The ads go something like this: 5000MB of storage, 2500 email accounts, 1000 ftp accounts, a couple thousand of some other thing, and all for $5 to $7 per month. How do they do it? Here are a few of the common deceptions found in this numbers game:

First and foremost, these providers are gambling that you will not use anywhere near the amount of stuff they're selling you. In truth, it's a good gamble. The average web site doesn't need anywhere near those numbers. You're probably thinking "But it's there just in case I do need it!"... well, unfortunately, many people have found that once they do begin to use increasing amounts of server resources, bad things start happening. Sometimes this is due to the fact that the servers aren't really built to handle these loads, but increasingly, your problems stem from the fact that you're now costing that provider money instead of producing profit, and if a few outtages will make you go away, they can cut those losses. It all comes down to the bottom line.

A lot of these kinds of deals come from fly-by-night providers. They offer numbers that attract big users who wish to save money. Suddenly the gamble isn't paying off anymore as those who actually use the services start costing the provide significant cash. Finally, they just disappear, leaving you with nothing. If you're lucky, they'll stop billing your credit card.

As stated above, they're betting you won't need this stuff, and it's a very good bet at that. What on earth do you need 2500 email accounts for?? If your company has 2500 employees, chances are you have an IT staff, and internal email servers. 1000 FTP accounts? That's just bizarre. So they sell you on something you don't need, then hope you don't use it. How's that for value?

Finally, there's the conflicting numbers part to this game. 5000MB of storage is a lot of space, but with 2500 email accounts, do the math, that means your email accounts can only average 2MB in size. Toss in those 50 MySQL databases, your web site, the 1000 FTP accounts, and quickly this becomes no space at all. Another number that usually gets you is the data transfer. Again while it may seem like a lot for the average user, it's nothing when shared among your 2500 email users and 1000 ftp accounts. This game insures the provider's bet, guaranteeing that you can never effectively use what you're being sold.

Don't buy into these games. While these hosting options are probably fine for a small personal site or a very small business, they are not worth the risk for anything more.