Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Whats a reasonable price to pay for the following?

[salsabil]

Hiya again,

Yes.. I'm still a bit lost )

I posted on the website request section and I got some offers etc.. which I'm looking into

But I decided that considering i hardly know anything about web hosting.. instead of deciding a price straight away.. I should find out what would be a reasonable to pay.. so that I can get something reliable and not just go for the most fancy cheapest deal around

Basically.. if people could suggest a suitable price range for what I need.

Well I need (so far):

about 100mb space would be good (more than enough for now but I'm looking at future growth may extend more than that)

php/mysql (i have no idea why i need more than one database anyone know?)

email accounts would be good for the future.. but not really a big priority at the moment (so can skip it for now except 1)

bandwidth.. i think in one of my other posts.. someone answered with 1gb for a couple of hundreds users per day (this is the main thing im unsure about) so I think 2gb should cover it

incase all that writing got mixed up: thats 2gb bandwidth for now

can't really think of anything else

stats is good

frontpage extensions are good

domain free would be good (though i can pay for it if the hosting is not that expensive)

I can't really think of anything else

It's not a commercial website so stuff like shopping carts etc are not needed

I might have streaming audio etc and audio to download later on which I think will increase the bandwidth

So my main things in looking for a web host is reliability (in terms of that they wont run away on me in a month.. )

if it was to be down once in a blue moon thats not a proble.. since its a website for a society at a university.. nothing like a shop where we would lose business etc

But really i want realistic answers for the above.. and that the quotes im getting are really realistic

Thanks in advance

I'm new to this so if I have left anything out etc.. tell me

~Salsabil~

p.s. i know this is getting a bit long.. but if anyone can really explain bandwidth it would be greatly appreciated.. i know what it is but how to measure it really is a big headache coz i have no clue

[Shannon]

Looking at what you're describing, I'm sure you could find this from any number of places, and for the cost of probably a fast-food lunch per month (ie: Under $10 a month).... I won't venture as to 'just how low the price could go and still be realistic' as this is a source of constant debate around these parts ("How cheap is too cheap?", Business models, overselling etc, etc)

One tip would be to stick with a monthly plan at first, atleast for a month or two, to see how things progress and if you're happy and satisfied with the host, if you've prepaid for a year, you may feel trapped in an iffy situation, whereas if you're paying month to month, you won't feel so trapped. (Of course, if the host offers a discount for longer payment plans, and you're happy with them, go for it, save yourself some cash!)

As to needing more then one mysql database, although I know some packages (forums/CMS systems, etc) will place prefixes on the table names, allowing for multiple packages/installations to happily work inside one database, it is sometimes easier to keep track/manage if you have multiple databases at your disposal (say, one for your forum, another for your CMS system, or perhaps even one 'live' database, and the other a 'testing' database for tinkering with your site, it's code, or whatnot...) of course, this all depends on what you intend to use the database for exactly

As to the bandwidth question, it really depends on what type of site and how much traffic you recieve. Obviously if you're streaming audio and/or video, your bandwidth needs will be higher. For a personal and/or small social website without sizable 'download files' or whatnot, 2 to 3 gig should be more then enough.

Just in case things become overly popular or you want to expand your site, try to find out from your prospective host what the procedure is should you need to upgrade down the road (I've yet to work with a host that won't let you upgrade later if you need to, but I'm sure there's one out there, so it's better to be safe and ask).

One warning though, regarding the free domain aspect: I've seen a number of people who get a 'free' domain and then later for whatever reason attempt to switch hosts. Sometimes it works fine, but occasionally these people find out that the host has registered the domain with them (the host) as sole contact and authority for the domain. Suddenly the customer is at the mercy of the host in regards to getting the domain 'moved' to someone else. Sometimes this works out fine, and in other events, it can be a headache. Insure that if the host is registering it for you as part of a deal, that your name/email goes on the domain registration. If not, I'd honestly suggest registering the domain yourself seperate from the hosting account and saving yourself the potential trouble.

And speaking of streaming audio.. any web host can stream audio via http, but if you have specialized needs in the way of Windows Streaming or Realmedia Streaming, you may want to keep that in mind as well, it's not always a readily available option with some hosts.

