Increase Internet speed with bandwidth breakthroughs

Office World News, Jul 2001 by Wood, Roxanne

E-COMMERCE

It is not enough in the business environment today to simply be networked. High-speed Internet connections are being used for the mission-critical flow of data and information. Companies are competing to keep up with the increasing rate of Internet use. As the demand for high-speed access increases, so does the need for additional Internet Bandwidth.

Instead of using a lot of technical terms to describe, basically Bandwidth is how fast data flows on any given path of transmission, and the amount of space available for the data to occupy. It is the measure of traffic and content delivered to an Internet user by one provider or another. Picture water flowing from a hose; similar to water pressure, bandwidth refers to the amount of information that is passed from one place to another in a particular amount of time. File sharing, telephony, and any other type of online communication is directly affected by the amount of bandwidth being transmitted. Although it is believed that there is only so much bandwidth available, bandwidth can actually be produced without limit by installing more and more cables.

BANDWIDTH TEST OR TRIBULATION

Bandwidth Testing involves sending files of known size over a network to another computer and measuring the time needed for the file to successfully download at the specified destination. The result is a hypothetical figure for the data speed from one point to another. To be accurate, experts suggest that three or more different test sites be used. It is also recommended that each test be performed six times at each site. After going through all of that time and trouble the top and bottom 1/3 of the figures should be omitted, and only the middle 1/3 figures should be averaged. If all of this was not enough, there are several factors that can adversely affect test results, ranging from the size of the files used to thunderstorm activity.

BANDWIDTH THEFT

BandwidthTheft is an issue that Webmasters deal with everyday. The unauthorized linking of images and sounds from other sites is a new form of theft because it directly uses the bandwidth of that site resulting in slowing down the flow of data. It is an illegal act because it is considered to be piracy, and is an unethical practice. The simplest way to prevent this type of theft is by policing. Taking this measure is timely, and involves analyzing logs, search engines, and other sites looking for your images, and also your Bandwidth. There is however, commerial software available that protects mages by way of encryption and other utilities.

BUYING BANDWIDTH

Buying Bandwidth comes relatively easy in this market and is competitively priced. High-speed Internet connections are a necessity for business and so is the need for additional Bandwidth. Audio and video files use an immense amount of bandwidth and slow down transmission speeds. Web-services are available that bring suppliers and buyers of bandwidth together for tailored bandwidth options. Before committing to a provider of bandwidth, a buyer should require the hosting company to have multiple high-capacity connections to the Internet. Most companies will have connections configured for load balancing. The term "Load Balancing" refers to the balance of traffic over all connections at once. If one connection fails, another will compensate.

The new-economy landscape has augmented the amount of bandwidth needed. With increased of bandwidth, your site will be able to handle more traffic at the same time. Bandwidth is a means to an end that is directly proportional to the amount of data a company needs to transmit. With the rise of B2B intermediaries, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and developers, there are many options for high-traffic sites.

BY ROXANNE WOOD

TECHNICAL EDITOR

EDITOR'S NOTES: Roxanne Wood is technical editor for Office World News. She can be reached at rwownews@att.net.