It is the thing that any hosting guru dreads and something you too might need to become concerned with.  When it comes to load limits, we know a server can only take so much.  What are some of the major causes of server overloads?  Let us take a look and find out.

Too Much Traffic - This is almost a problem you would love to have.  When you have too much real traffic coming into a single web site, the server can start having problems delivering data back to those who are asking for it.  Those looking for a way to survive the Digg effect are often considered to be in the same category.

DDoS Attacks - These are attacks by hundreds or millions of machines all at one place to one place trying to take it down.  Multiple compromised PCs flood the bandwidth and resources of the targeted system bringing it to its knees.

Computer Worms or Viruses - Worms and viruses can also cause harm to and hosting server.  This, much like a DDoS attack is usually aimed at hitting a server as hard as you can with just visits from millions of infected computers around the world.

Now for things like web robots, Internet or network slowdowns there isn’t much you can do to stop them but they too can harm you as well.  These are definitely things you should bring up with your dedicated server host today to make sure they are ready to handle any and all challenges.  Finding a good dedicated server host can save you a lot of heart ache down the road.