William K. Halpin
When choosing a suitable web hosting server, be it Dedicated Server Hosting or Cloud Hosting, you need to determine several factors and hosting resources, including the bandwidth you’ll require for your website.
Bandwidth is a critical factor that significantly affects your website’s performance and speed. For instance, opting for a plan with less bandwidth will have several negative repercussions for your website—such as performance lags or even downtime risks.
Bandwidth is nothing but the total amount of data (in bytes and bits) transferred in a given amount of time. It’s measured in seconds, and the more the bandwidth, the better it is for your website and its speed. Bandwidth can be categorized into metered, unmetered, and unlimited in web hosting.
This article will discuss how metered and unmetered bandwidth differ from each other in a Dedicated Server Hosting solution.
What is Metered Bandwidth?
With metered bandwidth plans, the overall bandwidth of the Hosting Server you utilize is monitored, and you’re charged for that amount. For instance, if your plan allows for 20 TB of traffic/data transfer, your bandwidth is 1 Gbps.
So, you’re using 1 Gp out of the total allocated bandwidth for every request or second of data transfer. Once all your bandwidth is exhausted—either your website will stop working, or you’ll have to pay extra for additional bandwidth.
What is Unmetered Bandwidth?
Unmetered bandwidth doesn’t monitor the amount of data transfer. So, for instance, if you own a 50 Mbps unmetered bandwidth plan, your website speed is only limited to 50 Mbps.
There is no capacity at how much data can be transferred since it isn’t metered. It’s similar to a broadband plan, where if you choose a 50 Mbps plan, you can use it for the entire day with no additional charges.
Thus, you don’t need to worry about how much data your Dedicated Web Hosting Servers transfer with an unmetered bandwidth plan.
Metered vs. Unmetered bandwidth: Comparison
Here’s a brief comparison of these two bandwidth plans.
| Factor | Metered bandwidth | Unmetered bandwidth |
| Bandwidth monitoring | Bandwidth usage is monitored, and you need to pay extra for additional bandwidth. | Bandwidth usage isn’t monitored, and you get a base or set bandwidth speed allocated. |
| What if the allocated data is exhausted? | Your website stops functioning, and you need to buy additional bandwidth. | It doesn’t come with an upper limit, so there’s no chance of data exhaustion. |
| Who is it suitable for? | A small business or website with less or no dynamic content and low bandwidth requirements. | Data and media-heavy, high-traffic, and dynamic content websites can opt for unmetered bandwidth plans. |
| How much does it cost? | The cost depends on the total allocated bandwidth and total data transfer on your Windows or Linux Dedicated Server. | It comes at a flat price for the speed and often costs more than metered bandwidth. However, you don’t need to bother about data exhaustion. |
Conclusion
Thus, while most people are confused between metered and unmetered bandwidth, they differ and cater to different businesses and websites. For example, a metered bandwidth plan won’t be a good choice for websites with high traffic and dynamic content.
Here, an unmetered bandwidth plan makes much more sense as it doesn’t come with any cap or data exhaustion risks.
So, analyze your website needs and requirements, and choose the best Dedicated Server Hosting plans with the suitable bandwidth allocation you require for your business website.
