How can web hosts get away with claiming "unlimited bandwidth" then putting cap on it

The thing is though, not all companys have a TOS, or even if they do they dont have everything you need know such as iNode limits. but i was saying technically you could use that and the host cant terminate you for usng so much space because you can turn round and say well you said you got a unlimited harddrive to be honest, unless there is such thing as a unlimited harddrive, if so i'd like to know where to buy one for myself =D

 

iNode limits exists not only for shared hostings, even for Reseller & VPS also.

 

Are you for real? What do you mean "you get enough bandwidth"? If it says unlimited then it can't mean anything else. Unlimited means without limits, and no other interpretation makes any sense.

Unmetered is a different matter, but even then I doubt it really is unmetered or else people wouldn't be getting shut down for using excessive data transfer. Unmetered means "not measured". If it wasn't measured then how could it be exceeded and how would they know it was exceeded?

It's a marketing trick. iNodes, CPU usage, and other resource usage limitations, are all put there precisely to stop anyone using unlimited or unmtered connections to their advertised lack of limits or measurement. Whether you like it or not it is dishonest if it doesn't come with a disclaimer as clearly marked as the unlimited offer.

Fortunately in the UK, Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading (a real departement - honest) are starting to crack down a little. It's happened with the Mobile Phone operators who advertised "unlimited data transfer" then hid "Fair Usage Policies" in their exceedingly long Terms and Conditions. Now all UK mobile phone operators have a specified data transfer limit in their new contracts. I'm involved with several consumer protection organisations and I know that the hosting industry is firmly in their sights. It won't happen quickly but there will be a gradual change as consumers in the UK become more aware of their rights under the CPUTR (Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations) which is a hefty piece of legislation with real teeth. Can't speak for the rest of the world though, and no doubt it will continue.

As for saying it's the consumers fault for not reading the terms, that's just spurious. If the advert was honest in the first place, and the host upfront about the limits that apply, they wouldn't need to dig around the small print for that information. People buy on face value, and it if says unlimited then that's what they expect, not "unlimited....but we'll never let you use it because it costs us too much so we'll use some other reason or a terms that you don't understand to restrict you or shut you down at our own discretion".

Bah humbug!

 

Yes, but most VPS users are able to manage linux, therefore they understand inodes. But on shared (and reseller) environment, most users prefer to see an exact "disk quota" rather than inodes which is more geeky and confusing.

 

Well, in this case would it be best to use Amazon S3? What are the pro and cons of Amazon S3? Thanks in advance.

 

Can I just apologise to Manishcf. My earlier post was a bit dismissive but today I was tasked with providing a paper on "how it is possible to provide unlimited hosting". I've had to put the case for unlimited hosting and by looking at it in a lot more detail and having to develop arguments in its favour, I've changed my view slightly. If he'd said "you get the bandwidth you need" rather than "you get enough bandwidth" that would have been a more accurate statement, and assuming that's what he meant, I have to say that I agree entirely.

I've not suddenly become a believer in "unlimited" hosting because I think it's still largely dishonest in the way it's sold, but as to whether it's possible to provide it in the real world for general hosting I have to conclude that it is. I still firmly hold the stance that no-one would be allowed to use it but that is a different discussion and the bit where I see the dishonesty or the wool being pulled over people's eyes.

 

Its just a marketing gimmick by hosting companies.They changed the premium option of shared hosting by cleverly replacing usage checking in space/bandwidth to checking in cpu usage/inode.

 

That's exactly what they've done, but this different emphasis from within hosting companies was a response to the technology and changing nature of web site construction rather than being something that was led by a marketing department. The "good" thing (if you could call it that) from the hosts perspective is that while their emphasis and what's important to them has changed, the way people choose hosting providers hasn't. This has worked in the hosts favour and has become a marketing win for the companies.

 

The best thing to avoid these kind of marketing strategy is to read their terms and conditions before availing their services. Just take note that nothing is unlimited. Somehow, their is always a limit with this "unlimited bandwidth" claim.