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The Truth Shall Set You Free...
Many people ask us questions about the offers they see about "unlimited" resources by other web hosting companies. So I went out and did some research on what these companies were really offering and the following is an explanation of what I found. Mainly it is generalizations and not representative of all the web hosting companies out there. It would be impossible for us to find every hosting company and analyze every "free" or "unlimited" offer out there, but the following information is what I generally found for the sites I visited.
The Fable of Unlimited space
Some companies "unlimited" is in reality some small amount that they cover up with the "unlimited" label and cover their liability with well hidden fine print or by some , or simply rely on their customers not using all of what they are paying for. When the customer doesn't use all of what they pay for, they can use that space to cover another customer who is using more disk space than they had planned on. One of the problems with this technique is that they are creating a fable of "unlimited" space and we all know what fables essentially are.
The fable is further perpetuated by their limitations. Let's just say that you want to use some of that unlimited space for purposes other than hosting your website. Maybe you want to build a site for your church or your friend? That's not going to happen, because that situation is covered by their fine print and their explanation is that if they did not have limitations, people would abuse the unlimited space they are so generously providing for your benefit. Wait a minute, hold on... so what they are essentially telling you is that your space is actually limited to the space you need for your site? That does not sound unlimited to me.
Another form of the fable is where they limit your unlimited space by telling you that if they need that space for the optimal performance of the server, then they reserve the right, in fine print, to limit or even delete some of your space in order to keep their server running smoothly. So, instead of moving some accounts to a less crowded server, they pack all the accounts they can on one server in order to make more money. There is nothing wrong with making money, but this could hurt someone else's business and web hosting companies make their money by enhancing the business and interests of other companies, organizations and individuals.
But what about unlimited domains on the generous space I do get with ADWH is what you are wondering now? Well that is one way to handle it, but another is by offering small personal accounts for very low prices so that you can buy as much space as you need. If you need some or all of the features that are included in the discount or e-commerce accounts, they are available by request and/or payment. Most of these features are free, but some are not, so it just depends on what you need. Send us a note and we will be happy to customize your account(s) for you. This goes for the e-commerce, premium and discount packages as well.
One other thing... there is no such thing as unlimited space on a server. It's just not physically possible. Hard drives are only so big and servers can only handle so many. Sure there are some configurations that will accommodate fantastic amounts of disk space, but how likely are you going to find that much space useful for web hosting?
The Fable of "Unlimited" band width (Traffic)
Just like disk space, unlimited band width, or traffic, is also a physical impossibility. Not only is it limited by the bandwidth of the network where the servers are residing, but it is also limited by the server itself. A server has a network card that can only process so much data at one time. Yes also like the disk space there are configurations that will allow fantastic amounts of bandwidth, and more than likely your hosting company is taking full advantage of them, but they are still physically limited.
But say you did use all of that bandwidth? What do you think happens on the server? Well you start using up all the system resources and if you do that, your "unlimited" traffic suddenly becomes limited because somewhere in the fine print there is usually a statement that if you use more than 20% of system resources, you no longer qualify for the unlimited band width.
So in reality you are limited to unlimited band width until you use up the limit of 20% of system resources. Isn't bandwidth a system resource you ask? Why yes it is.
ADWH will try to accommodate all the band width you need, but 99% of you will never use the band width that comes with your hosting package. Again, if you find you are in need of more band width, send us a note. We will be happy to work with you on it.
The Fable of "Unlimited" Email accounts
100 - 500
- Unlimited POP accounts -- Never mind that this is also a physical
impossibility, consider how many email accounts you really need. Most accounts
will never have more than 5 and of those that do most of those never get over
15. These hosting companies that offer the "Unlimited Pop accounts" do so
because it makes their packages seem bigger, and probably 98% of all of their
accounts never use more than about five of them anyway.
Yes, you
noticed that ADWH does some unlimited email account offers, but we really mean
it. We are not going to limit how
many email addresses you have, but we do limit the overall space your account is
allocated. This is to keep
everyone’s site functioning properly.
If you need more than 10 or 15 email accounts, and your business depends
on you getting your email, then you probably need more secure email than can be
offered with the normal web hosting package.
We would suggest that you seriously consider purchasing some secure
Noteworthy email accounts. These are monitored
constantly and have spam and virus protection without compare. If you buy
more than 10 accounts we will discount the cost to you.
Please read the fine print when shopping for a web hosting provider and test out how easy it is to contact someone for technical support before you buy.
The bottom line is that the word "unlimited" in web hosting is a fable and that is not what makes a great hosting company. At ADWH we believe in our motto:
