<Go Back "Unlimited Disk Space and Bandwidth!" ....can this really be true?   The clipping on the right is part of the home page of a major US host, who is advertising 2,500 Gig of disk space for $6.95 a month. (April 20, 2008) Sorry, but the last time we looked, we found that hard drives only go up to 1000 Gig. Okay, servers can be fitted with 2 drives, but the second drive is supposed to mirror the first drive to act as an instant backup to prevent your website files from being lost, incase any one drive fails. It would therefore appear that this host is prepared to buy and pay for and manage more than 2 complete computers for around £42 a year, exclusively just for you! Yeah, right. More than 2 machines for the price of a glass of beer. "Can you really imagine this?"   The Truth About UNLIMITED Web Hosting is a commodity. The main elements of any web hosting plan are disk space, bandwidth, the server's memory and its CPU power. Disk space is the space you have allotted on the web server to store your website. Bandwidth is an amount you have available to transfer web pages from the web server to the browsers of visitors to your site. Web pages and graphics consume bandwidth as they are loading into a web browser and depending on the power which is available from the server's CPU and its memory capacity will determine how fast a web page or image loads. The network lines that carry data around the web (optic fiber, cable, copper wire etc) also have a finite capacity. There is a limit to the amount of data that can be transferred at any point in time. Likewise, the hard drive of a web server has a limited amount of space determined by the physical size of the hard drive. Many hosting companies claim to offer "unlimited" plans. Be aware that there are physical limitations to disk space (file storage), bandwidth (traffic), CPU (power) and RAM (memory). Before you buy an "unlimited" plan, know what you're getting into. Especially if you don't want your website to crawl and having to wait ages for a picture to load. The Attraction to Unlimited When consumers decide they want to place a website on the internet, they are often unaware of the fact that there are limitations. Unlimited is attractive because it requires no further thought. If it's unlimited then I never need to worry about running out, right? Although this is understandable, there are risks with purchasing unlimited plans. The Unlimited Myth Many web hosting companies offer "unlimited" as a plan feature. It is impossible for any provider to actually provide an unlimited amount of bandwidth, disk space, memory and server power. It's just not possible. Whilst modern servers are becoming more powerful, we simply could not offer Mr. Google an unlimited hosting plan for a fiver a month to host his search engine. The server would not be able to run at all, even if we only hosted the Google website and did not share it with our other customers. X9 Internet does offer an unlimited plan, but we make it very clear that unlimited means that we don't impose limits. That means your website will not suddenly go down because you have exceeded your bandwidth quota and your emails will not suddenly stop because you have run out of disk space to store them. Unlimited does NOT mean that when your website gets really big and busy, that we will invest in a more powerful server for your site or to combine several servers together to provide the power for your very busy website. Combining serveral servers together to offer the power needed to run a large website such as Google is how it is done, but not for a fiver a month. So Why Do Unlimited Plans Exist? Most websites only consume a very small amount of bandwidth and disk space. Web hosting companies that provide unlimited anything as a plan feature are banking on the fact that you won't use very much. Unlimited is a marketing trick to get your business. The web hosting market is very competitive. Although selling plans that pretend to be unlimited can seem dishonest, it does not mean that the hosting company will not provide good service. Check in the hosting company's Terms of Service: there will probably be a note about what "unlimited" really means. Be aware that there are many dishonest webhosting providers on the net. Many will set up as many "unlimited" hosting plans as they can, and when the server is about at the breaking point, the seller will dissappear, along with all your accounts if you are a reseller. Be sure you are dealing with a reputable company. When Are Unlimited Plans Ok? If you have a small website and know that it will not consume too much space or bandwidth, then unlimited plans make your choices a bit easier to understand. Most plans that offer unlimited will have some restrictions such as no audio or video downloads. The reason audio or video downloads are typically not allowed in unlimited hosting plans is because these types of files consume significant bandwidth, disk space and CPU which exposes the host to the risk of having to add more hard drive space, bandwidth and CPU, which costs them more money. If you choose an unlimited plan and you know your needs won't be very intensive then you won't run into any problems. When Are Unlimited Plans Not Ok? If you intend to have a lot of visitors to your site, lots of downloads, including audio or video files, do not choose an unlimited plan hoping to get unrestricted bandwidth. You will find yourself with problems. Your web host is not going to run at a loss for long - they could shut down your website or even charge you extra (read the terms of service). So What Is The Best Thing To Do? The best course of action is to plan ahead. Calculate what type of bandwidth and disk space you will need then multiply it by 2 just to allow for expansion. Remember, you can always buy more bandwidth or disk space if you need - often for only a few pounds a month extra. Look for plans that meet those requirements. Only consider an unlimited hosting plan if you know your disk space and bandwidth requirements are very low. If, on the other hand, you have an ecommerce site or a site that you expect to grow in size and bandwidth in future, avoid any plans that offer unlimited bandwidth or disk space. The closest you will ever come to unlimited The closest you will ever come to unlimited is with an Unmetered hosting plan. (If you're still hoping to find a real unlimited disk space/bandwidth deal, I have a car to sell you that gets unlimited mileage from a single tank of petrol.) Also see our latest story on the unlimited hosting inode scam <Go Back
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