Do you REALLY need 1000GB disk space/200TB bandwidth?

dbbrock1 · #1 08-28-2008, 07:49 PM

OK so I've been in the hosting industry a very long time now and I have noticed that overselling has got more and more crazy over time.

7 years ago, 2GB of disk and 10GB bandwidth was considered overselling.
Today, its common to see offers at 1000GB/1000TB.

So my question, to all you looking for web hosting, do you really think you will need all that space and bandwidth?

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. (Some might hate me for this!) Out of all my customers, 99% use less than 1GB disk and 5GB transfer.

Every hosting provider out there knows this, and will tack on a bunch of 0s to their offer to make it look more enticing . The thing is, if you aren't using the space, you aren't getting any extra value. If you come even close to the amount they offer, I am willing to bet you will be suspended faster than you can blink. This advertising tactic is very misleading and a lot of newcomers base their decision off the meaningless numbers they see. <<Snip>>

Bloggers - Think again if you believe you need anything more than 1GB of space. You could type blog posts until you are blue in the face before you come close to using 1GB(unless you incorporate a lot of videos and images)

Forum owners - Considering most forums are text based, forums use hardly any bandwidth. If you run a highly active forum, eventually you will start consuming decent amounts of disk space. However, there is no way that a shared host would allow such a forum to exist on the servers. You will be shut down before you use even a fraction of that 100gb/1000tb.

What should you consider than? If you see a host offering such impossible amounts of resources for an even more impossible price, look elsewhere. If you want a decent service, look to spend $5-10/m for a reasonable amount of disk space and bandwidth.

40sixty · #2 08-28-2008, 08:07 PM

Yes, another thread about overselling.
Thanks, we'll add it to the other 50 thousand threads.

JayNL · #3 08-28-2008, 08:10 PM

If I counted right, this is actually thread 51723 about overselling

gameforever · #4 08-28-2008, 09:06 PM

Such conditions is easier to attract customers, so more and more.

DWS2006 · #5 08-28-2008, 09:27 PM

That's just the way the market is now. I still think you build a better client base with more realistic hosting packages. But I guess that's just me.

blanktome · #6 08-28-2008, 10:22 PM

I'm still surprised that people are offering ridiculously oversold packages. By all means, oversell by 10 times if you're willing to purchase a new server when they're maxing 70% usage but some are pathetic. But what will happen the day someone comes along and uploads to the max of their ACTUAL usage allowance, according to the TOS. I reckon the servers would all overload. They'd shake, smoke, sigh 'Oh, dear, it's finally happened' and shut down.

But like I said, there's acceptable overselling then questionable sanity. It's like setting yourself up to fail in my opinion. You'd be suffering from a dented reputation as soon as the potential customer mentions your name to another hosting-user.

gamernz · #7 08-28-2008, 10:25 PM

Generally over sellers will put me off actually going with that host. Unless its a high priced plan where you actually can use the high amounts of resources.

Tamer brad · #8 08-28-2008, 10:27 PM

MAYBE I DO NEED 200TB FOR MY JPEGS

DON'T JUDGE ME

oliviakitty · #9 08-28-2008, 10:28 PM

Yeah, I just recently realized how little disk space and bandwidth most websites need.

I offered free hosting...
My websites, and the 80 other people's websites I hosted took up:
2 GB of disk space
30 GB of bandwidth