It used to be normal to see various limits imposed on hosting packages. These restrictions related to:

However, many website hosts offer unlimited website hosting where you get unlimited space/bandwidth so do not have to worry about these issues.

Having said that we have to ask – is there really such a thing as unlimited website hosting? Logically the answer has to be no as there will always be limits, ultimately the hosting company’s bandwidth to the internet and the amount of disk space on the server.

“Unlimited WebSite Hosting” in this sense is a marketing term rather than a technical term and we have to accept that unlimited website hosting packages will still have some restrictions.

This does not mean that there is anything wrong with these services and some restrictions are necessary to prevent one user taking all the resources to the detriment of the other users. For both the provider and the customer offering unlimited website hosting keeps things simple.

It is worth looking at how basic shared hosting services work i.e. how can the website hosting provider make money when offering an “unlimited website hosting” service for $5 per month?

The basis of the service is simple. Hosting companies host several users (i.e. their Websites and email) on the one server thereby using the same disk space and bandwidth, IP address and same CPU as well.  Clearly the more users on one server the higher the profitability for the hosting company. Some hosting companies put more sites on one server than others which is why it is always best to go for a well known reputable company (the old saying “if it looks too good to be true it probably is” applies here).

Shared accounts are fine for personal and small business use but obviously not for a big busy corporate website. Hosting companies therefore have to have some rules to try and ensure a fair allocation of resources between users on a shared server. Companies know that when limits are quoted most users only use a fraction of them so statistically it is safe to sell unlimited website hosting.

The website hosting provider will have a business model based on average values which should ensure that all users get a good service and hopefully will be monitoring activity to ensure the physical limitations are not breached. The danger is that a small number of users will take “unlimited website hosting” to mean just that and spoil the service for everyone else. To prevent this the terms and conditions usually include some limitations. For example although unlimited bandwidth may be allowed to cover peaks there may be a cap on average bandwidth usage and there may be restrictions on the activities that the hosting service can be used for e.g. certain gaming applications not allowed.

In summary there is no such thing as unlimited website hosting, it is a marketing gimmick, but for the vast majority of users the limits that are set will never be a problem and a shared “unlimited” account with a reputable company represents good value for money.