There are several essential things a web hosting provider must actually provide. The first thing is a stable server, on which the websites should run. Once he has the physical machine, it's time to install suitable software, such as Mail SMTP server and DNS server software. And when everything is ready to go, the hosting provider must face the hardest task - to define his offers. And one of the features every client first looks for is the web space.
Web Space
The web space, also known as storage space or disk space, generally refers to the amount of space on a web server that is allocated to website owners by the web hosting companies. It is made up of the total quantity of all text files, images, scripts, databases, emails and other files related to your website.
Having an idea of the web space demands for your web presence will help you choose the right web hosting plan configuration. Thus, you will feel secure about the online availability of your uploaded content and hence - for your web image. This will make your uploaded content always available online and your virtual profile - invulnerable to shortage in resources.
Web space functions
The web space can serve two basic purposes. In the first place, it allows you to upload file information (HTML files, image files, etc.) on the World Wide Web where it will be available at a global scale. Second, this resource enables you to store various files that are not visible to website visitors but play an important role for the proper functioning of your website.
Some of the popular 'invisible' files taking up web space on the server where your website is located are PHP files, database files and CGI program files. PHP files are stored on the server with a .php extension and are used for various important on-site activities such as order form processing for online stores, poll results management, etc. Databases, in turn, store data such as product codes, customer details, etc., which is retrieved by PHP scrips and CGI programs. CGI programs serve for processing data inputs from online forms, which require that the collected information be stored on the website's server.
Other web space occupying files worth mentioning include externally linked CSS files and JavaScript files. External CSS files, responsible for defining the style elements of a web page, are stored on the web hosting server and linked to each web page requiring them. JavaScript files, also linked to web pages needing them, lie in the basis of dynamic drop-down menus, visitor counters, etc., i.e. they work for increasing the interactivity of a website.
Log files are other website-related data containers that eat up your allocated web space. They contain important details about your website visitors' behavior, generated through requests sent from your website to the web server. The email accounts and the separate email messages are also considered as disk space consumers. The storage amount they occupy is usually added to the web space quota of the regular web hosting plans.
As you can see, the web space you need to launch a website on the World Wide Web is not used only for accommodating files visible to the visitor's eye. It also refers to storing files and programs that lie in the background of a website, but are responsible for supporting its interactivity, dynamic content, statistics and e-mail communication. In this light, when estimating your web space demands, you need to first total the quantity of your website files on your computer and then add approximately estimated space for databases, emails, log files, etc. In view of your website's future smooth expansion, you should add at least half of the whole estimated space to the calculation you have made so far. Now it will be much easier for you to find the right web hosting account configuration.
Web space measurement
The web space is generally measured in bytes, kilobytes (1,000 bytes), megabytes (1,000 kilobytes) and gigabytes (1,000 megabytes) on both personal computers and web servers. Since disk space has lately become a comparatively cheap web hosting resource, it is usually offered in gigabyte quantities with standard plans. Megabytes are represented with "MB" and gigabytes with "GB". A popular web hosting trick is to represent disk space in smaller units, in order to impress the customers.
Web Space with NTC Hosting
All NTC's web hosting offers come with enough disk space for any type of sites - from a small personal site to a complex company web page or a popular online e-commerce store. Disk space can be easily monitored at all times from both the Accounts usage table in the Web Hosting Control Panel and via a neat graph in the File Manager.
And if, at some point, the need arises for more disk space, you can always make an upgrade for just the disk space itself, without the need to upgrade to a more advanced hosting plan.