Bandwidth Balloon

But Agar says need for enhanced bandwidth in companies with high-traffic Web sites, a high volume of VOIP use, or online video sharing is making T1 lines “old tech.” “T1s simply aren’t enough anymore,” he says. “You see growing or large companies going to 10 MB connections or higher and using DS3, which is 28 T1 lines bonded together. Prices are also coming down for that higher bandwidth.”

Estimating Bandwidth Needs

As a general rule, most consultants say you can at least accurately calculate bandwidth need for your Web site. Do this by estimating the file size on each of your Web pages, multiplying that by the number of pages on the site, and then determining the number of times the pages will be viewed by users each month.

Among the best ways to reduce outgoing bandwidth usage is to reduce the size of files on your Web pages, particularly images, graphics, movies, or music. Compression programs that reduce image size can help free up bandwidth, as can outsourcing the hosting of images to an external Web site provider, Agar says. The downside is that compression can reduce image quality, so in some cases it’s often better to remove elements such as Flash files.

Garlock says it’s also important to do periodic network assessments to eliminate bandwidth bottlenecks. Viruses, spyware, how certain software is configured, and employees’ personal Web use can soak up bandwidth better used for other purposes.

If an application has a 640K transfer requirement, “ask yourself if it really needs to run at that speed,” Garlock says, “or if that’s the version with all the bells and whistles. What pieces or components of that package are you really using? You might not always have to turn on the enhanced version, which enables you to use some other bandwidth more effectively.” For instance, a podcast might be transmitted in a streamlined MP3 format or in enhanced MP4. The enhanced version can offer Web site links, indexes, and cover art, but will use a lot more bandwidth.

Lover says smart use of bandwidth starts with a good understanding of what’s happening with your technology infrastructure. “Do you have a reliable way of showing your network utilization cyclically or seasonally, or are you just relying on disgruntled employees calling in complaining about the flakiness of the network?” he asks. Carriers, such as Qwest and Verizon offer bandwidth utilization reports, if customers request them, Agar says. But a number of software packages are also available to monitor utilization and help identify network performance problems.

Keith Meierhofer, vice president of service development at N’compass, says asking the right questions is key to good bandwidth allocation. How many employees will be working remotely from home offices, and what kind of connection speeds will they need? Are you allocating enough bandwidth for high-use applications, such as voice-over-Internet-protocol phones? Do you need a way to prioritize traffic?

New resources also are available to help better predict bandwidth needs. “Before you buy and implement a VOIP solution, you can use software programs that mimic what the traffic would be like and generate data that might tell you you don’t have enough bandwidth between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., so you can follow up with a network assessment,” Agar says.

Organizational needs for ever more bandwidth are sure to keep growing apace. What’s important now is that companies conduct the network assessments and use the right tools to help make the shrewdest use of that available pipe space.