by marcop
Unlimited vs Unmetered
In the world of shared hosting, there are plenty of fans of unmetered. Many times when discussing how “unlimited” is used, people argue it’s only semantics and that it’s obvious to everyone that the idea of unlimited hosting really can’t be taken strictly at face value. In other words when a host uses that term in regards to space or bandwidth there is no harm done. It is argued that what unlimited really means is the amount an average or regular or standard website might need. The problem is there isn’t any real average or regular or standard website.
Some people who acknowledge that unlimited is an unacceptable word for describing bandwidth because it can be deceiving believe that the right term to use would be “unmetered.” But is it really?
What unmetered means for this context is “unmeasured.” The problem is many of the hosting companies that offer it mention explicitly that once an initial limited has been reached, that upon request at no charge you will be upgraded. So in fact they do measure your data traffic consumption. The thing that they don’t do, or at least claim not to, is placing a limit on your consumption. It is true that they don’t, at least not in a direct way.
Reasons Why Hosts Offer Unmetered Bandwidth
Businesses exist in order to make a profit. That is their purpose and employees are responsible for doing whatever is necessary to maximize profits.
How does offering something like unmetered bandwidth increase a company’s profits? It is through sheer volume. A significant increase in sales that have a small profit on each account potentially could translate into a higher amount of total profit.
For serious businesses offering unmetered bandwidth is a decision to gamble based on statistics, which is the cornerstone for all overselling decisions.
However a way has been devised so that the hosts don’t have to take the risk. There are certain requirements that websites must meet in order to receive unmetered bandwidth.
So why would (more…)