How do I calculate my expected data transfer usage so that I can choose which plan
is best for me?
To help you estimate your monthly data transfer usage, we provide some simple
calculations as given below.
First some Practical Information!
Before starting your data transfer calculations, you may need a basic understanding of
some typical file sizes and how they relate to data transfer usage. The smaller the total
size of a Web page, the quicker it downloads. Thus, many Web pages are often less than
30 KB in size. A typical graphic file (say, a .GIF file) is about 20 KB to 30 KB in size.
However, graphics on Web pages are usually smaller, often no more than 15 KB to 20
KB of total graphics size per page. Sometimes Web graphic files may be considerably
larger than 20 KB. However, for most Web sites, using individual graphics files larger
than around 30 KB is not advised. Thus, to speed the loading of your Web pages,
reducing the size of your Web page graphics is essential.
One megabyte (1 MB) is roughly 180,000 words of text -- about the size of a typical
novel. An easy way to calculate file size is by using multiples of 1000. Calculations
based on multiples of 1000 are somewhat easier than those that use the binary method, a
method based on multiples of 1024. However, there are still many calculations that are
performed using binary units of measurement.
The easy way:
There are 1000 bytes per kilobyte (KB). There are 1000 kilobytes per megabyte (MB) or
1,000,000 bytes. There are 1000 megabytes per gigabyte (GB) or 1,000,000,000 bytes per
gigabyte.
The binary way:
There are 1024 bytes per kilobyte. There are 1024 kilobytes per megabyte or 1,048,576
bytes. There are 1024 megabytes per gigabyte or 1,073,741,824 bytes per gigabyte. The
equivalences shown above will prove helpful in understanding the calculations in the
following section, Example Calculations Using the Binary Way.
Example Calculations Using the Binary Way
Estimating the Number of Files You Can Transfer Per Month
Typically, data usage is measured in bytes. The most common measures are: kilobytes,
megabytes, gigabytes, and terabytes. If you have an account that allows up to 2 GB of
data transfer per month and your average file size is 10 KB, then you can move 209,715
files per month. Here are the steps that we used to arrive at that answer:
1. Convert your average file size from kilobytes to bytes by multiplying the average
file size (10 KB) by 1024 (the byte equivalent of 1 KB):
10 * 1024 = 10,240 bytes
2. Determine the number of bytes in 2 GB by multiply the number of bytes found in
one gigabyte (1,073,741,824) by 2:
1,073,741,824 * 2 = 2,146,483,648 bytes
3. Finally, divide the number of bytes in 2 GB by the average file size in bytes. This
provides you with the number of 10 KB files that your account can transfer per
month:
2,147,483,648 / 10,240 = 209,715 files per month
As another example, if you have an account that allows up to 5 GB of data transfer per
month and your average file size is 100 KB, then you can move 53,558 files per month.
Here are the steps that we used to arrive at that answer:
1. Convert your average file size from kilobytes to bytes by multiplying the average
file size (100 KB) by 1024 (the byte equivalent of 1 KB):
100 * 1024 = 100,240 bytes
2. Determine the number of bytes in 5 GB by multiplying the number of bytes found
in one gigabyte (1,073,741,824) by 5:
1,073,741,824 * 5 = 5,368,709,120 bytes
3. Finally, divide the number of bytes in 5 GB by the average file size in bytes. This
will provide you with the number of 100 KB files that your account can transfer
per month:
5,368,709,120 / 100,240 = 53,558 files per month
Estimating the Total Amount of Data Transferred Per Month
Sometimes, you may find it more useful to calculate the total amount of data that is
transferred per month instead of the number of individual files transferred per month. For
instance, if you use a hosting plan that allows 5 GB of data transfer per month, you may
want to estimate how close your site will come to that limit. If you are transferring from
another hosting company to ours, you probably already have a good estimate of your
average monthly total data transfer. In that case, you probably will not need to perform
the following calculation. However, if you are starting a new site, you will need to take
educated guesses regarding the values that you need to enter into the equation mentioned
below.
Realize that the following equation applies to sites that are mostly informational. Those
sites do not offer many downloadable files. To estimate the total amount of data your site
may transfer per month, you would need to perform the following calculation:
(Estimated # of visitors per month) * (Average Web page size) * (Average # of pages
viewed per visit) = Data Transfer Total per Month.
For example, let's say that you expect your site to attract an average of 10,000 visitors per
month. Further, your average Web page size is about 35 KB. You also expect that visitors
will view an average of 5 pages on your site each time they visit. You calculation would
be:
10,000 * 35 * 5 = 1,750,000 KB
So, your estimated monthly data transfer total is 1,750,000 KB -- or about 1.75 MB. This
is well below your 5 GB limit.
Using Our On-line Web Statistics to Better Estimate Your Data Transfer Usage
If your site is very large or if it has numerous files for visitors to download, you could
still exceed your monthly data transfer limit. Trying to estimate the monthly data transfer
totals for such a site is, at best, problematic. If your site provides large or numerous files
for download -- for example, MP3 files, Windows wallpaper files, graphic files and so on
-- you may first want to contact our Web Solutions Sales team on 1300 654 677 and
select option 4. Ask them for their expertise in recommending a plan that fits both your
budget and your site type (e-business, music download, etc.). Then, using the Control
Panel that we provide with your account, you can monitor the total amount of data
transferred during the first weeks of your site's operation. The Control Panel's extensive
statistical information allows you to determine if your site will exceed its monthly data
transfer limit. If it appears that this will be the case, you can call us to upgrade your
hosting plan accordingly.
Additional Information
Measurement Units: Even today, there is still some confusion about what kilobyte,
megabyte, gigabyte, etc. actually mean. Traditionally, the terms kilobyte, megabyte and
gigabyte were used to express the binary multiples of 1024, 1,048,576 and 1,073,741,824
bytes.
However, as people often think in decimal terms rather than in binary terms, in December
1998, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC: http://www.iec.ch) approved
a new standard for names and symbols for use in the fields of data processing and data
transmission. The standard was adopted in January 1999 by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE: http://www.ieee.org). Thus, kilobyte, megabyte and
gigabyte should now be used to express the decimal multiples of 1000, 1,000,000 and
1,000,000,000 bytes. A trio of new terms -- kibibyte, mebibyte and gibibyte -- are now
used to express the binary multiples of 1024, 1,048,576 and 1,073,741,824 bytes.