Bandwidth – Casserly Consulting

Tech Term: Bandwidth

Here’s a question we want you to take a second to consider…How much do you rely on the Internet? The answer for almost everyone is that it is essential to your current quality of life. Technologies have been developed, industries have been launched, and literally billions of people use it every day, making it one of the predominant inventions in human history. At the heart of this phenomenal technology is bandwidth.

The term bandwidth, in the context of the Internet, is the volume of information per unit of time that a transmission medium can handle. Simply put, the larger the bandwidth your connection has the faster the data can move through the medium. Bandwidth is measured in the amount of data transferred per second, specifically megabits per second (mostly written Mbps or Mb/s). Megabytes, written MB is not typically used in measuring bandwidth as a connection that is advertised as 15 MB is actually 1.875 Mbps since there are eight bits in every byte.

Most Internet Service Providers, or ISPs, will sell packages of a certain megabits, but if you really want to ascertain the bandwidth your computer is running on, your best bet is to use one of the numerous Internet speed test sites like the one at speedtest.net.

The best analogy, and the one that we’ll use, is that of plumbing. It’s said that data is to available bandwidth as water is to the size of a pipe. As bandwidth increases more data can be transferred through it, just as a larger pipe passes more water. Increasing bandwidth, or finding a larger pipe, will allow for even more data/water transfer. For the average user that only uses a couple of apps, a web browser, and doesn’t stream media, a small bandwidth connection will work fine. For tech-savvy families or very small businesses that have multiple devices connected to the Internet at once, they will find they will need more bandwidth to do the things they want to do seamlessly. Larger businesses will need enterprise-level bandwidth of multiple hundred Mbps.

Your Internet connection isn’t the only place where bandwidth comes into play. If you have a website, you will have to pay for a bandwidth level that is commensurate with the traffic and data interaction. In many cases, the more bandwidth you need, the more you will need to pay for hosting.

For more information about technology terms that confuse you, visit our blog, or contact our technology professionals at PHONENUMBER.

Moving to the Cloud? Be Wary of These Hidden Costs

Efficient utility software deployment has been a priority for businesses for much of the past three decades, but today’s software developers are beginning to more frequently offer their titles as a service, giving end users the ability to utilize powerful software solutions from anywhere, for what is often a reasonable monthly payment. The dissemination of useful computing resources from the cloud, whether it’s a private cloud server, or a public cloud platform through a reputable cloud provider, can be of great benefit to your business.

In a recent study, it was predicted that 59 percent of the cloud computing workload will be generated from SaaS offerings by 2018. This figure correlates with the trend of more and more businesses hosting their software in the cloud. To successfully move your company to the cloud, it first has to navigate the process of virtualization, while remaining mindful of several other variables. Here are two major factors you must consider if your business is looking to implement a cloud solution.

Integration Considerations
You cannot assume that your company’s mission-critical applications will automatically integrate with every cloud service that’s on the market. Connecting an existing service that you rely on every day with a new cloud service requires testing and special considerations to be made regarding integration requirements. By not first doing your homework about what your new cloud service requires, you’ll put your company at risk of downtime and lost resources from encountering an issue like incompatibility.

The Need for a Reliable Connection
If your business plans on relying on cloud services, you’re going to need a reliable connection. This includes making sure your in-house network has enough bandwidth to support accessing your cloud services at peak hours, as well as a consistent Internet service from your ISP. Often times, companies that make the move to the cloud will upgrade their Internet package before officially switching over, seeing as cloud services are more data-intensive than typical Internet activity. Another component to look into is the connection and uptime of your potential cloud service provider.

Both of these factors must work together flawlessly in order to provide you with a cloud service that enhances the operations of your business. To ensure that your company gets the most out of the cloud and experiences an issue-free adoption of cloud services, give COMPANYNAME a call at PHONENUMBER for professional IT assistance.