Test your bandwidth upload, download speed

In computer networks, bandwidth is often used as a synonym for data transfer rate - the amount of data that can be carried from one point to another in a given time period (usually a second). This kind of bandwidth is usually expressed in bits (of data) per second (bps).

Friday, May 18, 2007

Bandwidth Bandits

Files that are loaded to or from servers uses internet bandwidth to push files along the network at various speeds. Every time you upload a file to your ISP, surf the web or use an audio application, you are using bandwidth.

Bandwidth is a bunch of wires or fibers connecting servers to a network. Depending on the grade of the wire it determines how much data is coming across the network where your web-site is hosted. When someone attempts to get more data than can be handled by the network, the whole network slows down.

ISP’s can put a limitation on bandwidth at certain times during peak periods or charge you a flat fee per month for bandwidth usage. If you go over the flat fee, then they charge you extra for using extra bandwidth. Some ISP’s will shut down the transmissions until traffic is more stable on the network.

You can load most files (images, sound files, videos and flash scripts and other programs) in your web site. This excludes, of course, banners and pop ups and specific documents and images which are supposed to be loaded from a central server.

Bandwidth bandits link to images and other files directly to some other server instead of putting them on their local server. There are various reasons as to why they do this but one reason is to get as much bandwidth as possible to show their links and images. So they “steal” images or audio files each time the site is initialized meaning that they steal the bandwidth.

There’s certain ways that you can stop the person from stealing your bandwidth allocation. If they have an email, I would contact them personally or go through Network Solutions and do an IP lookup which will give you information on the person and who the site is registered to. You can always get in touch with the company that hosts their site too.

Bandwidth can be expensive and the last thing that you want is someone stealing it.

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John Ugoshowa. You are welcome to use this article on your website or
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Do you Need a Lot of Bandwidth?

Bandwidth measures the volume of data transmitted over an internet connection. You have to know how much bandwidth you need while choosing hosting plans.

Be careful when someone claims they provide unlimited bandwidth or monthly transfer. Anyone claiming "Unlimited Bandwidth" is simply lying. There's no such thing as "Unlimited Bandwidth".

I’ve never seen any broadband company offering an internet connection as "Unlimited Megabytes per Second." So, how could a web hosting company, which normally doesn't even own its own access lines, claims to customers that it will give them "Unlimited Bandwidth"?

Most of the time, high bandwidth sites on these "Unlimited" plans will be disconnected, and no refund given. Normally, the web hosting company will say that the site violated its Acceptable Use Policy or Terms of Service.

Whenever you visit a site promoting "Unlimited Bandwidth" as one of the account features, be sure to visit the Acceptable Use Policy, or the Terms of Service. Read the fine text about the so-called "Unlimited" disclaimer.

When you first look for web hosting services (those who state clearly bandwidth offered), you have to make your best estimation and watch your usage carefully in the first few months. Take these factors into consideration while estimating.

**How many users will access your web site?

**How many pages to be access?

**How big are the graphic and HTML files?

Large audio/video files, computer programs, and file downloads require more bandwidth. Flash web sites use tons of bandwidth. Virtual Reality (VR) and full-length three-dimensional audio/visual presentations require the most bandwidth of all.

Though it is not accurate, but still gives you something to work with until your site has been online for a while and actual traffic statistics have been generated.

Don’t fall for the unlimited bandwidth trap that some companies throw at you.

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About the Author:

John Ugoshowa. You are welcome to use this article on your website or
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For more information on web hosting see the web hosting section of Quickregister.net Free Search Engine Submission Service
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Ziksa Introduces the Bandwidth Multiplier - Double your Broadband Double your Fun

Ziksa Digital Services and company based in Bangalore, India introduces the Bandwidth Multiplier which makes T1 speeds and beyond available to anyone who can afford it - even if the broadband offerings are limited in speed. These routers have the ability to "join" two broadband links - xDSL, Cable modem, Fixed Wireless, you name it - into a single seamless "big data pipe" shared by all the machines in your LAN. The devices don't even have to be of the same type, as any pair of broadband connections with Ethernet (RJ45) connectivity can be used, and even mixed for additional safety against service outages from a particular (Telco or Cable) infrastructure.

While you won't be able to use the combined bandwidth with a single file download, any applications using multiple simultaneous connections will. The scenarios are many; you can use the combined bandwidth even if you have only one PC behind the router doing multiple downloads -when downloading a web page with graphics for example, when you use a "download accelerator", when you manually start downloading multiple files at once, or when you use a peer-to-peer file sharing program.

For small businesses and others who want Internet access redundancy and improved speed, this is the perfect product.

For more information on the product please visit http://www.ziksa.com or email Sree Kumar (sree@ziksa.com).


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About the Author:

Sree Kumar is the CEO of Ziksa Digital Services Pvt. Ltd. Ziksa is an innovator of out-of-the-box network solutions that address the needs of small to medium enterprises; broadband and IT service providers; and SOHO as well residential customers worldwide.

Secure Your Own Bandwith with a Dedicated Server

If you are serious about your online business endeavors, you might just consider looking for an online dedicated server. The dedicated server is actually an entire server which is at your disposal, and which is not shared with anybody else.

Right from the start, the advantages are clear: you, as the webmaster, have full control over the server, including option of operating system, hardware, etc. You can customize everything according to your own personal needs, while the administration is still handled by the hosting company.

The most important advantage of using an online dedicated server is that your website performance will not be affected by the traffic of the other websites with which you would have been sharing your server's bandwidth.

