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Web Hosting Red Flags
Webhosting, whether it be free or paid, every webmaster requires it. No matter
what size your website is, there is a web provider solution for every possible
need, and there are some really good deals in today’s hurting tech market if you
just simply look for them. However, there are also some guarantees that should
send up an immediate red flag, no matter what the price of the service. Below
I’ve listed a few of the items that are offered by webhosts that I believe
should raise an eyebrow of concern:
1. Unlimited Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the data transfer that occurs every time your
webpage is viewed, or each time a file is uploaded to your server. If your
website is a total of 45kb in size (including images and other media), then each
hit will require 45kb of bandwidth (data transfer) from your site. No matter who
the supplier is, someone must pay for bandwidth;
bandwidth is sold by
usage on a price per
gig basis and at
some point someone
must pick up the
bill for that. If a host claims to offer
unlimited bandwidth, I would suspect their policy would change rather fast if
your account suddenly started using 10 gigabytes daily. If your host for some
reason does not monitor your bandwidth, then it is likely that their server is
paying for a dedicated pipe, and will not add additional bandwidth capacity to
the server if that pipe begins to bear a larger load than it can handle. What
this means is that the offer is legitimate, but you can expect the speed of the
server to become slower in time, and if the bandwidth cable become extremely
overloaded, then you can also expect to have frequent downtime.
So what is the value and price of purchasing bandwidth? Many hosting companies will
provide you with “so much” free bandwidth when you open an account with them.
Basic accounts are generally allocated in the neighborhood of 1 gig monthly
transfer, while more pricey accounts may provide you with 50 gigs of monthly
transfer. The current going rate to purchase additional bandwidth is in the
neighborhood of $3-$4 per gig. If you can find bandwidth for significantly less
than $3 per gig, then you’ve found yourself a gemstone assuming their server
lease price is also consistent with the going rates.
2. Unlimited Space
This is another parameter that is not practical to provide in
“unlimited quantities”. However, since this is a static commodity there is more
danger to the service provider to offering “unlimited” than there is with
bandwidth. If a server runs out of disk space, it cannot simply “clear up” given
enough time like bandwidth transfer does. If you host with a provider that gives
you “unlimited space” in the best case scenario, you may simply be cut off from
uploading additional material if the service provider feels you are going
“overboard” with usage. However in the worst case, your account may be suspended
or even deleted without warning.
The pricing of actual space can vary greatly depending on where you host. You could spend just a few dollars a month
to secure 100 megabytes, or if you lease a server you may spend a few hundred
dollars per month to secure a hard drive of 72 gigabytes.
3. Free Bannerless Hosting
This is another ideal situation that may not quite cut it in the long term for a webhosting service provider. Webhosting
companies stay in business through one method, producing more revenue than their
costs, and hopefully enough to make a living on. If they offer accounts without
banners for free, then unless they are drawing profits from another source,
their business will not last long. Some hosting providers that operate in this
fashion do show banners in their members area, however taking into account the
poor performance of the ad market on the Internet, and the cost of running a
high end server, it is unlikely that profits from such an endeavor will be
enough to cover the costs a provider would incur. Other providers that offer ad
free hosting may require you to sign up for several affiliate programs before
opening an account. This may help with costs in the short run, however as the
websites that they host grow in size, their costs will grow, and become
unaffordable unless they are able to produce a new source of revenue. The
largest risk that you face when you host with this type of service, is that they
will shut their doors without warning, and your website will be gone (you won’t
even be able to redirect your traffic from the old site to a new one).
Although rare, it is possible that any one of these three scenarios may
provide what they claim, but I reiterate that it is rare. If you do choose to
host with a service that makes these claims, I strongly suggest that you do so
with caution, and have a plan B ready for a worst case scenario. Choosing your
webhost is just as important to the success and growth of your website as your
content and business model. The only difference is that your visitors will only
become aware of your hosting situation if your speed and downtime become
adversely affected.
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