I am a novice, with no real need for a web site, in terms of soliciting traffic, selling things, or promulgating any sort of point of view.
What I need is a place to store files, where I can post links to images, of all sizes from smiley face GIFs to 6.4 megapixel image files, and the occasional html file of hotlinks. These links would be used in various places on the web, and in email, and would be accessed in relatively small numbers. At first I would have less than 100 megs of files, but would want an upgrade path if it became necessary.
What I absolutely cannot have is limits on where the links are initiated from, such as those on “free web hosting” sites I have used in the past, which will not allow a posted link from another server to directly access a picture in one of my directories. I especially cannot have pop-ups, or imbedded scripts that redirect the person who hits the link to any sort of other content.
No advertising of any sort, whatsoever, at any time.
I also need to be relatively sure that images and documents will not be altered except by me. (Not necessarily a bulletproof secure site, but at least a relatively safe place to store images, and be fairly sure I am not emailing my mom a link to the Paris Hilton porn show.
I don’t think the traffic will be even moderate, by usual standards. I myself have posted about 4000 times in three years, and would include links to images in fewer than half of those. Those links and image tags would probably be accessed less than a thousand times in any day, and certainly less than that on the average.
Is the smallest hosting product you have enough to begin with? Would it be expensive to upgrade to a larger product, if that was needed?
Triskadecamus