Forget The Hype, Just Buy What You NeedByRaymond D. Matkowsky
The purpose of Data Stats and datastats.com is to save you time and money. Do not be confused, time is also money in a different form.
Each month this column tries to acquaint you with a situation that may save you a small amount of money. It is much easier to implement small changes than big ones for two reasons. First, big changes are far and few. Secondly, less resistance is encountered with small changes. If you put several small suggestions together, you may save a big amount of money over time.
Over the years, I have been “put off” by what I know to be just plain hype and just short of deceit. Hype appears throughout advertising. It appears in automobile ads, in loan commercials and advertising for internet service providers (ISPs). All of these and others have a bearing on businesses. However, ISPs will ding you month in and month out. They can be a huge expense.
At this point let us review some nomenclature standards. The most fundamental computer data unit is the bit. The standard is that this is signified by a small “b” such as in bits per second or bps.
The next largest unit is the byte. It is signified by a large “B” such as bytes per second or Bps.
The ISPs, both cable and telephone, talk about “megs” or one million units. They do not mention bits or bytes throughout the commercial until the very last moment. They are counting on the confusion of the general public. In my own unscientific poll, most people believe they are talking about bytes such as fifty megabytes of speed. If this describes you, let me assure you that you are not alone.
The truth is that each byte is made up of eight bits. Only in the last view and in smaller print do you see “bps.” Internet speeds are measured in bits not bytes. Therefore many people are buying 1/8 of what they think they are buying.
It Gets Worse
You are buying 1/8 of what you thought. But, that speed is only on their network. The only time you stand a chance of obtaining all that speed is if you stay on their network from beginning to end. This is highly unlikely.
Do You Really Need The Speed?
My business has the slowest DSL that was available at the time. The download speed is one megabit per second. The upload speed is slightly less than half of the download speed. I have two computers operating all the time. Sometime I have three. Each computer spends much of its time on the internet. Rarely, is there a problem with sharing that connection.
How About Uploading?
I upload files to datastats.com several times a week. My web server reports that the upload time of 90% of my pages is one second or less. The heaviest file, such as one that was 714,471 bytes, was reported as 15 seconds. I know this is faster than the speed I pay for. I will explain that in a moment. But the facts are that uploading has not presented my business with any problems.
Speed Is Elusive And Beyond Your Control
My web host’s server uploads my files very quickly. I mentioned earlier that ISPs have little control of speed beyond their own networks. This can work for or against you. Your speed can be variable and beyond your control.
The times reported back to me by the web server are only the elapsed time between the time the server receives the file and completes the upload. Since my host is an international company that hosts many thousands of websites, its connections are very fast. Therefore, even heavy files are uploaded faster than I can type in the access codes.
When And What Speed Do I Need?
The only one that can answer the above question is you. It all depends on usage.
If you are a radiologist sending X-ray pictures to another doctor for collaboration, you will certainly need the speed on your end. The other doctor will need speed on his end also.
If you have dozens of computers operating at the same time, you will most likely need the speed. If you are in some other situation, the only way you will find out how much speed you need is by testing.
But, do not buy more speed than you need. When you need more, you can buy more!
Do you have any other suggestions, please share them with your fellow readers. Email me at rdm@datastats.com.
Copyright © 2015 Raymond D. Matkowsky
Raymond D. Matkowsky is the Chief Executive Officer of Data Stats, a consulting firm specializing in system or product improvement through mathematical and scientific modeling. He can be reached at rdm@datastats.com or through Data Stats’ web site at www.datastats.com |
