If you are new to the internet you may
still be in awe at the vast and seemingly endless internet universe.
Truth is- the internet, huge as it is, has limits. And thus, web
space has limits. Researching web hosts you may have seen offers for
unlimited web space. This is merely a clever marketing ploy taking
advantage of new users' mistaken assumption that the word space in
web space is somehow like the endless space in outer space. However,
the word space as used in web space refers to a specific or defined
area, like your desk space, work space, or personal space. When you
understand what web space is you will recognize that web hosts
offering unlimited web space cannot deliver on such promises. Read
on to learn about web space and how much you will really need from
your web host.
What is web space?
Web space refers to the amount of disk
space you will be allowed to use on your web hosts server. Web
space, also called disk space, is usually measured in MB or
megabytes. Each server can hold only so much information, or
megabytes, and thus must ration out the amount each user can use. An
individual server can host hundreds of web sites. An economically
savvy web host will monitor the amount of web space being used so
they can host as many users on one server as possible. The more web
space a web host offers their users the more servers they must have
to be able to provide this space. This is why you must pay more for
more web space. Do you see now how unlimited web space is virtually
impossible for a web host to grant?
How much web space do I need?
Now that
we've crushed any hopes of having unlimited web space let us help
you figure out how much web space you really need and can expect
from your host. You’ll notice we place a lot of importance in our
reviews on how much web space a web host offers. This is because
hosts can charge an arm and a leg if you use more than your allotted
disk space. So it is important to know approximately how much web
space you will need for your site. This can be determined with a
little math formula.
Number of
pages in site x .05MB= MB of web space you need
A
single page (or file) on your site should be no larger than 50K
(.05MB) so that your viewers won’t have to set up camp waiting for
the site to load. Most pages will use less than 50K. This page you
are now reading, for example, is only 14K in size. Unless your page
is going to contain tons of graphics or space sucking multimedia
you'll probably stay under the 50K per page.
After doing the
above equation for your site, add a generous 100MB for room to grow
and for your log files (the files that give you statistics about
your viewers, which take up an additional amount of your allotted
web space). This is about how much web space you will need. Once
you’ve figured the actual numbers you will be surprised to see how
little disk space your site will actually need. A typical site with
50 pages and graphics will use no more than
3-4MB.
