Web Hosting Advice

I presently have a Baby Croc package with Hostgator. I'm not great at the web building but I've got something workable. I'm now wanting to upload 773 GB of Video Files to my site, I'll need extra space to add more files if I need to and I want visitors to be able to upload their own video files to the site. Any visitor will be able to download for free any and all video files. What kind of package do I need? Hostgator Live Chat directed me to a link for a Dedicated Server. All the stats is a foreign language to me. What package will work? Thanks in advance.

 

What script do you use?

 

you should be fine with the baby croc package I have the business plan with them. You have unmetered disk space and unmetered bandwidth if you need help feel free to contact me.

 

I'm really popped at that Geoffrey, o and thanks for the reply. I'll get on to Hostgator the first chance I get and put that suggestion to them. And I sincerely thank you for inviting me to contact you again, I'll probably need it. I thank you man.

 

773GB of video files might send an alarm to hostgator especially if you'll just use the baby croc package. those packages are not meant to store large amount of data eventhough they say its unlimited. You should consider a dedicated or a vps in my opinion

 

Dedicated maybe is your option.

 

If you are using unlimited package (Unlimited web space and unlimited bandwidth) then no need ask about upgrade otherwise not one company will suggest for continue with same package. They will always show you one more option to buy.

 

Baby croc comes with the same

 

unlimited space for your own file if your file not have your own right then they not allowed.

 

One consideration is that HostGator has a maximum (visitor) file upload size (PHP) of 64MB:

http://support.hostgator.com/articles/pre-sales-policies/php-settings-that-cannot-be-changed

A bigger concern is that HG (and other hosts) prohibits using the hosting as a file storage and distribution service:

http://www.hostgator.com/tos

That is probably why they recommended the dedicated. And hosts do suspend accounts that try to use the service to distribute lots of data/files. It's a "gotcha". In other words, "unlimited" is limited and nobody is going to give you tons and tons of resources for a tiny low cost.

 

Exactly. While it does say unlimited on their plans they do expressly prohibit file storage and that amount consitutes as that. Another issue you would run into is that you want visitors to upload videos as well. This type of traffic would put an extreme load on a shared hosting platform. This was the reason that they directed you to a dedicated server. Even a VPS will not handle that load if your site becomes hugely popular.

 

No host is going to give away the resources of a dedicated server for a $5 a month shared hosting plan price. I have seen some hosts that do not suspend resource hog accounts and that results in incredibly show server performance with load times of 30 seconds or longer. Any decent host will quickly suspend resource abusing accounts.

You get what you pay for. You want to host a terabyte of files and encourage people to download them? You are not going to be able to do it on a shared hosting plan even if it is called "unlimited".

 

Well said Billzo. I would not hesitate to suspend an account on a shared plan that began uploading and using the resources necessary for that size of site. I would, however try to work with the account holder to put them into a dedicated server and this is what Hostgator is trying to do prior to any issues come up. They would rather be honest and let you know that your site requirements exceed a shared hosting environment.

 

"Unlimited hosting" should be taken to mean: no hard limits as long as you are not using too much. Try using "too much" (which is defined differently by each host) and you may have your account suspended. Some people say this is nothing more than a scam to force people to upgrade to VPS or more profitable packages. But really, you are not going to be given the resources of a dedicated server or VPS for $5 a month shared hosting package price. No decent host will do that.

 

I thank you for your responses. A Dedicated Server it is. I've a lot to learn before I jump into that I think. Sincerest thanks again.

 

Web hosting is a service that allows organizations and individuals to post a website or web page on to the Internet. A web host, or web hosting service provider.

 

just buy the cheapest hostgator package and spend your time making money, not worrying about web hosting details.......

 

My apologies for a long post, but I want to be as thorough as possible.

Sometimes we think we can host something cost effectively on a cheap shared server, but the reality is different. If you expect to use that much data, then you need to look into a vps, and or a cheap dedicated server.
You could host your main content at hostgator, and simply host the files elsewhere.
You have another issue. You need to be aware of any copyright rules that you could be breaching by allowing users to upload content. This is something that you need to consider. Will uploads by users be automatic, or will you or admin check them one by one?

If any of the content breaches copyright, you cannot shrug this off, it is a serious crime. Please read this: (website owner arrested simply for linking to other websites that contained copyrighted material)

For dedicated servers:
1. you need a control panel to manage it. I recommend cpanel, it is what hostgator uses, so for parts of it, you will be familiar with it. Cpanel costs more for dedicated then it does for a VPS
2. you need someone to manage it and take care of server security. It is great if you learn, but better to pay someone to do this for you. Often they can monitor it, so any problems they log in to fix it before it goes offline.
3. you need a backup solution. A simple raid setup is needed, but costs more then the standard default. A backup solution for 1TB of data, will cost you dearly.

These are basic things to ask BEFORE starting.
I will give a shout out to dedi-spec. Used them before, can custom build you a cheap server with raid setup with massive HDD.
But you have a potential high cost per month, potential headaches in policing the content that users upload. So please do your business plan, before you go ahead.

Regarding unlimited shared hosts:
I used to be with hostgator years ago, and I am here to tell you that there is an extremely high chance that they will suspend you for being an "abuser". I was told clearly by staff, that an image hosting site, (such as a wallpaper site), was not allowed. Even if it was quite small (was well and truly under 1gb of storage at the time), yet I had to move it to a VPS. Still, shared environment was suitable for initial setup and testing the script, but long term, you cannot rely on shared hosting for this.

TOS are often written to be strict, so they can legally deal with people who are "abusers". For example, While you have "unlimited", lets say you use only 10mb of storage (which is nothing), but have 2 cpanel backups in your account, at any one time, even though you are not really using any of the resources, they have the right to suspend, and or terminate you for breaking the rules. There are lots of catches in the TOS, that they may not enforce so long as you fly under the radar. But once you start heavily using their resources, you can expect to be flagged for any, and every breach of the TOS.

While the TOS has likely changed since I went through it last, there are a few key points that are common across nearly all "unlimited" hosts. Such as, they often do not allow for photo, file, or video hosting. The HDD is really only for storing files directly related to the website itself, (such as background images, HTML files, css files). Alot of people do things and will get away with it, but in most cases they are flying under the radar.
Essentially, any website using over 1gb of HDD is "suspicious" and likely to be investigated.

 

To Host that amount of site you need to buy a dedicated server. Shared hosting cannot handle the large files. Hosting companies claiming to provide unlimited data and transfer on their shared plans looks unpromising. Its completely for marketing purpose to attract buyers. So, don't indulge with that.