Intro to Web Hosting series

6. How much disk space and bandwidth do I need for my website?

You probably understand what disk space is, but what is bandwidth? A bandwidth quota is a limit placed on the amount of data that can be transferred each month to and from your websites.

Whenever someone downloads a file or views a picture that you host on your account, it uses up bandwidth. That costs your hosting provider money, and they pass that cost on to you. This graph shows the bandwidth usage, both downloads and uploads, for a month

The amount of hard drive space your files take up multiplied by the amount of people that access them each month equals your bandwidth usage.

So, how much disk space and bandwidth do you need to host your site(s)? That can depend on a variety of factors.

Do you plan to host a lot of big downloads? Maybe a bunch of videos, audio clips, or pictures? All of these can quickly consume your space and bandwidth.

When you're first starting out in the world of web hosting, it's probably safe to go for a plan with average storage and transfer limits. You can always upgrade in the future.

Just be sure to always keep an eye on things, as most providers will charge extra or suspend your account if you go over your limits.

This is the end of the tutorial. It should now be easier for you to decide how much space and bandwidth you need.