How Much Hosting Space Does Your Website Require

If you are planning to host a website but are not sure how much disk space your website would require, it is important to do some research and ascertain the amount of space that your website would use up. Your web-hosting provider would offer you large amount of disk space that could be a tad heavy on your wallet and disrupt your hosting budget. Therefore it becomes imperative to first ascertain the amount of disk space your website would require and whether you really need an expensive web hosting solution to host your website.
For example, a file size of 3,300 KB would use up a little over 3Mb of disk space. So we could infer that a 20 page website would use 3Mb or 20Mb=140 pages (approx). You can analyze the website requirements and then decide on the amount of disk space that your website would require.
Calculating File Size:
In order to calculate the amount of disk space required, the user needs to understand how exactly is file size calculated. A bit is the smallest unit on the computer. One bit is one electronic on or off pulse. 8 bits strung together make one byte. Now 1024 bytes together make one unit of information, termed as kilobyte and 1024 kilobytes= 1 Megabyte. Most of the graphics and web pages are measured in terms of bytes or kilobytes.
To find the total file size, right click on the root folder where the website is located. This will show you the total size of the website as well as the number of files and folders contained within the website. This method can be employed if the user is using Dreamweaver. In case the user is using FrontPage Editor, then the reports view tab (site summary) will show the total file size.
If you plan to add more graphics, pages or other features (like scripts, databases) in the future, then most web-hosting providers offer a convenient and hassle-free upgrade. So it is only wise to start with a small basic package if that befits your website requirements. He basic hosting packages come equipped with adequate features and disk space to ensure smooth functioning of your website. However, it is advisable to check with your web hosting provider if they offer a hassle-free upgrade of your hosting account as you grow your website. This will save you the hassle of changing web hosts as well as save you other expenses like the initial set-up fee that some hosting providers charge.
It is important to remember here that web hosting is a competitive industry and hosting providers could employ various marketing techniques like "unlimited disk space" in a bid to lure customers. It is advisable to ignore such promotional advertisements as most of the unlimited packages are either highly priced or the companies do not deliver quality services. It is useless to pay for disk space or features that are not required for your website. Analyze and exercise good judgment when it comes to ascertaining the type of hosting package that you need.

The 5 Top Things To Know Before Buying Web Hosting Space

Having a website or a blog requires that you have a web hosting account. Without web hosting, it's not possible to have an online presence or do online business. While it's true that you can get a free blog on Google's Blogger site with free hosting, you should also realize that Google can pull the plug on it at anytime, for any reason. And, many times for various reasons they do.
There's not much if any recourse and your blog site information is literally gone in a flash. So, in reference to blogs, I am referring to blogs like, WordPress, that allow you to put them on your own hosting space.
Therefore, to have a strong online presence (whether for a website or a blog) it's important to start with a good web hosting.
Here are the 5 most important things you should know before deciding on your website hosting and be sure to follow this if you want to avoid the pitfalls.
1) Server up-time:
A main thing to look for in web hosting is server up-time. While 100% up-time cannot be guaranteed by any web hosting company you can certainly find a host that will guarantee your site to be up 99% or more of the time.
2) cPanel:
Another main factor is to make sure your web host uses the cPanel admin interface.
cPanel is most popular web-wide because it allows you to easily manage your web space. Be sure to avoid hosts that do not use cPanel.
3) Support:
This is very important because if you have a technical issue, good support makes the difference between night & day. Good support will respond quickly, especially when you have a pressing technical issue.
With a good host, you can easily handle all support issues via email or support tickets. But be sure to read the terms of the support service (or even personally enquire) so you will know what to expect on support issues along the way.
4) Features:
You'll want a host with a lot of features because things can get costly later if you need to add them on. A good idea is to get a plan that includes as much in the package as you get - without compromising quality.
It's well-worth having more than you need even if you aren't ready to use it all right away. As your site grows, you'll find you'll need more resources to accommodate your web presence, so it's good to have a robust account. However, with that said... you have to draw the line so it's not overkill.
For instance, when you want to add more web sites onto your server space, it's a good idea to have some space ready to grow into.
And that can happen faster than you'll expect. So, it's very good to plan ahead knowing your web space is well-equipped with most of the common bells & whistles you will be needing to accommodate your website. And remember you can always add-on some much needed extras later when the time comes.
And finally...
5) Hosting Costs...
You'll find hosting space costs from a few bucks to a few hundred dollars per month + and everywhere in between...
The cost does not always reflect the quality so here again you really have to watch what you are getting into. Compare many plans to help you make the best decision.
However, I can tell you it's not unusual to find web hosting costs at about $24.95 per month for decent web space with 300 to 500 MB of web space.
That's about $300.00 per year and can get quite expensive if you have to keep adding-on more resources. But if you do your home work, you'll have a much better chance at finding a great host at a great price.
And, with a lot of competition out there, if you look hard, you can find better hosting offers coming out everyday.
Let's summarize the 5 Top things you'll need to know that can help you make a good decision...
1) Look for 99% + server up-time...
2) Make sure your host offers cPanel to easily manage your site(s)...
3) Read the support terms so you know what to expect on any support tasks...
4) Look for robust hosting features without compromising the overall quality... (sometimes more sounds better - but if they can't deliver, it's not better)
5) Hosting Costs: Go for the most bang for your buck by comparing various hosting plans (also without compromising quality for quantity) and watch the heavy monthly costs that can add up.
There you go... You now know the 5 top things to look for when considering good web hosting space and with these important tips, you're well on your way to having a strong web presence.

