Unlimited hosting: There is a subject that raises doubts and also a lot of controversies. On the one hand, clients were confused or disappointed with hosting with no limits. On the other hand, companies need to deal with frustrations and explain what it is exactly.
Often, that’s where the problem lies: Have you read the terms of service before hiring? In this article, we will explain what lies behind the famous unlimited hosting and how you can take advantage of it by knowing its limitations.
So what does unlimited hosting mean?
First, unlimited hosting does not mean unlimited hosting. However, this is the first impression we mostly have. Complete hosting means that it does not have a defined limitation previously established.
Every hosting company administers its servers to ensure optimum performance and maximum stability. For this to work, it monitors and controls several server resources, such as memory usage, disk space, bandwidth, and so on.
These resources, in turn, are divided by all clients hosted on that server (which occurs in shared hosting). As we speak, for the server to have stability and good performance, the company monitors the use of resources by each site. Each time a site “abuses” one or more resources, it intervenes quickly before this site affects the performance of other sites hosted on the same server.
The story of a spacious dweller
Let’s imagine that the server hosting your site is a residential building to make it easier to understand the question. Like every building, there are several common areas for all residents, such as an elevator, concierge, swimming pool, gym, etc. All are entitled to use these areas, and the cost to maintain this infrastructure is divided between the residents of the building, who live in harmony.
There is no limit on the number of times a resident can attend the pool. Nor the use of the gym or other facilities available in the building is restricted. But there are general rules that the residents need to fulfill for the excellent coexistence of all.
Now imagine that on a sunny Sunday, one of the residents decides to take 30 friends to the pool in the building. Probably it will hurt other residents who want to go to the collection and have this right because they also pay for it. In situations like this, the trustee (or other building officials) needs to intervene and ask the resident, who made “abusive” use of the resource, to free up space in the pool.
With unlimited hosting, the same thing happens. Several sites share resources from the same server, which is balanced through the regular use of these resources by the sites. When a site uses excessive resources, it compromises the stability and performance of all other places in the same hosting.
As the most complicated is to know what would be an everyday use, here we explain the limitations of each of these resources.
After all, what are the limits of each resource?
Unlimited disk space
Every disk has a storage limit. After all, it is a hard disk. On hosts with unlimited disk space, you have flexibility in using this feature, as there is no set ceiling. On the other hand, it is normal to have restrictions on how to use this space.
For example, most unlimited hosts prohibit the use of hosting as a file repository. For situations like this, it is best to hire a specific storage service, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and One Drive. Also usually prohibit the hosting of websites to download or upload files because they consume a lot of disk space.
If your site or blog is personal or institutional, you probably will not have problems using disk space. Most hosting plans offer generous areas, which most places will never reach. Think of a restaurant website or a beauty salon, for example. Even though it has many photos, it probably will not get 1 GB of space, which is much less than the companies offer.
On the other hand, it is essential to understand how each hosting works with disk space. Some provide this space for storing websites, emails, and databases, while others divide the distance between resources. One must be aware of this when hiring a hosting.
Unlimited bandwidth
In a simplified way, we can say that the bandwidth is related to your site’s traffic. Whenever someone visits your site, they download your files in the browser (ex: Chrome). This browser then displays information on the screen of your computer or mobile. The more people who access and navigate your site, the greater the use of the transfer feature in the hosting is.
For companies to be able to offer unlimited bandwidth, they often have restrictions, such as the number of processes, memory usage, and CPU, among others. In other words, if your site consumes a lot of resources or has a high number of hits, you can be notified by the hosting company and have to migrate to a server that is appropriate for your site.
Some companies prohibit hosting auction sites and online game sites, but heavily-accessed blogs may also have problems because of traffic peaks, which tend to overload the server. Sites that receive visits throughout the day, without mountains, do not usually give issues in this hosting.
Unlimited Email Accounts
You must know how to differentiate unlimited email from unlimited accounts. They look the same, but they are different. Unlimited email would be an email with infinite space, which no one, not even Gmail, offers. Already unlimited email accounts mean that you can create as many email addresses as you want, which many companies provide.
So, to avoid falling for a catch, try to find out how much space is meant for each email account. Some companies leave this information explicit on the site. Other companies do not clarify that, so you must search the site.
There is one item that few people know about but can make your account suspended from hosting: the number of inodes. Each file is an inode, regardless of its size. Each item counts as one inode in one email, one image, and one file on the server. Most companies offering unlimited hosting have inode limitations (around 250,000 inodes and may vary depending on hosting).
It’s quite a thing, but imagine you have a large website and many active email accounts stored in your hosting. It may be that in a few years, you reach that limit, so you have to keep track of that. The good news is that it is available in the control panel of your hosting.
Unlimited Databases
For this resource, the rules above are valid. Check where the restriction is to ensure that the hosting will meet your needs and that you will walk within the “rules.” In some cases, you can create as many databases as you want, but space will be restricted to the total freedom the hosting offers. In other instances, tables per database or inodes will be limited. It is also possible that this unlimited applies only to MySQL databases, for example, not including MS SQL, which is Microsoft (and has a high cost).
Again, standard and small business sites will hardly have problems with databases.
For who is unlimited hosting indicated?
Unlimited hosting is therefore only indicated for personal or institutional sites and blogs with moderate traffic. When in doubt, you can check the possibility of hosting your website by contacting the company.
If your site is new and you are unsure how many features you need, you can start with shared hosting and upgrade when the site grows. Migration is usually straightforward, and the hosting company can assist you in this process.
What if I exceed the limits of hosting?
Sometimes a site is reported for resource abuse, even without being oversized or having many visits. This happens when the site is not optimized or was built improperly, consuming more resources than a similar site. In such cases, site optimization may be sufficient to continue in shared hosting.
There are many ways to optimize your site, but a valuable tip is to enable caching on the server. The cache lowers the server’s processing load because it generates a static copy of the site’s pages. One more way to optimize the hosting is to do an external backup and download the emails in a client like Gmail or Outlook. This way, you decrease the number of inodes and the use of disk space, for example.
If your site is optimized and you’re notified, it’s time to get a more robust hosting. In this case, we recommend you evaluate the possibility of hiring a VPS, Dedicated, and Cloud.
How to know if unlimited hosting is good?
You will need to evaluate unlimited hosting as you assess any hosting, but with more attention. Search for information, read the terms of service of the hosting, and see if it meets your site’s needs.
Unlimited hosting offers many advantages, including using more resources than resource-rich hosting. This is not a rule, but it is often the case.
Using the example of the building, it would be like choosing between a small pool, just for you, or an extensive collection, which usually has free space for you to swim. The important thing is to be careful not to choose lousy hosting and end up with a crowded pool that nobody controls.
It would help if you chose the right hosting for your site, whether it is limited or unlimited. I hope this article has been helpful to you. If you have any questions or suggestions, leave a comment here for us.
