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Cheap Web Hosting: Unlimited Storage and Data?
You've probably heard the old saying "If it sounds
too good to be true, it probably is". This often applies
to Cheap Web Hosting, especially with regard to companies
that offer "unlimited" disk space or data transfer.
The truth is that both data transfer and disk storage
space cost money and a truthful host will impose some monthly
limit and inform you of this in advance.
The Cheap Web Hosting companies that claim to offer unlimited
storage or transfer rely on the fact that, in reality, the
majority of customers do not use very much of either. However
as a user of this "unlimited" service, if you
wish to have a serious and professional on line business
you may well offer free downloads of electronic books or
free software trials for example. If your business proves
to be a success and is popular then undoubtedly your host
will contact you to discuss their "unlimited"
policy.
A cheap web host simply cannot afford to stay in business
if they truly let you have unlimited transfer or storage.
If all their customers were to use large amounts of data
transfer then they would need to dramatically upgrade their
bandwidth capacity to allow access to all the hosted sites
at one time. Hosting is a matter of meeting the peak demands
- in the same way as your local electricity provider must
allow for supply of electricity on the coldest days when
heating is most in demand, your host needs a system to allow
them to provide your data to the world wide web when all
their customers are utilising their "unlimited"
capacity.
On way to avoid some of these problems is to avoid hosts
that host sites that place large burdens on bandwidth. In
particular, I recommend you choose a host that does not
allow MP3 files or adult sites as both these types of sites
place very large burdens on bandwidth and will effect the
performance of your site. Essentially don't let your site
suffer as a result of other sites hosted by your hosting
provider.
In addition to this problem, unscrupulous hosts will sell
too many accounts for their actual server storage limits.
They cannot possibly cope if everyone tries to store unlimited
data on the disk. We all know there is no such thing as
an unlimited hard drive so please don't believe those cheap
web hosts when they try to tell you otherwise.
A reasonable data transfer limit from a good cheap host
is 3 gigabytes of data per month, this is more than ample
for most sites. If the host offers more than this for free,
check out their bandwidth provisions to ensure they can
actually meet their promises.
So remember if it sounds too good to be true it probably
is. If you see a cheap host that claims "unlimited"
storage and data transfer, make sure you find out the truth
in the fine print.
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