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clum111
regular
Reg'd: Wed
Posts: 437
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Hi All,
I have some questions that I'm hoping you can help with please.
Would paying for a web hosting package be suitable for storing photos instead of using it as a web site? The reason being, you have a guaranteed backup of all your photos if your PC, CD's, DVD's or external hard drive decides to break.
Is there a way of protecting your photos from other people if you keep the photos on a web space. Can you create folders that are password protected?
Would the web hosting company complain if you use the space for storing?
See when they say "We backup your date everyday", does this mean they keep a backup of the data on your space, so if anything happens they can restore the data?
Regards 
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DJ2
regular
Reg'd: Sat
Posts: 46
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Yes you could use a web hosting package to store data instead of hosting a website but the files you upload will be available for anyone to see should they stumble upon them (unless you set-up a secure login which most hosting packages allow) and they will be indexed by search engines unless you set the robot.txt files. The hosting company won't care a jot that you are not hosting a site - to them data is data whatever form it takes (of course objectionable data is a no-no)
You mentioned that "you have a guaranteed backup of all your photos..." I don't think there is any such thing as a data safety guarentee (even if it was google you're talking about) when it comes to data and computers!
they generally back-up data per day but that doesn't mean it's safe from being lost should the hosting company receive a nasty hack attack OR they actually go out of business.
I think that flash drives are probably a better system of data storage, again providing you don't get that nicked, broken or lost
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Dunx
regular
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 142
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hi clum111,
Short answer is NO. They would complain and suspend your account.
Somewhere in a hosts 'Terms and Conditions' you'll usually find something along the lines of:
Quote:
Abuse of Traffic and Storage
...not an offsite storage area for electronic files. Sites that fall under "storage area" are large archives of images, compressed files, movies, or sound files.
Your best option would be a photo storage specialist such as Photobucket.
It's free and 'yes' you can keep your photo's private or just some of them private, it's up to you.
All the best - Duncan
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bolitho
Under One Roof
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emailuser
regular
Reg'd: Wed
Posts: 190
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A lot of hosting companys only care about how much bandwidth you use as its the bandwidth that costs the money and not the amount of webspace you get with the account .
I'd suggest usa hosting as they are usually much more generous with the amount of webspace you get .
Most proper commercial webspace comes with a control panel and part of that will allow you to easily password protect a folder so that only you can use it .
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ultimatehandyman
regular
Reg'd: Sat
Posts: 257
Loc: Darwen, Lancs, UK
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Quote:
See when they say "We backup your date everyday", does this mean they keep a backup of the data on your space, so if anything happens they can restore the data?
Regards
No, this means that they should back up the data and in some cases they will and should the unfortuate happen they will restore it. Many hosting firms put in the small print" You are responsible for making regular backups".
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20H
new user
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 2
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As someone who works for a web hosting company, here is what I would say:
Using your space for images only and having no website would get you suspended, but if you have a website you may use any remaining space for your images/photos.
USA hosting is cheaper as they oversell more than UK hosting companies do. Overselling is when they resell webspace which they have already sold, because the first customer is not using the full amount they have paid for. Overselling in small quantities is acceptable, but to sell cheap hosting they must oversell several times, giving you the risk of not always having access to the full disk space you have paid for.
All good hosting companies do their own daily backups of the whole server and daily backups per user account for individual account restoration. They should store daily backups on entirely different networks, or at least a different server, reducing the chance of data loss from external attacks and disk failure.
Password protection is easily achieved via most control panels, but it is also possible by creating a small file and uploading it. Search the web for htaccess and htpasswd files. These are the same files which the control panels create.
Some hosting companies provide FTP only space, designed specifically for the purpose of online backups.
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Whizwrinkly
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 476
Loc: East London, England
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If all you want is to back up your files, try this site. You can get 2gig free, or unlimited paid for space.
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Dunx
regular
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 142
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hi clum,
Well you must be well and truly confused by now, some have answered yes, some have answered say no.
I suggest that when you find a host you like the look of, that you email them and ask if it's ok to use your hosting account for storage, before paying out any money.
If they say "no", cross them off the list and try another one.
All the best - Duncan
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bolitho
Under One Roof
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clum111
regular
Reg'd: Wed
Posts: 437
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Hi Dunx,
Yes you're right, I'm confused with what other people are saying. I think I'll do what you suggested and email hosting companies. I think I'll contact some American companies, as I've found them a lot cheaper before
Cheers guys
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