Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Dedicated Server : is this wrong to do with a host?

I have two web sites one uses alot more bandwidth than the other. Site A uses 2gigs a month hosted on a plan that offers 20gigs. Site B is hosted on a plan that allows 20gigs and uses 30gigs a month wich im charged for ever gb over the limit.

Would it be wrong to take some of site B files and put them on Site A and link to them? It would save me money buy not paying for that 10gigs i go over every month.


Both sites are hosted buy differant companies if it matters.

[Dexter]

I wouldn't see why not. If they're both your sites that you're paying for go ahead...

[MSW]

Is it wrong? No. But you should consider looking for a plan on site B that will allow you the 30GB.

If you are paying a host for 20GB of bandwidth, then you are entitled to get what you pay for, otherwise that would be a deceiving hosting company.

But for practical purposes, scale down your site A and upsize (king size, jumbo size, go large, etc.) site B to 30GB and keep things in perspective.

[DanielP]

Well, 1 thing to watch out for is some hosts have cross-linking terms in their TOS where you can't do that but that mostly applies to freebie accounts I believe.

i can't upgrade Site B it's on the higest plan they offer and i love the host and i dont want to leave. And the other host only has one plan so i can't scale down. I dont see why it would be wrong im paying for both sites. I just wanted to know what you guys thought about it.

It's only 15 files i want to put on the other host and link to. If one file is 25KB and 4,000 people download that one file in one day how much bandwidth is that a day? and how much would that be for a hole month.

[MSW]

Well, doing the basic calculation, you are looking at 100MB/day or 3GB/mo (based on 30 days).

Rough estimate, but that's all I can give.

[Chicken]

That sure is an interesting question. You've gotten opinions from a few hosts, and if they don't seem to have a problem with it, then I suppose it is ok. My first reaction was 'no' but often people who run out of resources (whether it be space or transfer), opt to get a second account and split the site. I guess this is what you would be doing.

I guess it would be like a second account in way i just wanted to make sure it's not against the rules.

[Jason Ellis]

UserName,

Are the two accounts on the same web host, or different web hosts?

Although some web hosts would have absolutely no objection to what you describe, and still others probably would never even notice that you're doing it even if they did have policies against it, I would say that the majority of hosts do have policies against doing what you are suggesting.

The reason I ask if it's the same host or not is this: most hosts will be more likely to ignore the situation if you're using resources from one account for another account with the same host. But if you're using the resources from one host for a site with another host - well, an awful lot of web hosts will object to that.

Now, to most people, it probably doesn't make a lot of sense that web hosts would have a problem with this. After all, the customer is paying for those features, why can't you use them any way you like? Well, it really all comes down to the way the whole virtual web hosting business model works.

The only way that web hosts are able to sell you a site with 10 GB of bandwidth for $20-$30 (or often even less) per month is that they know that the vast majority of their customers won't use that 10 GB. If every single customer used 100% of their alloted bandwidth, the web host would have to charge $70 to $80 per month for that same account plan.

And while one single account using an extra 3 GB a month for files from another web site really isn't a big deal, the way the hosts look at it is, if you let one account do it, you have to let them all do it. And if they all do it, the host is going to go out of business, fast.

Bandwidth costs (on average) $3 to $5 per GB depending on where the host has their servers. Some hosts get bandwidth cheaper, I'm sure, and some I know pay even more than that. But on average it costs $3 to $5 per GB. So do the math - the *only* way the vast majority of web hosts out there can actually make money on the plans they are offering is to ensure that the vast majority of their customers do not use all of the resources that are provided to them.

At any rate, to answer your question - my suggestion would be to get your host's permission before you go ahead and do that. If you're a good customer, and can prove to the host that you'll only be using a couple more GB per month and will still be well below your limit, then chances are the host will let you do it. But if you do it without telling the host, and get caught, there's a good chance they'll ask you to leave.

Good luck!

Jason

[MSW]

Jason:

You are correct, but hosts like myself and others out there DO offer clients the bandwidth. If we do not allow our clients to have what we sell them, then why do we advertise it? It really goes to your response, because we know that the vast majority will NOT use it.

But you see, here lies the dilemma. If we advertise that you can have 5GB worth of bandwidth and a site wants to use the full 5GB, then we, as hosts, must allow that. We can't cancel their accounts because they get what they pay for. We can, however, change them to another server (usually outlined in the TOS).

It really comes down to more of an issue of morality rather than legality. Being a host, I cannot object to this practice, but I wouldn't want all my clients doing it because then I would have to charge higher prices as you pointed out.