Bandwidth Costs

A dedicated web host will charge customers based on the amount of data transfer they use, which is usually expressed in Gigabytes (GB) per month.

To make things more complicated, hosts use three different methods to calculate your bandwidth costs - the capped, per use or 95% use method - we'll take a look at all three methods below as it is quite important to select the type of plan which is best suited to your needs

Capped Method

With capped usage, your dedicated server is given a fixed maximum monthly allowance of data transfer, all for a fixed price each month. It is nice and simple to understand and most people go with this option, just make sure that you give yourself a safety margin and choose a plan that offers a bit more data transfer than you will need.

Also, if you go with the capped method, make sure that you choose a host who won't pull the plug on your server immediately if you exceed the monthly transfer limit. Most reasonable hosts will give you a warning if you exceed your allowance and an opportunity to upgrade to a bigger plan, before cutting you off.

Per Use Method

With this method of billing there is no limit on the amount of data transfer you can use each month, you are simply charged a set amount for every Gigabyte of transfer you use.

This means that your bandwidth costs will vary each month, depending on your usage - the more you use, the more you pay - but you will never have to worry about exceeding a monthly allowance.

95% Use Method

This method of charging is very similar to the standard 'Per Use' calculation described above, in that your bill is based purely on the amount of data transfer you consume - but using this method, the hosting company will disregard the top 5% of your usage and charge you based on the remaining 95%.

This is done because websites sometimes get an unusual 'one off' spike in traffic that may only last for a day or two - if your site gets traffic surges like this on a fairly regular basis, the 95% use method may work well for you.