If you hadn't guessed already, bandwidth availability can go a long way to determining both the quantity and quality of site downloads; whether they be large archives or multimedia presentations. As access to the server becomes more difficult, the number of packets lost in¬creases. For small files, such as web pages and images, this isn't such a problem; packet loss is (statistically) less likely to occur on small files. On the other hand, larger files are more likely to loose data during transfer since there are more opportuni¬ties for packets to become lost. These lost packets can adversely affect the quality of the down¬load. Files can become corrupt¬ed; streaming media gets jitterier the more data is lost.

If you intend to host downloads or multimedia files on your site, it is worth shopping around for a host with plenty of bandwidth, data transfer and a good level of redundancy in its connections to the backbone. Having a server that can support resume if serving large files is useful for saving unnecessary data transfer.

Your bandwidth and data transfer costs will make up the bulk of your hosting bill. While burstable bandwidth may be a luxury you could afford to do without, it is always a good idea to get as much bandwidth and redundancy as your budget will allow.