Please help me in choosing web hosting

[0xyGen]

Hi everyone,
I am sorry for possible offtopic, but I need your help in find new web hosting provider as soon as possible, because my current host (bluehost.com) is kicking me off, they say 'your account is using a lot server resources', but my website gets only about 200 visitors per day and my disk usage is 1500 MB (maybe they do not like that?)

Anyway, what would be your recommendations for getting reliable web hosting? Where are you hosting your websites? Are you happy with your providers?

I am now checking hosting24.com - offer looks very nice, but is it real that they can provide unlimited disk space?
I have contacted them about this question and they say something that "These days 500GB disk drive costs only $30 per month, so if some day we will run out of disk space we will simply add new 500GB disk drive with almost zero costs and you can continue uploading without any problems".

What do you think about it? Maybe things have changed in last 4 years? With my current provider I get only 2GB of disk space for $10 per month..
Any ideas and suggestions are much appreciated.

[mylinear]

Originally Posted by 0xyGen

I am sorry for possible offtopic, but I need your help in find new web hosting provider as soon as possible, because my current host (bluehost.com) is kicking me off, they say 'your account is using a lot server resources', but my website gets only about 200 visitors per day and my disk usage is 1500 MB (maybe they do not like that?)

The first thing you should do is to find out more details about why your current host is kicking you out so that you don't face the same problem again with your new host. I don't think it is because you are using 1.5GB of space. Find out what your data transfer usage is per month. Also find out whether it is because of excess CPU or memory usage. If so, what amounts have been used. And was this excess usage stated in their TOS.

Also what sort of website is it? Is it database driven such as a CMS or a forum? If so, find out whether it is due to excess database queries etc. If you are running a forum and have 200 visitors a day, find out what is the size of the forum, number of subscribers, how many maximum simultaneous visitors and other such info. All this will help in asking your new host whether their packages will be suitable for you.

Originally Posted by 0xyGen

Anyway, what would be your recommendations for getting reliable web hosting? Where are you hosting your websites? Are you happy with your providers?

Get details of the resources required for your website. Then find packages which will suit the requirements for a reasonable price. Do not focus on price alone. Do not try to get the most resources for the lowest price. This will lead you to have the same problem as you are facing now.

Originally Posted by 0xyGen

I am now checking hosting24.com - offer looks very nice, but is it real that they can provide unlimited disk space?

There is no such thing as unlimited space. Every physical disk has a capacity limit. This is just a sales gimmick that has become widely used in the hosting industry to get more customers to sign up thinking that they are getting a lot for ittle money. They will normally face the same problem as you are in the end where the host will kick you out for excess resource usage or some other excuse.

Originally Posted by 0xyGen

I have contacted them about this question and they say something that "These days 500GB disk drive costs only $30 per month, so if some day we will run out of disk space we will simply add new 500GB disk drive with almost zero costs and you can continue uploading without any problems".

This is just an explanation from them to make you believe what they are trying to sell you is real. Yes, they can add hard disk. But a server also has a limit to the number of hard disks that can be added. And just say that they have two 500GB disks. Let's say they offer 500GB packages. In theory they can only fit 2 customers in if both use al 500GB. How can they even pay for the cost of the server with only 2 customers on it? They will put hundreds of customers the server instead. Only then can they pay for the cost of the server. They assume that most customers will never use 500Gb each. So they can share the space among all the customers. But if 2 or 3 customers really start using 500GB each, most likely the host will kick these 2 or 3 people out. Google for overselling and you can read about how all this works.

Originally Posted by 0xyGen

What do you think about it? Maybe things have changed in last 4 years? With my current provider I get only 2GB of disk space for $10 per month..
Any ideas and suggestions are much appreciated.

Yes, things have changed in the past few years. Hosts have become more unethical in promising services that they cannot deliver. There are normally clauses in the TOS that will prevent you from using what resources you have purchased from them.B But there are still good hosts out there. You just have to do more research and find them. Don't keep looking for unlimited stuff. Look based on your requirements and budget. If you need 1.5GB, look for something in the range 2 - 3GB. If that is all you are going to use, why do you need 300GB or 500Gb or unlimited anyway? Don't make the same mistake you have already made with your current host.

[helmishariff]

Unlimited resorces - just for marketing...

Please read their TOS first.
I don't heard anything is unlimited. What is the largest hard disk nowdays? 1Tb, 2Tb. It doesn't exist.
Unlimited bandwidth? Haha.. sometimes, I found there are offer for 600Tb bandwidth for shared hosting plan. Just do your research, it's just for a dedicated server.

[helmishariff]

Mylinear, I hope you post the same explanation to another forum too. Many peoples get fool by this kind of offer. Don't get me wrong. It's ok if it just some of reasonable overselling but unlimited, 600Tb bandwidth monthly, 500Gb space. Hah!!!

[MurdoC]

well overselling will just lead to the words "unlimited" or "unmetered".

nowadays, these terms are but an acceptable terminology yet still
there are several people who always challenge such.
hostgator is overselling, like any other big companies who has
overselliing ON.

anyways, back to the topic. i have seen and heard of accounts being suspended.
reason mainly is resource hogging though they may not be aware cuz they only
eat up a small portion of the bandwidth.

one typical "hidden" problem is a script that causes infinite loop. you may not
be aware though.
so i suggest, before even getting a new host, run thru your site files. they may yet be
another cause of your suspension with the new host.

[mylinear]

Overselling does not lead to unlimited or unmetered. Overselling per se is not really the problem. Massive overselling which leads to decreased performance and to misleading customers is the real problem.