What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting unlimited is a concept that is not as straightforward as the term implies. Many a webmaster has been burnt because they mistakenly thought that unlimited meant getting unlimited disk space or bandwidth. This is because the term unlimited in hosting language is not what one thinks when we use the same term in ordinary English.

We might use unlimited as a word to mean that the client gets unlimited disk space or unlimited bandwidth, unlimited in this sense will be redefined to mean something else and this meaning in turn will depend on the discretion of the web host. In fact, each web host tends to give this term a unique meaning and in most cases it means the exact opposite of the meaning that unlimited in ordinary English means.

An example of what unlimited means is that the host may ask you to check the fine print. This will reveal that the word means that it is possible to add whatever content the client wishes to add but perhaps not at one go. Put simply, this means that the client will not be able to utilize unlimited disk space in a single go.

What you can do is to make use of an undefined amount of disk space at first and then you can add some more later on. The trick is that there will be confusion regarding who makes the decision about how much the client is able to use at different points in time. Well, in most cases, it is the web host that decides.

The website manager will make rules regarding the MB that the client is able to use at first but they will omit to spell out the rate at which the disk space can increase. In fact, the web host can also offer you unlimited disk space but they will also place restrictions regarding how the space can be used by the client. This is to protect themselves from allowing every client to use unlimited disk space.

If the client is allowed to use unlimited disk space, the hosting company would need to spend a fortune to cater to such use. Therefore, before dealing with hosting services that are offering unlimited space you must first check their Terms of Service agreement. You will soon find that the host will not allow you to use the disk space for each and every purpose.

Mostly, it would mean that the space is only available for your website. So, at most you will not be allowed to make use of space for backing up your home or office computer at an offsite location. In fact, the web host will specify how much space you can realistically use.

Unlimited bandwidth is another feature to dealing with a web host. Here again there are differences in meaning as used by a web host and what we normally believe the word unlimited means in everyday English. This has given terms such as unlimited bandwidth or unlimited disk space a bad name.

The good news is that not every unlimited plan is suspect. Some web hosts will allow you to create unlimited email addresses. You do need to understand that unlimited in everyday English is seldom the unlimited that you hear in web hosting language.