who is the ultimate owner of webspace

[jass]

This is the information I got from my GMAIL account login page:
Lots of space
Over 2802.022516 megabytes (and counting) of free storage so you'll never need to delete another message.

Could someone enlighten me on how GMAIL could afford to offer such huge free storage to net users?

Do they have to pay any fees to anyone?
In the internet world, who is the ultimate owner of webspace?
Webhosting company paid for the webspace too?:confused:

[Twey]

Could someone enlighten me on how GMAIL could afford to offer such huge free storage to net users?They're rich and have lots of hardware.
Do they have to pay any fees to anyone?For the space? No. Why would they have to pay to use their own hardware?
In the internet world, who is the ultimate owner of webspace?There is none.

[BLiZZaRD]

Ultimatley I am the owner. I am just here 'cause I like the hours :D

[Sikky]

Co-owner here.

[BLiZZaRD]

Yes, but you are still paid hourly, and not paid to talk, so shush!

ROTF :D

[djr33]

Webspace isn't a magical concept. It's part of a harddrive (or, arguably, other storage media, though very unlikely) located on a webserver.

A server is just a computer connected to the internet and setup to send out data upon request.

So... you own your harddrive. If you setup a server, you would own it. The owner of the server owns it. Undoubtably, google owns their servers. However, other uses rent or buy webspace from larger companies that actually own the servers. The rental/purchase agreements just give them the rights to use it, almost always with a certain TOS that, if violated, invalidates the agreements and the company removes their account.


Also, note that the size on gmail, like other things, isn't size USED but size available. You could offer 100gb to each customer and only have 200gb available on the server, assuming it never happened to be used up. Obviously this is bad practice, but what I mean is that I doubt gmail has space currently reserved for each user up to that amount, but rather have a lot and when it starts getting full, they probably add a server or two.

[jscheuer1]

To my mind webspace is a vague term. Unless someone has figured out (I've heard rumors about this) how to host a site in the virtual space of the web itself, it does require a drive somewhere but, it is more than that. You can't really have 'webspace' unless it is connected to the web and bandwidth plays a role - if not in the existence of the 'space', in the nature of it. Getting back to the 2802.022516 megabytes of message space, that's not full blown 'webspace', it can only be used for message storage and, look at the decimal point, it's only about 2 gigs, right? A drop in the bucket. Furthermore, like a bank, GMAIL doesn't need to have all that space for each user 'on hand' and unlike a bank, doesn't even have to have it on paper, it is just what they will allow you to use. They can add drives as they see the need arise or, even restrict message storage at some future point, if need be.

[djr33]

Like I said. Yep.
Also, since it's free, there's nothing that would happen to them (except a popularity decrease, probably) if they did stop offering it, or lowered it, etc.

As for just being for messages, perhaps, but I have heard that there are utilities available that allow gmail to be used as a network drive. Just hard that... so not sure.


Unless someone has figured out (I've heard rumors about this) how to host a site in the virtual space of the web itselfImpossible. However, perhaps you mean more that it could be faked well by acting like a virus and swimming around to different computers and spreading itself. That could work.

[jscheuer1]

Impossible. However, perhaps you mean more that it could be faked well by acting like a virus and swimming around to different computers and spreading itself. That could work.

Kid's, don't try this at home (I never have):

I mean like is MIT gonna really miss a gig of RAM that is now a part of my virtual web drive? A gig from here a gig from there, after awhile it adds up. You can use disk space as memory, and visa versa. So many of those machines out there never shut down and they are already connected to the web . . . access time on a RAM drive is blazingly fast, BTW.

[djr33]

RAM? Perhaps....

But either way, the space still exists as something. Or, perhaps, if it's purely RAM, then you're relying on never having it back itself into a corner and getting killed.

As I said... spreading and duplicating itself, like a virus. Possible, but it still exists somewhere (thought it could be quite hard to track or actually tell where it is at any given point).

[Twey]

I mean like is MIT gonna really miss a gig of RAM that is now a part of my virtual web drive? A gig from here a gig from there, after awhile it adds up. You can use disk space as memory, and visa versa. So many of those machines out there never shut down and they are already connected to the web . . . access time on a RAM drive is blazingly fast, BTW.Since the Web is the machines that are connected to it, any site is considered to be hosted on the Web itself. Where it's actually stored on the server makes no difference, and indeed is completely transparent from the point of view of a client.
As I said... spreading and duplicating itself, like a virus. Possible, but it still exists somewhere (thought it could be quite hard to track or actually tell where it is at any given point).That's rather the idea behind P2P networks.

[jscheuer1]

It's alive!

[djr33]

Sure. But P2P dies after a while and needs a seed. So... there's always a host. And even if not, there's still some place that the data exists. Or, if not, it doesn't exist.
It can't just randomly hang out in ethernet cables :p

[Twey]

Yes, but that's what you were suggesting, isn't it? :)

I suppose it's theoretically possible to craft an ethernet cable that would respond to HTTP requests that pass through it. The question then, of course, is whether it's still an ethernet cable :p

[djr33]

That's like saying it's possible to craft (or should I say biologically engineer) a cow that lays eggs.... is it still a cow?

[thetestingsite]

That's like saying it's possible to craft (or should I say biologically engineer) a cow that lays eggs.... is it still a cow?

No, it's now an "Egg Laying Cow". Boy those are elusive creatures too.

ROTF :D

[djr33]

The once unknown relative of the platypus. Right..... heh.

[jscheuer1]

No, it's now an "Egg Laying Cow". Boy those are elusive creatures too.

ROTF :D

I almost always add a little half and half to my eggs, how convenient.

[Shotgun Ninja]

So the guys who own the physical storage device (we'll call 'em towers) doesn't necessarily own what is stored in binary IN the tower, or the intellectual property traveling through the processors INSIDE the tower, or the virtual existences (like when a user logs on to MySpace, and their 'token' is carried with them wherever they go) currently interacting WITH the tower. All they own is the tower itself. They don't even own the host website, or the administrative access to said.

[Twey]

"Necessarily" being the operative word, of course.