Shareware Hosting

[DC3400]

I am looking for free / low cost hosting for shareware application files. I don't think finding a free hosting service for the actual business html web pages will be a problem as I've used such free hosters before (netfirms for example), but for the application files I see 2 scenarios:

1. Paid service. The thing I worry about here is being stuck with a huge bill - those services which charge for over a certain limit. LOL, all it would take is a few jerks (or the file hosting service itself) to use some type of downloading software to stick you with a large bill just for the fun of it.

2. Using several free services such as rapidshare, filefactory, etc.. They typically take a potential downloader to a page of advertising with a count meter of a minute or so. The downside is that this is not considered "professional looking" and you never know what kind of advertising is going to pop up.

The applications / utilities will not be large - a couple mb or less; however, some may require a regular update every few weeks as they interact with 3rd party online resources that change.

 

[theappleguy]

If your applications are only a few MBs each, then I wouldn't be too concerned about people downloading them over and over to use up your bandwidth. As far as I am aware, it isn't a widespread issue. How many downloads are you expecting each month? I agree with you, Rapidshare and the like definitely isn't the way to go for anything business related. Also, if you get regular hosting you can use it for your site as well.

Take a look at TJR Networks. A friend of mine uses them for file downloads and is happy with the download speeds. Perhaps email a few potential hosts and ask for a sample file to download (at different times of the day to ensure there aren't any bottlenecks at busy times).

 

[angelwatt]

I really wouldn't worry about some large bill unless your files are over 200MB. If your software is popular enough you can use bittorrent files to help distribute the bandwidth.