Web Hosting Tutorial Series

Video #6: How much disk space and bandwidth do I need for my website?

This video tutorial can help you determine how much disk space and bandwidth you will need to host and support your website.

Perhaps you are already familiar with what the term disk space means. Similar to how it relates to the amount you can store on your personal computer, it is the amount of server disk space a hosting company allots to you to host your website. You can use this space to upload and store the content of your site – HTML pages, images and graphics, video and audio clips, databases, etc.

Now, what is bandwidth? Bandwidth is the rate and maximum amount of which this information can be transmitted. Whenever someone downloads a file or views a picture that you host on your account, it uses up bandwidth. A bandwidth quota is a limit placed on the amount of data that can be transferred each month to and from your websites.

Disk space and bandwidth costs your hosting provider money – as a result, they pass that cost on to you. For most providers, this usage is typically measured over a monthly time period. To determine the amount of bandwidth you use, you would multiply the amount of hard drive space your files take up by the amount of people that access them each month. This number equals your bandwidth usage.

So, how much disk space and bandwidth do you need to host your websites? It depends on a number of factors. Do you intend to host a lot of big downloads such as videos, audio clips or images? Do you anticipate a large amount of web traffic to your website? Such factors can quickly consume your space and bandwidth.

With so much variation among web hosting companies, it can sometimes be difficult to know how much bandwidth your website will require. However, when first experimenting in the world of web hosting, it’s probably safe to choose a plan that supports the average storage and transfer limits. Should you find you need more disk space or bandwidth down the line, you can always upgrade.That being said, it is important to keep an eye out on things and monitor your usage. Most providers will charge extra or suspend your account if you exceed your limits, even if they offer “unlimited” web hosting space and bandwidth.

Up Next:

Now that we’ve talked about how much space you may (or may not) need, let’s discuss the pros and cons of unlimited hosting plans.