I have found a new host billing itself as having the best web hosting. When you go to their site you get a listing of what they call the ten best web hosts. I can’t say I really agree with their list. I am perfectly happy to recommend HostGator, I am a reseller through HostGator myself. I am happy to tell you Blue Host has improved their service tremendously over that last year and half and I would consider using them again.
The rest of the list I have my suspicions about. When you see offers that sound too good to be true they usually are. Unlimited web hosting space, rarely means what you think it does. Claiming you can get unlimited disk space for $3.95 is a lot like calling a Ford Pinto a classic car. What unlimited disk space usually means is you have an inode limit. In effect they say you can use as much space as you want so long as you don’t go over your inode limit. An inode constitutes one file. It doesn’t matter if it is a one byte text file or a twenty seven gigabyte blu-ray disc image file. To a host claiming unlimited disk space each file constitutes one inode used.
When it comes to unlimited traffic this is another big misnomer you hear a lot about. Where disk space is often limited by inodes, bandwidth usage gets you tagged with CPU percentage. If you download a few million text files through ftp the host won’t get too bothered. If your blog gets thirty thousand hits a day you start running into CPU usage problems that can get your account suspended.
In the end any of these hosts might do in a pinch, but make sure you read the fine print in the terms of service (TOS) agreement before you start paying and blogging. As always make sure you backup any data on any web host daily if not more often.
I spent ages looking for a decent, reliable web host. After much searching, I found a reasonably priced host with excellent plans and customer service (which you’ll probably need at some point). You can read my review of them by clicking the above link.