 

How Much Hosting Space Do I Need For My Website?

Website owners often have a difficult time deciding how much space they need to host their website. If you opt to get the minimum amount of hosting space it may not be enough to allow for expansion should you add more files. If you ask for unlimited hosting space it may be more than you need and the web hosting provider may be cramming as many websites as possible onto the server to cut costs.
What is hosting space?
This refers to the amount of space given to websites on the server. It's also called disc space or web hosting space. A shared web host will store several websites on the same server. Each website is given a certain amount of space to store the files. You pay a monthly fee for the space, bandwidth and features associated with your hosting plan. Hosting space is usually divided into megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB).
How much hosting space do I need?
This is determined by the total size of all your website files. To find out how much space you need, simply right-click on the folder containing your files then select properties. Look at "size on disk." For example the total file size of a WordPress folder is 9.10 MB (9,547,776 bytes) so you will need at least 10 MB of space. It's best to purchase at least twice as much space to allow for e-mail accounts, log files, scripts, images and the future content you will be adding on a continuous basis.
If you anticipate hosting lots of video, audio or downloadable files you'll need a lot more space. Ask your hosting provider if you can easily upgrade your hosting plan should you suddenly need more space.
Do I need unlimited space?
Beware of hosting providers that offer unlimited space. They're going on the assumption that most websites will only use a small amount of space on the server while a few will contain large files and need a large amount. It may cut costs for them however it may jeopardize your website performance because they are cramming as many websites as possible on one server. This will slow the loading of your web pages. If a visitor can't view your website within a few seconds they will go elsewhere.
If your web hosting provider offers unlimited space cost them what this means. For example will you be charged additional fees if you suddenly need a huge amount of extra space?
How do I choose a web hosting provider?
The most important features you will need to host your website include:

• CPanel Access
• Fantastico Deluxe
• MySQL Databases
• FTP Accounts
• Subdomains
• Domain Pointers
• POP3, SMTP, IMAP Email
• Email Forwardings, Auto-responders, Aliases
• Mailing List
• FrontPage Support
• CGI-Bin Access
• Perl, CGI
• PHP scripting
• Server Side Includes (SSI)
• FREE Shared SSL
• Site Backups
• Password Protection
• Site Statistics

Speedy, knowledgeable, reliable technical support is also necessary should you ever have server problems associated with hosting your website.

 

How Much Web Hosting Space and Bandwidth Do You Really Need For Your Website?

Web hosting space, refers to the amount of space your client is offered from their web hosting provider on their server. Of course through a dedicated web hosting services, one will be able to obtain a larger disk space to yourself, at a much higher cost.
Dedicated web hosting services are suitable and necessary for those who own a wide range of diversified businesses with a high volume of incoming online traffic going into your website for online purchases and sales. Let us focus on some of the criteria and dependents which we can refer to, to have some good estimate of the volume of the web hosting space and bandwidth that one really needs,
1. Depending on the objective and plan of your website -
- On average, 100 MB is more than enough for most of the basic general websites. Except if the plan is to support an e-commerce site, then potentially, you would need to have a greater volume of disk space than 100 MB to make sure that busy website of yours are equipped with the necessary space to synergy the demand against the supply of your customers.
2. Check out if your website need to support a lot of audio and video files or even pdf. Files and pictures.
- For any websites that requires a lot of graphic files to support its business, take for example, for an online business selling Organic products and goods, a lot of visual files with relevant pictures will be highly seek for especially for any new products introduction and launching. This also applies to online Interior Design companies which highly dependent on their virtual graphic design, and many attractive pictures to attract potential customers.
3. Unlimited web space -
- While It is pretty tempting to be offered with an unlimited disk space, it is not really 100% necessary because as mentioned above, 100 MB should be good enough for most websites. Do not get easily tempted by the "unlimited web space/disk space" promotion as this is one of the marketing strategy to attract their potential customers, but those which have been in this industry long enough will be able to tell what are really necessary and what isn't.
- Be cautious for there are lots of web hosting out there who are taking their opportunity by over-selling their limits, taking faith that there are very few of sites on the server which will use up the full allotment of the disk space or bandwidth allocated to them.
4. How much bandwidth do you need.
- Depends on the data transfer, if you need to accommodate at least 500 or more visitors a day, with a huge volume of downloads necessary for the website, then you would need at least 50 gigabytes ( GB ) of data transfer per month to support their customers well.
5. Do you plan to add on more domains to your hosting account.
- If you have the intention to add additional domains to your account, then you need to anticipate that you will require additional volume of web space and bandwidth, so you need to anticipate that your new web hosting provider is capable to provide you with such service at any one time should there is any such need on urgent basis.

