HostGator Review – Unlimited Disk Space Really?

I have never cared about HostGator’s “Unlimited Disk Space” feature until recently. I use the web hosting company for my blog and lately I have uploaded more than 50 huge files, the size of 300MB to 2GB each. These are video files for my clients to download after I have finished editing them.

As I continue to upload huge files, I am anticipating Hostgator to send me a warning message. To clear the doubt, I researched truth behind HostGator’s claim for giving “Unlimited Disk Space” web hosting.

1. Is Hostgator’s “Unlimited Disk Space” really unlimited?

   Someone asked the same question and this is the answer from HostGator: “Yes, you truly get unlimited disk space and bandwidth. Of course, this is not the same as infinite disk space and bandwidth, which would be impossible to believe.Since we do not limit disk space and bandwidth on those accounts, there are some other limitations. Those are completely outlined in section 7 of our TOS.”

2. Am I limited by the amount of space (GB) used?
   

   “We will not limit your account based on how much disk space you use, nor will we require you to reduce your account’s disk space usage to a determined ceiling. We do limit other factors, and expect that you will follow the TOS regarding acceptable material. This means we can require you to reduce the number of files (inodes), and we can require you to remove file dumps and illegal files (such as copyrighted by someone else).”

3. What is “inodes” and how does it work?
   

   “An inode is a count of every file and folder. The number of inodes indicates the number of files and folders you have. This includes everything on your account, emails, files, folders, anything you store on the server.The higher the inode count, the higher the file system overhead and more resources are used.

   There is currently an limit of 100k/250k inodes on our shared accounts.”

   Simply put, you are LIMITED to 250,000 number of files uploaded.

4. What happens when I reach the limit of 250,000 inodes?

   “Shared and Reseller servers only allow 100,000 files per cPanel. This is a “Soft limit” meaning that while the limit is reached, you will still be able to upload files. However once the account passes the 100,000 file threshold it will no longer be included in our weekly backups. Additionally, if the account happens to exceed 250,000 files then it will be in violation of our Terms of Service and can result in possible suspension.”

5. If I have less than 250,000 files but have over 100GB of usage and counting?

   “We also discontinue the courtesy weekly backup of your account if you exceed 20 GB of disk space, but we still do not force you to get below 20 GB.”

Conclusion: My understanding of Hostgator’s unlimited disk space is… I can continue to upload huge files and take up unlimited space BUT I am LIMITED to 250,000 files… and I do not expect HostGator to make backups of my huge files.

Ok, I will continue using Hostgator as long as they do not give me trouble.

Leave your comment below about your opinion on using the word “Unlimited” when there is limit.

Adrian Lee
http://AdrianVideoImage.com

Source:

• All You Can Eat Hosting
• Can I Get Extra Bandwidth and Space
• Inode Limits