Dedicated/Colocation Hosting Options - Part 2

Allotted Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the amount of traffic and content your site will deliver. When a visitor requests a page, you site will return your page along with graphics. This is bandwidth. A good analogy for bandwidth is that bandwidth is like water in a pipe. The amount of water flowing from a pipe is like bandwidth.

NOTE: There is a point I would like to make before we continue with this section. Some hosting providers offer "Unlimited Bandwidth". If this is the case, ask them for their definition of this phrase. If they answer "Unlimited Bandwidth is Unlimited Hits", this is not true unlimited bandwidth. Hits are actual request for content (pages, graphics, files, etc.) from your site, not actual content. It is the request for content, or bandwidth. "You have access to Unlimited Bandwidth", is not true unlimited bandwidth either. You have the ability to use as much bandwidth as you need, but there is a set amount allotted to your site. Any additional bandwidth will come at a price.

Just because you have a site on the web, does not mean you will have a lot of traffic. You need to advertise or promote your site to increase traffic.

Here is a formula to calculate an estimate on the amount of bandwidth you will need:

Number of pages X .05 MB X Number of Visitors/Month = Total Bandwidth/Month

Now this formula is based on the notion that each visitor will visit all your page once. That is not likely to be the case, but the formula should work. Some visitors may view 1/3 of your site, while others may view your site twice. It all averages out.

Monthly and Yearly Fee
Figure out how much you want to spend per month. Some hosting providers will discount your monthly rate if you pay annually. You should look for a company with some type of "Money Back Guarantee". Most reputable companies will offer this incentive to it's customers.