If you are new to the internet you may still be in awe at the vast and seemingly endless internet universe. Truth is- the internet, huge as it is, has limits. And thus, web space has limits. Researching web hosts you may have seen offers for unlimited web space. This is merely a clever marketing ploy taking advantage of new users' mistaken assumption that the word space in web space is somehow like the endless space in outerspace. However, the word space as used in web space refers to a specific or defined area, like your desk space, work space, or personal space. When you understand what web space is you will recognize that web hosts offering unlimited web space cannot deliver on such promises. Read on to learn about web space and how much you will really need from your web host.

What is web space?
Web space refers to the amount of disk space you will be allowed to use on your web hosts server. Web space, also called disk space, is usually measured in MB or megabytes. Each server can hold only so much information, or megabytes, and thus must ration out the amount each user can use. An individual server can host hundreds of web sites. An economically savvy web host will monitor the amount of web space being used so they can host as many users on one server as possible. The more web space a web host offers their users the more servers they must have to be able to provide this space. This is why you must pay more for more web space. Do you see now how unlimited web space is virtually impossible for a web host to grant?

How much web space do I need?
Now that we've crushed any hopes of having unlimited web space let us help you figure out how much web space you really need and can expect from your host. You'll notice we place a lot of importance in our reviews on how much web space a web host offers. This is because hosts can charge an arm and a leg if you use more than your allotted disk space. So it is important to know approximately how much web space you will need for your site. This can be determined with a little math formula.

Number of pages in site x .05MB= MB of web space you need

A single page (or file) on your site should be no larger than 50K (.05MB) so that your viewers won't have to set up camp waiting for the site to load. Most pages will use less than 50K. This page you are now reading, for example, is only 14K in size. Unless your page is going to contain tons of graphics or space sucking multimedia you'll probably stay under the 50K per page.

After doing the above equation for your site, add a generous 100MB for room to grow and for your log files (the files that give you statistics about your viewers, which take up an additional amount of your allotted web space). This is about how much web space you will need. Once you've figured the actual numbers you will be surprised to see how little disk space your site will actually need. A typical site with 50 pages and graphics will use no more than 3-4MB.

Who offers the best deals on web space?
iPowerWeb Our top pick web host, offers 800MB for only $7.95 which is ample web space for most any site.