Unlimited Web Hosting

Is it possible for a computer to have unlimited storage and data transfer? I don’t think so. If that’s a true statement (please correct me if I’m wrong), then how can the biggest names in the shared web hosting world offer unlimited resources? I asked executives at several of the largest “unlimited” web hosting companies how they could make such a claim. Here are their answers:

“Unlimited hosting is really just another way to say there are no limits unless a web site is using so much resources that it’s causing issues with a server. Since 99% of web sites never even approach this limit, it’s silly to impose arbitrary numbers for disk space and bandwidth. This is a similar model to the way most ISP’s and telecom companies operate.”

-Chad Bean, HostGator

“Shared web hosting has been unlimited ever since hosting providers started advertising they were going to provide hundreds of GigaBytes bandwidth and disk space. Unlimited merely means that those are not factors any more for the common shared web hosting user. The real limits for shared hosting are the resources you share with other users on that server such as number of connections, memory usage, and processor usage. And it basically comes down to as long as your site doesn’t create a problem for other people on that server you are free to create and build your website!”

-Ben Welch-Bolen, Site5

BlueHost.Com does not set an arbitrary limit or cap on the amount of resources a single subscriber can use. In good faith and subject to our terms of service, BlueHost.Com makes every commercially reasonable effort to provide its subscribers with all the storage and bandwidth resources needed to power their web sites successfully.

-James Gierson, BlueHost

IX defines the hosting term “unlimited” as providing the customer with more bandwidth, diskspace, email accounts, etc. then you will need in this lifetime or next. And if by some rare chance you come close to exceeding your allotted space -which you won’t because it is impossible- IX will make sure to provide you with more of whatever you need.

-Jeremy Fox, IX Web Hosting

I think I have a life story that relates. When I was 21 I went to an “all-you-can-eat” Chinese food restaurant with three of my buddies. The four of us would not be considered small men. I was the only one that wasn’t playing some level of college football. Anyway, we really got after it. Plate after plate of kung pao, chow fun, dim sum, egg rolls and general’s chicken went down with a fury. At the 60 minute marker we started to get stink-eye from the owners. At 90 minutes we were asked, actually demanded, to leave the restaurant immediately. We vehemently protested and pointed at the dozen or so “all-you-can-eat” signs on every wall and window in the place. If I remember correctly, they threatened to call the cops if we didn’t vacate the premises. Our efforts to continue eating were futile. Evidently “all-you-can-eat” was “all-you-can-eat” unless you eat too much.

This is how unlimited web hosting works. You can use “all-you-want” until you use too much. To be fair, the most important things to consider from web hosts are uptime, SLA (Service Level Agreements), support, pricing and compatibility to your project. However, it does feel good to know you can use that “all-you-can-eat” offer without being asked to leave. At least until you’re asked to leave.