Bandwidth Balloon

Companies often use one-size-fits all formulas to calculate their bandwidth requirements, she says, without factoring in unique data transfer needs. “They like to say, ‘Take 64K times each employee and that will give you how much total bandwidth the customer is going to need,’” Garlock says. But a graphics design firm with four employees who regularly transfer large multimedia or PDF files to clients might have far greater bandwidth needs than a 25-person insurance agency functioning as a customer service center and using applications on an office server, not the Web. “In that case, DSL lines might be sufficient for the insurance companies’ needs,” Garlock says.

It’s far better for organizations to focus on using available bandwidth more intelligently, not just increasing raw capacity, she says. Using capabilities such as multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), for example, enables organizations to prioritize voice, video, and data communications across a single network.

MPLS allows companies to allocate different types of traffic-specific bandwidth priorities at certain times of the day or week, Agar says. “If you don’t have MPLS and have just one big  pipe to the Internet, someone could be on a voice over Internet call with a key client when 10 other employees try to download something from a Web site like You Tube, and all of a sudden that phone call becomes choppy,” he says. “MPLS guarantees quality of service performance that enables companies to tag data differently, so a high-priority voice call or piece of data will go out first.”

Beyond T1 Lines

But some businesses do simply require bigger pipes to run efficiently and free of bottlenecks, and now there are more high-speed options to choose from. Companies once priced out of the market for T1 lines now find those connections—which enable uploads and downloads at 1.5 megabits per second—within their budgetary reach.

“A few years ago, T1s cost $1,000 for setup and monthly fees, and now you can get them for $300 to $400,” Garlock says. T1s also can provide dedicated bandwidth, which means the bandwidth is allocated to your server alone so a certain level will be available at any time. Service level agreements, which guarantee the minimum amount of time that the service will be available, are also offered with T1 service. These features are a drawing card for organizations that need to ensure customers and employees have fast and reliable access to software applications and data. “That appeals to companies because they know their bandwidth is not shared and not distance sensitive,” Garlock says.

T1 offerings are available in varying configurations. Integrated T1 lines allow companies to send voice and data over the same digital circuit, and bonded T1s combine multiple high-speed lines into a single pipe for faster speeds and performance. Some find benefits in contracting with telecom providers for fractional T1 lines, which provide only a portion of available bandwidth at a percent of the full T1 rate, or “burstable” T1, which offers the ability to access much higher bandwidth in periods of high traffic.

More organizations are segmenting their Internet traffic and running their most critical applications, such as hosted database software, over reliable T1 lines, Agar says. “They also are segmenting other traffic like instant messaging or streaming audio so the two don’t affect each other.”