Unlimited Free Web Space

From LoveToKnow Web-Design

Understanding the meaning behind unlimited free web space when choosing a hosting company may help you make a more informed choice.

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About Web Space

Web space is the amount of storage space allocated to your website through your hosting company. It includes e-mail quotas, graphics and FTP files. Web space is measured in megabytes (MB) and most hosts offer at least 100MB free upon registration. To break that down into simpler terms, one megabyte of space will hold one million bytes or characters. The average web page holds about 100,000 bytes. So, if you have a 100-page website, you would only use 10 million bytes or 10MB.

However, space gets used up quicker when you add databases, e-mail folders, images, graphics and audio/video feeds to the mix. While not all of these items may be displayed or are part of you website, storing them on the host's server will use up your allocated space. But in reality, unless you are running a 1,000-page website with regular graphics and videos, you really shouldn't need more than 100MB of web space. And most reputable hosting companies already give you this space as part of the packages they offer.

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The Truth Behind Unlimited Free Web Space

If 100MB of allocated space is enough for most websites, why do hosting companies offer unlimited free web space? Because it sounds intriguing. Putting the words "free" and "unlimited" in an advertisement will more than likely help the hosting company gain more than a few new customers.

But there is a catch. It is physically impossible to have unlimited space. Web space is located on the hosting company's server, which is basically like your computer's hard drive. It has a storage limit. It's impossible for it not to have one. What these companies bank on is having some clients who use very little web space, which will then allow others to be able to have more room. And they try and buy as many customers as possible, at times even overloading their own servers. By doing this, many problems can arise such as:

Slow loading of your own web pages
Host server crashes
Customer support unable to fix problem
Inability to resell or share your web space with another site
Risk having images and files deleted from your site if they are not linked to a web page on your site

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Not-so-free Web Space

Now about the free web space part. This is another play on words to capture the customer's attention. Good, reputable hosting will cost you money. Period. The amount of web space included in a package is what you should be researching. The more space allocated the better, especially if you plan on running a large website. But you will have to pay for it. Look for companies that offer 100MB or more web space.

The bottom line is this: Web space cannot be free or unlimited. Make sure you read everything before you sign a contract with any hosting company. Especially read the fine print in the site's terms of service. You may be told your space or even bandwidth is unlimited, but you may have limitations put on other aspects of the hosting services.

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Finding Reputable Hosting

Now that you understand that your web space will be limited, you can still find many reputable and affordable hosting companies that will give a sufficient amount of web space -- 100MB or more -- with the purchase of a hosting package:

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A Final Note

Remember that you get what you pay for in website hosting. When searching for a company, don't be fixated on what is free or unlimited, but look at what you actually buying. Find out if the package includes: