First, The Myth About Unlimited

We are often approached by clients and potential clients who want to know why we do not offer unlimited bandwidth or unlimited disk storage. In short, we don't want to offer our clients something that simply does not exist. There is no such thing as "unlimited" and so we are not interested in misrepresenting our service offerings.

The concept "unlimited" is build around the reality that a web site will not need a lot of space or network resources. For the most part this is true since most sites will see less than 1GB of traffic, and usually require only several megabytes of storage. By offering an unlimited solution web marketers are able to persuade users into believing that they are getting a great cost saving deal.

First we need to consider the fact that unlimited bandwidth simply doesn't make sense. Even your computer can't handle unlimited bandwidth since the hardware on which it communicates has physical limits. The network wires on which the data travels can only handle so much, and that your ISP is also limited in what they can offer their subscribers.

If we compare the tap in your kitchen to the network on which data travels, we can say that the water itself is the amount of data that can pass through your tap at a given point in time. If we were to say that the pipe is unlimited you'd certainly see that this does not make sense since there is an obvious limit to the amount of water that will fit through the pipe at any given point in time. Similarly there is a physical (or otherwise) limit to the amount of bandwidth that is usable at any given time.

Now if we throw "throughput" into the scenario, this relates to the amount of data passing through the pipe. So as we turn the tap on the water flows slowly at first and then more quickly as we continue to turn the tap. The water or data that passes through the pipe is defined as the throughput. The more data the higher the throughput.

Unlimited throughput is therefore also not possible since the throughput is limited by the bandwidth (or size of the pipe).

As for the unlimited hard drive and storage space that is also part of many of these packages. What is the benefit or having unlimited storage for a web site that is only 25MB of data? Many of these same companies that offer unlimited plans state in their terms of service that data storage is not for backups and that fees will be applied against anything they deem to be backed up data. In simple terms, nothing is endless or unlimited.

So What is Really Being Offered?

Web hosts that offer unlimited bandwidth or throughput will meter the amount of data that can pass through the network at any given time.  So though the data might be able to flow for an unlimited amount of time, the amount of data itself is what is actually being limited.

Consider our tap scenario and a tap which is left on.  Until the tap is turned off (and the water source doesn't run dry) water will continue to flow.  We could say then that this is an unlimited source of water.  Consider also that it is not the size of the pipe and, because of that, not the actual amount of water that is unlimited.

Just as a plumber may determine that water is needed for the bathroom basin, the shower, the garden hose and any number of other things that need it, the water will be diverted.  Consider these other sources the same as an Internet hosting server full of web sites with each web site requiring data to flow when requested.

The more things that request the flow of water reduces the amount of throughput for all the other devices that are also requesting water.  The water still flows but now flows at a reduced rate and likewise this is what happens when many web sites need to handle many requests on the "unlimited" web host.  Technically these web hosts can still claim unlimited data transfer since the data continues to flow but many have incorrectly termed this flow as bandwidth (when it is actually throughput).  Since the pipe is limited in size, the amount of data that passes through is also affected. 

All Hosting Companies Offer "Unlimited" Transfer

So in short, all hosting companies offer unlimited transfer and even unlimited storage (as long as you don't need to store more than 250MB of data).  As long as data is being transferred when requested it could be defined as unlimited data flow.  If the web host were to meter the data such that only a certain amount can pass at a given time, then there is no concern that a user will transfer more than expected.

So if our plumber installs a filter which only allows 10 gallons of water to pass per day the best we can do is get 300 gallons in 30 days even though the water was left on 24 hours a day.  No matter how many showers, taps, sinks or faucets make the request the filter will still limit us to 300 gallons over 30 days.

Our quality of service allows us to ensure that the throughput (data transfer) remains consistent and large enough (bandwidth) to handle the thousands of web and email requests that pass through our servers during any given day.  Tomahawk does not employ any filters and our infrastructure scales (burstable) to ensure data transfers at the highest speed possible.  Yes, we have limits but they are not an issue now nor will they be anytime in the future.

In Summary

"Unlimited bandwidth" has been incorrectly referred to as allowing data to transfer continuously.  The "throughput" is what "shapes" the data or determines how much data can pass at a given point of time.

So a data connection that is limited to 1Mbps is much slower than a data connection that is limited physically to 10Mbps.   Though in both cases "unlimited" data can be allowed to continuously transfer, the first will transfer 1/10 of the data that the second can transfer in the same amount of time.

Tomahawk employs burstable connections to the Internet through our upstream providers.  As best we can, we provide the highest level of service to all of our clients.  We have on occasion charged and even pre-notified clients who are headed toward exceeding their data transfer limits.  This is a rare occurrence and in some cases has resulted in only minor surcharges.