How
Much Hosting Space do You Need?
Many web hosts try to sell you a large amount of web
hosting space that then costs you a lot each month. However, you
may not need this much space. Have you ever calculated just how
much disc space (MB) your web site uses? Do you really need an expensive
hosting solution for your web site?
For my first web site, I purchased 20mb of disc space and wondered
if this would be enough as I added pages to it. Well, recently I
checked the size of this site which had grown to over 20 pages.
To my surprise the size was only 3,269KB. This means it only uses
a little over 3Mb of disk space.
Most of my friends sites also only use 2-3Mb for their sites. Therefore
it is not necessary to purchase a large amount of space for a small
site (if 20 pages = 3Mb, then 20Mb = 140 pages approx). Are you
paying TOO much for the actual space you need?
How Do You Calculate The File Size Of Your Web Site?
1. First you need to understand how file size
is measured. The smallest unit on a computer is a bit. One bit is
one electronic on or off pulse. 8 bits strung together make one
byte. One byte of information can put a letter, such as “B”
on your screen.
If you put 1024 bytes together and then you have one unit of information
called a kilobyte. Put 1024 kilobytes together and you have a megabyte.
(Most floppy disks hold around 1.4 megabytes of information). Most
of your graphics and web pages are measured in bytes or kilobytes.
2. To determine your total site file size, right
click on the root folder where your web site is housed – this
will not only give you the total site size but also how many files
and folders are contained in your site.
3. If you use an editor, such as FrontPage, go
to the reports view, click on the site summary and you will get
a reading of the total site file size. In Dreamweaver, just use
the method in No.2
Prepare To Expand Your Hosting Plan
You may want to add pages, graphics, features eg scripts, databases
etc, to your site in the future. Begin with a small hosting plan
at first (even 5mb is enough to start out with), and then expand
it as you add new features.
Check with your web host, if you can easily upgrade your hosting
plan as you grow your site. You don’t want to go through the
hassle of changing hosts every few months.
Once you have determined your total site file size, check what
hosting plan you have purchased and how much disc space has been
allocated for your site. If you are only using 3mb of disc space
but are paying for 100mb, then you may want to switch hosting plans
and save yourself a ton of money each year.
About the Author
Herman Drost is a Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) owner and
author of iSiteBuild.com
Web Site Design and Low Cost Hosting (http://www.isitebuild.com)
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