Nearing Your Limits? Here’s How to Upgrade

If you notice that you are nearing some of your set limits, such as storage or bandwidth, it may be time to upgrade. However, I wouldn’t necessarily upgrade immediately, because there are several other ways to deal with this, and they are much cheaper. First of all, if you’re nearing your storage limit, I would simply delete some files that are no longer necessary. For example, if you have a site that isn’t complete and gets no traffic, there’s no reason it should be taking up your server space. So, simply delete it, or sell it at a webmaster forum.

If that doesn’t work, it’s probably time to upgrade. I recommend using the same host you currently have cheap web hosting with, unless of course you’ve had some sort of problem with them in the past and would rather work with a new company. To upgrade, contact your current host and let them know the situation. Most web hosts will give you an upgrade for a slightly reduced price, simply because you already have cheap web hosting with them. If you switch hosts now you won’t have that advantage.

After contacting your host, I suggest getting a VPS if that is at all possible. VPS’s, or virtual personal servers, are in between cheap web hosting and dedicated servers, both in ability and price. Unless you plan on rapidly expanding your website(s), I doubt you will need a dedicated server. Besides, dedicated servers cost $100-$1000+ per month, while VPS’ are more in the $50-$100 range, though they can be higher. If your host does not offer VPS plans, it may be wise to switch hosts. Or, if you want to stay with the same company, you can ask them for an upgraded cheap web hosting plan. Even if it’s not advertised, most hosts have some sort of “premium” shared hosting available.