Running a Website on a Minimal Server
Currently my website is being hosted on a tiny account on A Small Orange servers. It includes 150mb of disk space and 4.5gb of bandwidth.This might not seem like a lot of resources to most people but it is more than enough for many websites. I run many different programs on my account some that are for the public and many that I use personally.
The most resource intensive program that I use is my WordPress blog install. It uses about 30mb of space on my hardrive and uses the most bandwidth. I still manage to stay under about 250mb per month depending on whether or not I post some pictures or something else that takes a lot of bandwidth.
I will admit that if I ever encounter a huge rush of traffic from Digg or somewhere else my website will be crushed within minutes. That is why I have a backup plan. I have a smaller blog called crash test. Crash test, is run by a lightweight CMS called snews. It uses a couple of kbs of bandwidth per page load which enables me to redirect people to a smaller less resource intensive version of an article if need be.
I probably could run an snews site with under 25mbs of bandwidth every month. It is that small. The other advantage is that it loads almost instantaneously. If you would like to check it out it can be found at quips.bshootz.com.
No matter what all the other hosting providers say unlimited is never truly unlimited. They know most sites use half a gigabyte of bandwidth or each month and count on you never fully trying out their limits. Because they tell you you are getting an unlimited account you are more inclined to pay more for something they really aren’t providing. I would rather now exactly what I am and am not paying for. I don’t want an excuse saying I would rather now exactly what I am and am not paying for. I don’t want an asterisk after my hosting conditions putting unknown limits on my usage. i say spell out your terms and conditions in clear print for everyone and stop hiding between unlimited* plans. Even though at first ASO’s hosting plan may sound restrictive it is actually quite the opposite. Even though at first ASO’s hosting plan may sound restrictive it is actually quite the opposite.
If you are looking to run a personal blog I say start with the smallest possible hosting account you can find and work your way up from there. I will keep my twenty-five dollar a year plan until I start using 4499mb of bandwidth a month or 149mb of drive space. With my host I know I can always add badwidth for a couple of dollars or switch plans at anytime. I am truly unrestricted.
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