CPU or RAM, but their files and databases still count toward local storage.
Why is my CPU high when I have very few visitors?
Visitor count is only part of the load. Cron jobs, REST API and AJAX requests, admin activity, and bots all consume CPU, and a single inefficient plugin can drive usage up on its own.
Conclusion
Your usage data shows whether a problem is resource-related, which site is behind it, and whether to optimize or upgrade. Check it when something feels off, and before any event that could bring a surge in traffic. If you would like help reading your usage or planning for growth, our support team is available 24/7.