So you want to purchase webhosting?
It's a pretty common thing to want. But the next thing you need to know is, what do I need? How much bandwith do I need a month? How much space do I need? I've gone through the rigors of purchasing hosting a few times. So, if you're considering purchashing hosting, you might want to read on.Bandwith
Bandwith is taken away every time someone loads your page, or loads a page with something direct linked from yours on it. With most plans, the Bandwith listed is a monthly allowance. So, how much do you need? You need to multiply the average KBs on one page x the average visitors per day (A tracker is useful here) x 31 days. Then, you need to divide the final number by 1,024 to see how many MBs total. Remember to include yourself in the calculation of how many people visit per day, and remember to include includes in your calculation of how much bandwith is used. (CSS, SSI, PHP...)If you have a number that is greater than 1,024 after dividng your final total, then you need to divide the number by 1,024 one more time to see how many GBs you need.
So, after a little simple multiplication and division, you know about how much bandwith you'll need a month. If you're like me, you probably ended up with anywhere between 50 and 100 MBs. Most bandwith offerings, however, are measured in GB. 100 MB is about .097% of a GB! So any plan offering 1 GB+ is fine for most people.
Space
...the Final Frontier. No, actually, I'm talking about the amount of space you'll need for the actual pages of your site. If you keep your files in a folder, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out how much space you use. Just right-click on the folder, and select properties. You know how much space your site takes up, but how much does it really need? What about exspansion? What if you want to host others? Assume that any hostee will take up the same amount of space you do, or less. Remember that they'll be using your bandwith, too.Features
Do you want PHP? mySQL databases? POP3 e-mail adresses? These are all some features that many web hosts add. I suggest that at the very least, you have the ability to create sub-domains, use PHP, and make mySQL databases. If you plan on hosting someone, FTP will be essential.I hope this guide helped you out a bit! If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me!
