PalmHost Fair Usage Policy

Last Updated: May 2026

1. Introduction

This Fair Usage Policy (“Policy”) supplements our Terms and Conditions and governs the acceptable use of PalmHost’s (“Company,” “we,” “our”) digital infrastructure, shared cPanel environments, Managed servers, and associated platforms (including our billing portal and control panels).

The objective of this Policy is to ensure that all customers (“you” or “Customer”) enjoy fast, consistent, and reliable service while protecting our network against excessive, abusive, or resource-heavy usage. By using any of our services, you agree to comply strictly with this Policy.

2. Email Usage Limits and Anti-Spam

To protect our server IP reputation and ensure high deliverability rates for all clients, all standard Web Hosting and dedicated Email Hosting packages are subject to strict sending limits:

• Hourly Limit: Accounts are hard-limited to a maximum of 200 outbound emails per hour, per domain.
• Mass Marketing Prohibition: PalmHost mail servers may not be used for bulk email distribution, newsletters, or automated marketing blasts. Customers requiring bulk mailing capabilities must utilise a dedicated third-party SMTP relay service (e.g., Mailchimp, SMTP2GO).

If an email account exceeds these limits or is flagged for sending unsolicited communications (spam), PalmHost reserves the right to immediately suspend outbound email privileges to protect the server environment.

3. “Unlimited” Bandwidth Guidelines

While PalmHost offers “Unlimited Bandwidth” on standard hosting packages, this provision is intended for normal, active website traffic. It is not an allowance for infrastructure abuse.

• Reasonable Usage: Bandwidth is unmetered for standard web pages, e-commerce traffic, and normal business communication.
• Prohibited Bandwidth Activities: Operating media streaming sites, file-sharing platforms, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, or serving as a download repository (e.g., distributing software or large video files) is strictly prohibited on our shared environments.

Continuous or disproportionate bandwidth consumption that threatens the stability of the network for other users will result in throttling, temporary suspension, or a mandatory upgrade to a dedicated environment.

4. Storage Utilisation and “Noisy Neighbours”

Each hosting package (e.g., Solo, Business, Portfolio) offers a fixed SSD storage allocation. To ensure server speed and fair resource distribution across all shared environments:

• Strictly for Active Web Files: Allocated disk space must only be used for active website files, databases, and connected email accounts.
• No Archiving or Backups: Hosting accounts may not be used for general data storage, personal computer backups, media archiving, or storing older server backups (such as large cPanel/JetBackup .tar.gz files). You must download your backups to a local machine or third-party cloud storage.
• System Resources (CPU & RAM): Activities that impose an unreasonable load on our CPU or memory—such as running crypto-mining scripts, continuous background cron jobs unassociated with normal CMS operations, or running poorly coded plugins that exhaust server memory—are prohibited.

5. Prohibited and Abusive Activities

To protect our digital infrastructure, the following practices are expressly forbidden:

• Circumvention: Attempts to bypass, disable, or defeat any resource limits, security protocols, or sending quotas imposed by this Policy.
• Malicious Use: Use of PalmHost’s services for phishing, malware distribution, botnet activities, Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, or any other activity classified as illegal under South African or international law.

6. Enforcement and Remedies

PalmHost actively monitors server health, disk usage, and network traffic. In the event of a violation, PalmHost reserves the right to take immediate action, including but not limited to:

• Service Modification: Adjusting, throttling, or temporarily suspending access to the offending account without prior notice to protect the server ecosystem.
• Account Review: Conducting periodic reviews of storage contents and traffic patterns.
• Mandatory Upgrades: Requiring the Customer to upgrade to a higher-tier package (e.g., moving from Solo to Managed Business) if their legitimate usage consistently exceeds the parameters of their current shared environment.

No refunds or credits will be provided for downtime resulting from a suspension under this Policy.

7. Modifications to the Policy

PalmHost reserves the right to amend or modify this Fair Usage Policy at any time to adapt to new security threats or infrastructure changes. Material changes will be communicated via our website. Continued use of our services constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.

8. Governing Law

This Policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa.

Contact and Support

If you have questions regarding your current usage patterns or require clarification on what constitutes acceptable use, please contact our support team at [email protected].