Web Hosting Articles: |
Bandwidth… What is it, and How Much do I need? |
by The Hosting STOP- Copyright © 2006 |
Here to help you understand Bandwidth!
Understanding bandwidth is an important topic to be familiar with. All hosting companies offer numerous plans with different amounts. Before you choose a hosting option, you should have a basic idea of how much you will need. What is Bandwidth? This is the amount of data or information that is allowed to transfer from a web server to a browser. (Browser: software program used to access and display pages & files on the Internet). What kind of information or data uses bandwidth? The information can be anything that a visitor or user of a website has access to. This includes all file types, images, video, audio, text, Java, and any other active or inactive script. Every time a user accesses your web page, bandwidth is used. What uses the most bandwidth? The biggest users of bandwidth are audio/music and video files that can be downloaded by the visitor. Second on the list, is large images. These images can take up as much as 7MB of bandwidth. That 7MB of bandwidth will be used by just one person viewing the page. These types of files will also slow down the upload time for your web pages. How can I add audio & video without using up all the bandwidth? The best way to utilize these types of files without wasting bandwidth is to use a compression tool to shrink the files. Numerous files can be combined into one smaller file. (e.g. WinZip Compression Tool) How do I add images without using too much bandwidth? The most conventional method of utilizing images on a web page is to use a graphics optimization program. There are many types of programs that can shrink image files to use less bandwidth ( image optimization). Some examples of these programs are Becker Draw, PhotoShop, and PaintShop. Many PC’s come with some sort of image program pre-installed on the computer. How much bandwidth do I need? Figuring out how much bandwidth you will need depends on the type of website you are creating.
What if I need more bandwidth! Not to worry, most hosting providers allow for easy upgrades of packages and plans. You can either purchase more bandwidth specifically or upgrade to a completely new package. Most hosting companies will be happy to assist you in this process. It usually a smooth transition for hosts to complete. If upgrading is not an option, hosting plans are usually metered monthly. When the allotment of bandwidth is used up, the web page is temporarily shut down and restarted the next month. In Conclusion:
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