 

Free PHP Web Hosting - A Good or Bad Choice?

There is no doubt that every one of us like to use any sort of free services. Same is here in the case of free PHP web hosting! People who have websites know that hosting is a very much vital part and if we do not secure the hosting part all the other initiatives may go in vain! But at the same time we cannot deny that acquiring hosting space incurs some money. A few small businesses put forth this as excuse of not going online. However to relieve these business owners there are some hosting providers who provide free PHP web hosting. Now small businesses and everybody can enjoy this opportunity of hosting a dynamic website built with the most fevered scripting language of developers.
Anyways, all of us have to admit that there are always some good and bad sides of all the services! And how come free PHP web hosting be different from that? Let us know see when this service is good choice:

• If you have a very small business or yourself a new developer in the learning stage, free PHP web hosting is a good choice. There is no doubt that a very small business can begin its journey with this hosting service. On the other hand the new developers can start experimenting with their coding styles in this free service.
• It is a great opportunity to host a small dynamic site and many a time with free domain name registration or sub domains. Besides that using free PHP website hosting, any type of open source development can be incorporated with a site and those will run smoothly.
• There is no doubt that choosing the free PHP web hosting is a saving on recurring cost of the server rent. Whatever type of hosting you choose, dedicated hosting or the cloud based 'pay per use' hosting, there is always a recurring rent charge and that may fluctuate any time. But free service is a relief from this.

However should not we have a look at the bad side of free PHP web hosting? Let's see some bad sides of this service:

• First of all is the access control on your server space. The moment you choose free PHP web hosting service, you agree that the access control will be in the hands of the service provider. And for any sort of small problem you have to remain on the mercy of the service provider.
• There will always be some limitations in your hosting account - space limit, bandwidth limit, email service limit and etc. It is no doubt that free PHP web hosting will be with small disk space given to you and the bandwidth will be limited. Same applies on the email account.
• There is no guarantee on the hosting uptime, no authority on the domain name (if you buy or take their free domain name) and of course the unwanted advertisements will be added disadvantage! As you are leaving your files or the total website in the hands of the hosting service provider, you have to cope up with the advertisements placed within your site, the site may remain any time down, and you certainly may not have the authority on the domain name. They may just play with your business initiative.

In this way I hope you have understood how is going to be your probable experience with free PHP web hosting service. To conclude we may say that there is nothing good or bad about this free PHP based hosting service - it is absolutely a matter how you use it according to your need. If you have limited need it is best for you otherwise you should not try it for sure.

 

Shared Web Hosting Service Provider - What to Look Into

Hopefully you have finished the designing and development part of your website! Now you may be looking for web hosting. No, you are just planning the building of a website! In both the cases you have to care in selecting the host for your website. Again you may want to go for the shared web hosting service being thrilled with the advantages of this type of hosting isn't it? However do you know what you have to investigate in case you select a shared hosting service provider? Say have you minded to investigate the reliability of the service, the infrastructure provided to support 24x7 or the security issue?
Anyways, here are some points that you should remember when going for shared hosting service. Let us have a look:

• The first point to remember while selecting a shared web hosting service is to find the infrastructure strength of the service provider. It is found that the host claims to provide higher level of service but end up with poor service. So before going for any provider, you should find out physical strength of the service provider.
• How reliable is the service and how far true is the guarantee of best service? Almost all the shared web hosting service providers guarantee the hosting uptime to 99.99%. But in most of the cases you may find that your server is down for heavy load. So you may check the assurance of penalty charges they will provide you for increased downtime. And read client testimonials and online reviews of the service provider before selecting one.
• How is the support of any shared hosting service provider? Is there 24x7 support via email and telephone? How many support engineers are available against any server? Many a time the servers are found slow due to load; even bandwidth exceeds in many a time. So you have to confirm the level of support before choosing a provider.
• Security is a vital issue in the shared hosting service. There are two types of shared hosting - "name-based" and "IP-based" hosting. Name-based hosting has dynamic IP. It is fine for simple websites. But when e-commerce or any sensitive transaction is concerned, the SSL certificates have to be used. In name-based shared hosting, a shared SSL certificate is used and that may prove vulnerable to failure. So selecting a shared website hosting service, ask if you will be provided with IP-based service if required to go separately.
• Last but not the least is the proper choice of hosting plans. You can not simply go for any shared website hosting service! You have to be choosy and careful to compare the plans provided by a provider. Nowadays the trend is to provide "unlimited" features! You have to check if everything can be unlimited or not! Say the web space cannot be unlimited at a time in shared hosting; it can be unlimited on demand. So you have to compare and chose the provider who provides best service for you.

So hopefully you have understood that it is very much important to be careful in selecting any shared hosting service provider after a through research on its services. After all you just cannot leave your money go in vain or incur the loss to your online business due to faulty services of your chosen website host. Finally it is always better to ask the web development and design company to guide you or take the help of popular web directories for genuine information on the hosting service providers.