[akashik]

$10 a month should see your options being quite wide for a quality service given those statistics (in my opinion). There will be cheaper options but were I in your place I'd spend the extra dollar or two, to make sure your faced with the least amount of hassle or inconvenience.

Your other questions have been well answered in the post above.

Greg Moore

[Alan62]

Bandwidth----- Ok, you upload your HTML file, and you upload your images, streaming audio, whatever. All of these take up space on your server, right? Some more, some less. HTML file might take 10k, an image might take 20k, a video maybe 200k.

Now, every time someone loads up your site, they are transfering the page and its contents from the server your on to their computer. Bandwidth is also called transfer. So if they just look at your simple HTML page, that's 10k transfer. If they look at your HTML page and your image, that's 30k transfer. If 100 people look at it in a day, that's 3000k (3 megs?) transfer.

There's actually a little more involved in transfering. but it's basically everytime you or someone else uploads to or accesses your site, the files must be transferred. There's other stuff like scripts and e-mil too.

[salsabil]

Heya everyone,

Thankyou very much for answering my silly newbie questions )

It can be pretty hard to find answers when you dont know much

So thankyou for your patience and your help

All the best to everyone

~Salsabil~

[drti]

who's my provider? DIXIESYS.COM

The plans:
40 mb storage
1 gb transfer
Unlimited emails
NO setup fee
Plesk Control Panel
www.YOURDOMAIN.com hosting
Apache Web Server
MySQL Databases
Perl-script ready CGI-BIN
PHP4
FTP Access
IMAP/POP3/SMTP
Email forwarders/autoresponders/groups
Web Mail

Perfect for a small site and pop3/web mail.
Limited opening, first come first serve.

Echeck PAYPAL $1 to tquach@tqlectronic.com to open an account. (NO credit card. Echeck or paypal fund only)
service start in 09/01/02. lmk if you need it sooner, will be arrange.

double the monthly fee = double the bandwith and storage

[ShagHost]

Originally posted by drti
who's my provider? DIXIESYS.COM

The plans:
40 mb storage
1 gb transfer
Unlimited emails
NO setup fee
Plesk Control Panel
www.YOURDOMAIN.com hosting
Apache Web Server
MySQL Databases
Perl-script ready CGI-BIN
PHP4
FTP Access
IMAP/POP3/SMTP
Email forwarders/autoresponders/groups
Web Mail

Perfect for a small site and pop3/web mail.
Limited opening, first come first serve.

Echeck PAYPAL $1 to tquach@tqlectronic.com to open an account. (NO credit card. Echeck or paypal fund only)
service start in 09/01/02. lmk if you need it sooner, will be arrange.

double the monthly fee = double the bandwith and storage

What the heck drti? This post is so old that salsabil might even be deceased by now.

ShagHost

[bitserve]

Hopefully he's still alive after a week.

[Martie]

LOL! A week old post is not an OLD post!

[AL-Benjamin]

have i acidently strayed into the ads threads?

[intellec]

Originally posted by salsabil
Hiya again,

Basically.. if people could suggest a suitable price range for what I need. Well I need (so far):

*about 100mb space would be good (more than enough for now but I'm looking at future growth may extend more than that)
*php/mysql (i have no idea why i need more than one database anyone know?)
*email accounts would be good for the future.. but not really a big priority at the moment (so can skip it for now except 1)
*bandwidth.. i think in one of my other posts.. someone answered with 1gb for a couple of hundreds users per day (this is the main thing im unsure about) so I think 2gb should cover it
*stats is good
*frontpage extensions are good
*domain free would be good (though i can pay for it if the hosting is not that expensive)

I can't really think of anything else
*It's not a commercial website so stuff like shopping carts etc are not needed
* I might have streaming audio etc and audio to download later on which I think will increase the bandwidth
* So my main things in looking for a web host is reliability (in terms of that they wont run away on me in a month.. )
* if it was to be down once in a blue moon thats not a proble.. since its a website for a society at a university.. nothing like a shop where we would lose business etc

But really i want realistic answers for the above.. and that the quotes im getting are really realistic

Don't go below $9.95 (too many wanna bes) and don't go above $24.95 (gouging by web hosts). Stay in that price range.