Ike,
<All bandwidth is oversubscribed.>
I agree! I've been a beta tester for Cox Cable in my area! I've been
assisting them in setting up user all over their system. They have found
that their hubs and initial T-1's were not enough for the expected growth.
They've delayed their roll out of service for several months to add addition
hubs in their system and replaced the T1's with several DS3 with fiber
connection to the CO. The bandwidth on the cable itself is ok! It is were
the pipes come together has been the issue. It is the same with DSL. The
DSL services has rolled out here and the ISP's are stating "best effort" on
your bandwidth. The DSL service has several DS3 located at the CO but I'm
sure that the performance will decrease as users are added. Also many DSL
users have found that the farther they are from the CO the worst it gets.
The key to both services giving the best performance is their
infrastructure. If true dedicated service is need then ISDN, Frame Relay,
T1 or T3 is the best route. 24/7 access to your site is very important then
you need to be attached as close and as fast as you can to the backbone or
you are in for issues arising from DSL, Cable or even Satellite as your
access to your web site. This is were you have to make the choice to host
internally or have the site hosted at the ISP or hosting company. I've
found that hosting external of the company is the most cost effect with best
benefits to reliable service and access. Attempting to go the cheap route
will give you nothing but trouble.
again another 2cents
best regards,
Oma
