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Web Hosting Requirements by Andy MacDonald n scouting for a web hosting company, always ensure the disk space and amount of traffic needed. Amount of Disk Space The requirement of a small or medium web site is between 10 and 100MB of disk space. When looking at the size of HTML pages, you will notice that the average size is very small - smaller than 1K. But looking at the size of the pictures used within the pages, you will often find them several times bigger than the page itself. 5 and 50K of space on the server is the expected consumption of each HTML page which is dependent on the use of images or other elements that may consume disk space. More disk space is needed for web sites that plan to utilize lots of images or graphic elements (not to mention sound files or movies). Before scouting for your web host, make sure that you have knowledge of your requirements. Monthly Traffic Monthly transfer of data for a small or medium web site will take up between 1 and 5GB. On the other hand, monthly traffic in larger commercial sites consumes more than 100GB. Before the contract with the host provider is signed, be sure that the following is checked: What are the limitations on monthly transfer? Will your site be closed if you go beyond the volume? Will you be the billing be higher if the volume is exceeded? Will it cover future requirements? Is upgrading easy? Connection Speed Your web hosting provider should offer a relatively faster connection for your visitors who often connect through a modem. During the early days of the Internet, connecting using a T1 was considered a fast connection. However, modern speeds are much faster. One byte is 8 bits long, and that is usual amount of bits used to transfer a character (a letter or a digit). 14,000 to 56,000 bits per second (bps) is the transfer speed for low speed communication modems. The range is within 2000 and 7000 characters per second, nearly 1 to 5 pages of written text. Before making any deal with hosting providers, research some other web sites on their servers, to have a good background about the speed of their network. Likewise, compare the other sites with your site, to check if you have the same requirements. Getting in touch with other customers is another alternative. Disk space and the amount of monthly traffic is not the only requirement in web hosting. This will depend on the web site you are planning to put up. About the Author Andy MacDonald, Plymouth links@swiftmediauk.co.uk |
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