You must have often noticed that many web hosting companies offer unlimited shared hosting. Does Unlimited really mean Unlimited? What is its truth? Let’s know.
Meaning of Unlimited Web Hosting
Unlimited web hosting means that you will get unlimited disk space and monthly bandwidth. You can consume as much as you want. But this is only a marketing term. The reality is very different.
Reality of Unlimited Web Hosting
Since not every client needs the entire resources of the server, hosting companies share their resources with other customers to offset their costs and name it Unlimited Hosting. For example, not every customer will use one terabyte of disk space. Most will use 1GB or 2GB. But they will have a feeling in mind that they have unlimited disk space.
Web hosting companies do not limit the amount of disk space and bandwidth but limit the CPU, RAM, and number of files. So the bandwidth is unlimited but as the traffic on your site increases, CPU consumption and RAM consumption also increases and at the same time these companies put a limit and ask you to upgrade the plan. While disk space is given unlimited, the limit for number of files is made.
Today I was looking at a website. Their site was on Unlimited Hosting. But as soon as 7 GB was filled, the disk quota was full. Because there was a limit to the number of files and they crossed that limit.
Yahoo Mail gives you unlimited disk space, but it also has a limit. You cannot store daily emails in excess of that limit. Actually, the secret is that the price of each byte decreases with time, so if your inbox gets filled up slowly then they can give it free with cheaper storage over time. Also, it is not necessary that everyone uses the entire disk space. Therefore, that space can be used for others. But if you want to store one terabyte of data in one day, then it is not possible.
You will often notice that this unlimited hosting is offered with shared plans and not with VPS or dedicated servers. Because in VPS and dedicated servers, the web hosting company has to tell you about CPU and RAM, whereas in shared hosting CPU and RAM parameters are hidden. Therefore shared hosting can be sold with Unlimited Tag.
The biggest problem of Unlimited Hosting is that the web hosting company does not tell about its limitations to their customers in advance and the customer gets stuck in the middle.
When someone asks you about unlimited hosting, then ask him which hard disk in the world has unlimited space? Which internet offers unlimited data transfer? Which CPU runs with unlimited power? Everything in the world has its limits. Unlimited hosting is just a way to attract customers.
So if your website requires less resources then of course you can use unlimited hosting, but always keep in mind that it is not unlimited.