| Here to help you understand Bandwidth!
Learning the basics of bandwidth will guide
you towards choosing the best web hosting plan for your online
needs. Service plans can vary, largely based on the amount
of file transfer or bandwidth chosen.
What is Bandwidth?
This is the amount of data or information
that is allowed to transfer from a web server to a browser.
(Browser: software program used to access and display pages
& files on the Internet).
How does bandwidth get used up?
Every single online activity to a webpage
uses up bandwidth...the transfer of files. The information
files can be anything that a visitor or user of a website
has access to. This includes all file types, images, video,
audio, text, Java, and any other active or inactive script.
Every time a user accesses your web page, bandwidth is used.
What uses the most bandwidth?
The biggest users of bandwidth are
audio/music and video files that can be downloaded by the
visitor. Second on the list, is large images. These images
can take up as much as 7MB of bandwidth. That 7MB of bandwidth
will be used by just one person viewing the page. These types
of files will also slow down the upload time for your web
pages.
How to efficiently add audio and
video files?
The best way to utilize these types
of files without wasting bandwidth is to use a compression
tool to shrink the files. Numerous files can be combined into
one smaller file. (e.g. WinZip Compression Tool)
Adding images without using too
much bandwidth!
The most conventional method of utilizing
images on a web page is to use a graphics optimization program.
There are many types of programs that can shrink image files
to use less bandwidth ( image optimization). Some examples
of these programs are Becker Draw, PhotoShop, and PaintShop.
Many PC's come with some sort of image program pre-installed
on the computer.
What if I need more bandwidth!
Not to worry, most hosting providers
allow for easy upgrades of packages and plans. You can either
purchase more bandwidth specifically, or upgrade to a completely
new package. Most hosting companies will be happy to assist
you in this process. It usually a smooth transition for hosts
to complete. If upgrading is not an option, hosting plans
are usually metered monthly. When the allotment of bandwidth
is used up, the web page is temporarily shut down, and restarted
the next month.
In Conclusion:
Determining the exact amount of bandwidth is an almost impossible
task. You can however get a basic idea of what you will need.
The deeper your website gets( the more pages you have), more
images, more text, complicated audio & video... the more
bandwidth you will need.
REMEMBER---You can always get more
bandwidth when needed, but you cannot downsize a hosting plan
mid-cycle without taking a loss.
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