Understanding CPU Steal and Its Impact on VPS at Hostinger

What is CPU steal and is it critical?

Updated 3 weeks ago

What is CPU steal?

CPU Steal time occurs when the hypervisor (the software managing VPS instances on a physical server) redistributes CPU resources among multiple VPS instances. It measures the time a virtual CPU spends waiting for real CPU resources while the hypervisor is servicing other virtual CPUs.

Why and when does CPU steal happen?

CPU Steal typically occurs in shared environments where many VPS instances share the same physical server. The main causes include:

  • Overall demand for CPU resources exceeds the available physical CPU capacity.

  • Multiple VPS instances require high CPU resources simultaneously, leading to temporary contention.

  • Particular VPS backup generation may also lead to temporary increased CPU steal.

Is CPU steal normal?

Yes, CPU Steal is a common and normal phenomenon in virtualized environments. It is part of the virtualization process to ensure fair CPU resource distribution among all VPS instances.

Hostinger’s solution: automatic node balancer

To mitigate the impact of CPU Steal, Hostinger employs an automatic node balancer. This system runs daily, monitoring CPU usage across nodes and redistributing VPS instances to balance the load effectively. This proactive approach helps maintain optimal performance for all VPS instances.

Impact of 1-10% CPU steal on your VPS

A CPU Steal percentage between 1-10% is generally considered normal and should have minimal impact on VPS performance. Here’s what customers can expect:

  • 1-3%: Negligible impact, almost imperceptible in most workloads.

  • 4-7%: Slightly noticeable in CPU-intensive tasks but should not significantly affect overall performance.

  • 8-10%: May cause some performance degradation in CPU-bound applications, but still manageable with proper resource planning.

What You Can Do

If your VPS is experiencing performance issues related to a CPU usage limit being applied, here are the steps you can take:

1. Identify the processes causing high CPU usage

Connect to your VPS via SSH and run either of the following commands to see which processes are consuming the most CPU in real time:

top

or

htop

htop provides a more visual, color-coded interface and is generally easier to read. If it’s not installed, run apt install htop (Ubuntu/Debian) or yum install htop (CentOS/AlmaLinux) first.

Look for processes with high CPU% values — these are your likely culprits. Once identified, you can optimize, restart, or stop the offending process accordingly.

You can also check Backups & Monitoring → Server Usage in hPanel for a historical view of resource consumption.

2. Use the weekly CPU limit removal option

You have the option to remove the CPU restriction once per week. This gives you a window to test configuration changes or adjust the software running on your VPS. Use the Remove Limitations option in your VPS management panel.

3. If the weekly removal limit has already been used

You’ll need to reduce CPU usage directly on the server while the restriction is active. This guide can help: Limit and Control CPU Utilization of Any Process in Linux

4. Check for malware

If your server has already been optimized but CPU usage remains high, malware may be the underlying cause. Use the VPS Malware Scanner to check.

5. Wait for automatic restoration

Once CPU usage visibly drops to normal levels, the restriction will be lifted automatically — no action needed on your end.

Conclusion

Hostinger is dedicated to ensuring that your VPS runs smoothly and efficiently. Our automatic node balancer actively manages and balances CPU usage to minimize the impact of CPU Steal.