Here is a little advice. Web hosts don’t like it when you upload 5GB worth of personal backups on your web site hosting account. Caught the discussion on this in a couple of places so thought I might weigh in from the web host’s side of things.
Now why shouldn’t you use your web hosting disk space to backup your personal documents and files? It is your space, right? Well yes and no. You see, uploading or downloading large chunks of data to and from your hosting account can often cause the server in question to go a little, how do you say, bonkers? You have time out issues, connection problems, server resources and a whole truckload of things to worry about. Not to mention there is no real security there (unless you put it there yourself, and do you trust yourself with being your own security expert?). If these documents are important put them in the hands of somebody who will guarantee you’ll get them backed up right and backed up securely.
If I haven’t won you over yet – I am about to. There are already services out there that specialize in this type of Online storage. Web hosting in the traditional sense, from places like BlueFur, Lunarpages or the like are for web sites, scripts and things of that nature. For personal backup and storage I could recommend going to a place like Amazon S3, Carbonite or Mozy.
I was starting to use Carbonite myself before my PC melted, and from what I saw I liked it a lot. Definitely better than trying to FTP everything I have up to a web hosting account.
The thing to remember here is to always read your terms of service and acceptable use policy. Web hosts often spell out what you can and can not do with that hosting account you bought from them in black and white.

Now if you listen to
Mention “top ten web hosts” lists in any hosting insider circle and you are bound to get a few girly giggles. You know why? 95% of the lists you find out there claiming to be a top ten list of the greatest web hosting providers known to man are crap. There are nothing more than a 2-bit scam to build up the webmaster in question’s affiliate account. So how can you tell the difference between the real top ten lists and the ones that are bought and paid for?
Tired of hosting your own billing software, or maybe you don’t have the time or manpower to manage your invoices on your own? I’ve been tipped off to an awesome service that will handle all your financial management and I’ll tell you and only you about it on this week’s edition of the Web Hosting Show.
Yes,
Looking to put up a simple site for free? One new service that caught my attention is
Have a look around, web hosting is getting cheaper and cheaper by the minute. Have you ever stopped to think what price you are really paying though when it comes to these discount prices? Now I am not looking to paint every low cost web host with a broad fraud brush.





How to Lower Your Web Hosting Bill
Ask About Current Coupons
Web hosts always have special promotions going on, so if you have been a customer for a while, and haven’t seen the benefit of any of these special offers yet, ask your web host about them. More often than not, they will be happy to extend the coupon to existing customers who ask about it. Look at it from the web host’s point of view. They get money and they keep you as customer for a while longer. It is a winning combination for all parties.
Do Comparison Shopping for Your Domain
While mentioning the idea of special deals, you might see what your web host can do as far as your domain name registration goes. First, ask them how cheap they can get it for you. Some web hosts out there even have free domain registration for some hosting plans – so that will save you some dough right there. If they don’t have any domain name special offers, go check out some dedicated domain name registers. They often have specials or coupons for registrations.
Signup for Multiple Years
The last tip I have for you to save some money on your web hosting bill would be to sign up for multiple years. Web hosts will be happy to cut off a significant amount of your final bill if you pay for it all at once. Ask your web host for a comparison for the month by month billing and the yearly billing. Knocking a few dollars off per month might not sound like much now but it does add up over time.
Web hosts out there are not dummies. They know your having a hard time with filling up your gas tank, and they will be more than happy to cut you some slack if it means you will remain a paying customer for a while longer. Don’t be afraid to ask for a special offer. Asking a question is one of the few things that is still free these days.