An inode (short for index node) is a data structure used by the file system on Linux and other Unix-based operating systems to store information about a file or directory. Each file and directory on a Linux file system has a unique inode number assigned to it. The inode contains information such as the file's owner, permissions, timestamps, and a pointer to the location of the file's data on the storage device.
The inode number is used to identify a file or directory and is required to access the file or directory's content or metadata. The inode number is used by the file system to locate the file or directory's inode, which in turn contains the information needed to access the file or directory's data.
Inode numbers are assigned to files and directories when they are created, and they remain the same for the lifetime of the file or directory. They are different from the file name, which can be changed by the user. When a file or directory is deleted, its inode number is freed and can be reused for new files or directories.
Inode usage is a common way to measure the disk usage of a file system. The number of inodes used on a file system is a rough indicator of how many files and directories the file system contains. The total number of inodes on a file system is fixed at the time the file system is created and cannot be changed later.
Inode limit in linux shared hosting:
In Linux shared hosting, this limit is in place to ensure that no single user can consume too many resources on the shared file system and negatively impact the performance of other users' websites.
The inode limit is typically set based on the hosting plan that a user is on. For example, a basic shared hosting plan may have a lower inode limit than a more advanced or higher-priced plan.
When a user reaches the inode limit, they will not be able to create any new files or directories until they remove some existing files or directories to free up inodes. In some cases, the hosting provider may automatically delete files or directories if a user goes over their inode limit.
It's important to note that the number of files and directories on a website does not necessarily correspond directly to the number of inodes used. Some types of files, such as log files, can consume a large number of inodes without taking up much disk space.
It's recommended that users monitor their inode usage regularly, and remove any unnecessary files or directories to keep usage within the limit provided by their hosting plan.
It's also important to note that, in Linux shared hosting, the inode limit is different from the disk space limit. While the inode limit restricts the number of files and directories that can be created, the disk space limit restricts the amount of storage space that can be used.
To check the inode usage on a Linux server, you can use the 'df -i' command. This will show the inode usage on all file systems, including the inode usage and inode limit for the user account.
In our control panel users can monitor their inode usage
Conclusion:
Inodes represent the amount of all the files and directories located on your hosting account. For example, an image will be 1 inode. An email message which contains 2 attachments will be 3 inodes. Any image file, video, HTML file, folder and script file are considered inodes.