The online dedicated server environment provides an exclusive server or servers devoted to the sole purpose of serving yourself only. You do not share hard disk space with other customers, and you avoid shared hosting.

Before dedicated servers existed, a web site developer used to have two hosting options, the low-priced shared hosting model and the premium-priced dedicated server. A person who bought space on a shared host would get a certain amount of disk space and monthly transfer, and would have the web site served from a common web server.

The hosting company would attempt to provide a wide range of options for the web site developer, in order to increase the popularity of their products. But, for example, if a customer needed a non-standard program installed or maybe wanted to use a privileged account in order for a particular utility to run, he would be completely not allowed to achieve these goals.

A simple example might be a site which required a database to store the information in. Many hosting companies provide the standard MySQL database to use on their servers. If your application requires another type of database though, then it could prove to be incompatible with the shared hosting account.

And a dedicated server can be customized anyway you want. But, there's also a catch. Because it can handle much more traffic than a shared hosting account, their much better performance doesn't come cheap. A typical dedicated server can cost the savvy webmaster hundreds of dollars per month depending on its size, network connectivity and the amount of management required from the hosting company.

Webmasters who don't fit into the standard shared hosting model and find that it doesn't work anymore for them, or whose sites grew very popular and required a large amount of resources have the alternative of a dedicated server. It can be customized to exactly fit the needs of you as a site developer. And as long as your business is very successful, you are probably way better with a dedicated server at your disposal.

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Select the ideal dedicated server for your needsDedicated servers. http://www.dedicatedserverhost1.com Save with a comprehensive web hosting package Web hosting packages. http://www.webhostingpackagedeal.com

Why You Should Consider High Speed Internet Access

According to Webster's dictionary, broadband (high speed internet access) is defined as of, relating to, or being a communications network in which a frequency range is divided into multiple independent channels for simultaneous transmission of signals (as voice, data, or video).

A major advantage of broadband or high speed internet access that it is "always on." In addition, choosing broadband internet service will allow you to explore the full potential of the web. It will give you access to a whole new world of entertainment of rich media content such as film, music and interactive presentations.

Moreover, high speed internet access allows faster download times than a standard dial up connection, which can take hours to download large files such as software updates or music files. With broadband internet service, you can download large files, movies, software updates, music and films in a matter of minutes, if not seconds!

Furthermore, high speed internet access does not have to be expensive, either. With broadband, you are able to sign up for a set monthly subscription. You can use your broadband connection as much as you want, day or night, without having to worry about additional call charges and unexpectedly large phone bills.

There are several types of high speed internet access: satellite DSL, VoIP, satellite internet, T1, DS-3 and Frame Relay. Below describes and defines each type of broadband service.

What is Satellite DSL?

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) is a technology that delivers high bandwidth information to homes and businesses over ordinary copper telephone lines. DSL refers to different variations of DSL, such as ADSL, HDSL and RADSL. A DSL line can carry both data and voice signals and the data part of the line is continously connected.

What is VoIP?

VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) is a term used in IP telephony for a set of facilities for managing the delivery of voice information using the Internet Protocol. Basically, VoIP entails sending voice information in digital form in discrete packets rather than the usual protocols of the telephone network. A major advantage of VoIP is that it allows the user to avoid toll charges issued by telephone companies.

What is Satellite Internet?

Satellite internet is an arrangement in which the outgoing and incoming data are sent from, and arrive at, a computer through a satellite. Each subscriber's hardware includes a satellite dish antenna and a transceiver that operates in the microwave portion of the radio spectrum.

What is T1?

T1 (T-1) sometimes referred to as DS1 lines, is a dedicated phone connection supporting data rates of 1.544 megabits per second (Mbps). A T-1 line actually consists of 24 individual channels, each supporting 64Kbits per second. Each 64Kbit / second channel can be configured to carry voice or data traffic. Most telephone companies will allow you to buy some individual channels, known as fractional T-1 access. Most small to mid-sized colleges and businesses have T-1 lines for internet connections.

What is DS-3?

DS-3, sometimes referred to as T-3 lines, is a dedicated phone connection supporting data rates of about 43 Mbps. A T-3 line actually consists of 672 individual channels, each supporting 64 Kbps. T-3 lines are used mainly by Internet Service Providers (ISP) connecting to the internet backbone and for the backbone itself. Cognigen Dedicated is a provider of DS-3 (T-3) access.

What is Frame Relay?

Frame Relay is a packet-switching protocol for connecting devices on a Wide Area Network (WAN). Frame Relay networks in the U.S.A. support data transfer rates at T-1 (1.544 Mbps) and T-3 (45 Mbps) speeds. Frame Relay can be thought of as a way of utilizing existing T-1 and T-3 lines owned by a service provider. Most telephone companies now provide Frame Relay service for users who want connections at 56 Kbps to T-1 speeds. Cognigen Dedicated is a provider of Frame Relay.

Source: Free Online Articles from ArticlesBase.com
About the Author:

Reginald Sharp is a writer and the webmaster of Broadband Internet Services.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Beeline Bandwidth Test

Considerations

  • A faster computer processes a download more quickly than a slower machine.
  • Heavy traffic on the internet or on your LAN may slowdown your throughput speed.
  • Results may be affected if you are performing intensive CPU work at the time of your speed test.
  • There's a limit of 20 free tests a day.
http://www.beelinebandwidthtest.com/

MySpeed Bandwidth Test

MySpeed Server bandwidth test accurately measures DSL, ADSL, cable, satellite and other broadband connections by timing actual data transfers.

http://myspeed.visualware.com/