# How can I limit a ScyllaDB cluster to use less CPU and memory?

**URL:** <https://forum.scylladb.com/t/how-can-i-limit-a-scylladb-cluster-to-use-less-cpu-and-memory/5018>\
**Category:** ScyllaDB\
**Tags:** performance, administration, configuration\
**Created:** [July 29, 2025, 8:44am UTC](https://forum.scylladb.com/t/how-can-i-limit-a-scylladb-cluster-to-use-less-cpu-and-memory/5018 "2025-07-29T08:44:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Attila\_Toth](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.scylladb.com/attila_toth/32/287_2.png) [@Attila\_Toth](https://forum.scylladb.com/u/Attila_Toth)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 8:44am UTC](https://forum.scylladb.com/t/how-can-i-limit-a-scylladb-cluster-to-use-less-cpu-and-memory/5018/1 "2025-07-29T08:44:30Z")

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Where can I set this?

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**Author:** ![Guy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.scylladb.com/guy/32/9_2.png) [@Guy](https://forum.scylladb.com/u/Guy)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 8:56am UTC](https://forum.scylladb.com/t/how-can-i-limit-a-scylladb-cluster-to-use-less-cpu-and-memory/5018/2 "2025-07-29T08:56:54Z")

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The `--smp` option (for instance, `--smp 2` ) will restrict Scylla to fewer CPUs. It will still use 100 % of those CPUs, but at least won’t take your system out completely. An analogous option exists for memory: `-m` .  
Use these flags with care, ScyllaDB is optimized to use all the resources of the machine and not to be hosted on a machine that it running a different workload.  
Also see the [Best Practices for Running on Docker](https://docs.scylladb.com/manual/master/operating-scylla/procedures/tips/best-practices-scylla-on-docker.html)  
documentation for more information about configuring resource limits.