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Understanding Web Hosting Bandwidth

In order for you to understand how your website is going to be accessible to Web surfers, you need to understand bandwidth. This is where many people get confused because of the terms bandwidth and data transfer. Although you may consider these to be the same thing, they actually are quite different.

Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred at any given time. The best way for me to describe this is as if you are trying to blow through a straw. There is a limited amount of air that you can move through a straw at any given time. If you use a larger straw, you will be able to blow more air through it but if the straw was smaller, less air will get through. Bandwidth works in a similar way.

If you have a server with a lot of bandwidth, it is hooked into the Internet with a cable that is able to transfer large amounts of data at one time. If the cable was restricted or if you are sharing it with too many people, you are going to be limited in the amount of bandwidth that you can move through the same cable.

Data transfer, on the other hand, is the amount of information that is sent out over a given period of time. You can blow the same amount of air through a small straw and a large straw over the course of time, even if it takes longer to do in the smaller straw. That is data transfer.

Unlimited Bandwidth Accounts

There’s a catch phrase if I ever heard one. All of us are interested in making sure that our information gets out the people who are visiting our websites. For this reason, many hosting companies are now offering unlimited bandwidth. The fact of the matter is, however, this is not only impractical but it is often impossible.

They may be able to offer you adequate bandwidth but bandwidth without limits, quite simply, does not yet exist. Don’t be too hard on the hosting companies for offering you this, most of them do. Simply look at it as a marketing technique, not as an untruth.

How Much Bandwidth Do I Need?

If you run a small to medium-sized website, most reliable shared hosting companies will give you enough bandwidth to meet your needs. If you begin to use too much bandwidth, you can be assured that they will let you know that it is time to upgrade to a more robust server.