18 March, 2023

What is disk space? How to check it on your hosting

Quick summary: Disk space (storage capacity) is one of the key resources for building and managing a website.

Disk space (storage capacity) is one of the key resources for building and managing a website. Anyone who works with websites needs to pay attention to storage. If you want to know what disk space is then read on for the information shared below.

What is disk space?

What is disk space (storage capacity)?

Disk space is the storage capacity of a server (web server, cloud server, mail server, Web Hosting, VPS...). It is the room available for the content of a website, including images, video, databases, files and more. In some cases, disk space also stores email, though this is less common. All content published on a website is stored in disk space, and when you update the site, the new content is saved automatically.

Disk space works like a disk, hard drive or USB stick. Many companies provide disk space to users. On shared hosting, storage is also shared by many customers on the same server. Disk space can be unlimited or capped by the system. On a self-managed server, disk space is fixed and limited by the drives in that server.

Storage capacity unit conversion

Hosting storage can be measured in units such as KB, MB and GB. The byte (B) is the smallest unit and the yottabyte (YB) is the largest. The more disk space you have, the more content and information you can store and publish on your website. See the conversion table of storage units below.

Capacity unit Disk space conversion
Byte (B) 8 bit
KiloByte (KB) 1024 B
MegaByte (MB) 1024 KB
GigaByte (GB) 1024 MB
TeraByte (TB) 1024 GB
PetaByte (PB) 1024 TB
ExaByte (EB) 1024 PB
ZettaByte (ZB) 1024 EB
YottaByte (YB) 1024 ZB

Today's disk space ranges from a few hundred GB to about 1 TB. The largest hard drive available so far is 8 TB. That is a very large amount of space, and not every computer can read data from a drive that big. Nowadays RAID technology is used to combine several drives to increase storage capacity.

Besides RAID virtualization, SAN devices are also built specifically for storage. A SAN can combine hundreds of drives into one very large disk space system. Choose the storage capacity that fits what your website does.

SEE all web hosting service at MONA, we offer a wide range of hosting services to fit your goals and storage needs. MONA commits to fast loading speed, high stability and strong security. CONTACT US with us for advice on choosing the most suitable hosting plan, RENT HIGH-SPEED WEB HOSTING today to get the best deal from MONA.

Why should you keep track of your storage space?

Why controlling storage space matters

Keeping track of storage space is very important for anyone using hosting. Disk space is simply the free room left on the drive. If you use it all up, you need to add more right away to keep storing information. Users usually upgrade to a higher disk space plan or buy extra storage.

Managing disk space lets you add disk space ahead of time. It avoids a full disk that stops you from publishing to the website. In some cases, running out of space even causes the site to lose old data. Long-time website operators recommend keeping 30% to 50% of the disk space free, especially if you want to run full backups of the data on your hosting.

Keeping track of storage is not easy, because the estimates are only a reference. Still, if you want to use a server for the long term, you need to know how to estimate and control storage. Optimize the information you store so it does not eat up free disk space.

How to estimate disk space for a website

To calculate disk space for a website you need to consider several factors, especially when the website is not yet live and everything is still a plan. At the start, you can pick a moderate storage plan. Then, based on how the website performs, increase or decrease the storage to fit.

To estimate disk space roughly, look at the content your hosting will store. The more content, the more attention disk space needs. The factors that affect a website's storage are:

  • Images, audio and video files take up the most space on a system. That is why online stores and blogs tend to need more disk space, since they hold a lot of video and images. You can optimize this content to save as much disk space as possible.
  • If you install and use email on your hosting, storage fills up very quickly, especially when you set up many domain-based email accounts, so if you use email, make sure your hosting has enough space.

If your email server and website server share the same hosting, it is better to separate email so storage does not grow too fast. If you still want to run email on the same server as your website, download your emails to your own computer to free up disk space.

If you are looking for a professional email service for your business? MONA is a reliable place to buy Business Email, with a range of features to fit your needs. SIGN UP services Business Email from MONA today for a professional, effective email system for your business. CONTACT US us on the hotline 1900 636 648 for ADVISE and SUPPORT from the professional team at MONA.

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How to check disk space on your hosting

Checking disk space on hosting is simple. If you use cPanel go to the following sections: Admin panel > File > Disk Usage. For more detail, open General Information. If your hosting uses DirectAdmin as the control panel, go to Domain Setup > Disk Space to check your storage.

Websites that handle a large amount of information usually rent a virtual server such as VPS hosting hay Cloud Server to run. Besides disk space, you need to estimate RAM and bandwidth too, so you do not hit storage limits. For a VPS or server, the way to check disk space differs depending on the operating system.

That is the information about disk space (storage capacity) that MONA Media has put together for you. We hope you now have an answer to what disk space is, and understand what it means and how it affects storing and running a website.

Disk space FAQ (storage capacity)

What is disk space (storage capacity)?
Disk space (storage capacity) is one of the key resources for building and managing a website.
About The MONA Group: Founded in 2016, with more than 200 staff, MONA has delivered 14,000+ projects with an 85% client retention rate. MONA provides website design, full-scope SEO, custom software and AI automation solutions for businesses. Consulting hotline: 1900 636 648. Explore MONA SEO services and AI tools at work.
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Founder of The MONA, who built a services company of 200+ staff with 14,000+ projects delivered. Khánh Hùng shares how he thinks about building systems that run themselves, automating a business, and the real lessons from delivering projects at MONA.

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