Re: [cobalt-users] A Word About Cobaltracks.Com and Bandwidth Usage

["affordablewebsitesolutions.com" <ski@xxxxxxx>]

> > I have a 4i with 256 ram and it has a
> > 10Mbps port to an ethernet hub with BGP4
>
> hmm... never heard of a hub being able to do BGP or any other L3 routing
> protocol...
>
> Dave


yes, you are right...the cisco routers do that....my ignorance....I don't
exactly know what I bought, but I sure am happy and I think you get waht you
pay for.......and I am not dredging business since my own sites keep me way
busy........more info below for comparative analysis to those considering a
provider.......


Network Infrastructure

 Our network has one of the best-connected hosting facilities in the world.
We have designed our
    network specifically for dedicated server hosting. Our network is one of
the few hosting facilities
    which uses only high-end etherswitches. We have invested a great deal in
both network
    equipment and backbone connections to ensure that our customers get the
fastest access
    possible to their content.





 External Connectivity

 Our network's data center has connections to many different Internet
backbones including UUNet,
    Sprint, Cable and Wireless, CRL, Qwest, Exodus, Agis and Net Axs. We
also have private and
    direct peering DS3's set up between our location and that of American
Online and PSI-Net.
    Our network also operates its own DS3 to Mae East to peerwith many of
the smaller Tier One
    providers as well as operating another DS3 to the ATM switch located
there.

 By connecting to multiple backbones, Our network's data can be distributed
through many sources.
    This architectural design also means that we are not dependent upon any
single Internet
    backbone. Thus when problems occur, we are able to reroute traffic
automatically, thereby
    ensuring the integrity of our network and continued access for our
high-speed dedicated
    server clients. We have taken the term "multi-homing" to a whole new
level.

 Furthermore, by routing traffic mainly across large Internet backbones
instead of sending
    data through meet points (commonly referred to as NAPs), the data
traffic from our network
    avoids these centers of high congestion. In effect, we have created a
small-scale NAP by
    accessing large Internet backbones through private peering arrangements.

 In fact, large Internet providers such as UUNet and Sprint no longer trade
traffic across
    meet points either. They have instead setup private connections between
their backbones.
    However, these private interconnects have also become full because of
the amount of traffic
    that they exchange. Thus, a Sprint customer trying to access a server on
UUNet's network
    would experience packet loss across the interconnecting DS-3. Problems
have arisen because
    both companies feel the other is responsible for upgrading the circuit.

 Our network does not have these problems because it pays for usage. Thus,
if the UUNet connection
    starts experiencing packet loss, we are responsible for upgrading the
circuit. This point
    also reinforces the advantage of our network architecture. Because we
have connections to
    the largest backbone providers, we utilize their backbones, where there
is less data
    congestion. In addition, though these large backbones may have good
networks, they may not
    provide high-speed hosting solutions because they have poor connectivity
to other large
    backbones.

 Our network has over 500 Mb of bandwidth available. Presently bandwidth
utilization is 25% during
    peak traffic times. Therefore, our network is very flexible. If one of
the backbones we
    connect to experiences problems, we can simply choose to re-route that
traffic over other
    paths, thereby ensuring that users receive fast access times to sites
hosted on our network.

 In addition, Our network runs Border Gate Protocol (BGP4). BGP is used at a
provider with more
    than one access point to the Internet. It helps create a truly redundant
network. In fact,
    in an ideal situation, a lease line failure should result in the BGP
routing session to
    close on the bad leased line and the router on a working circuit should
then begin to
    accept the additional traffic.

 In other words, traffic from a down circuit is re-distributed across other
circuits,
    thereby maintaining network integrity. Providers that are multi-homed
and correctly setup
    can actually be more reliable than a single backbone provider because
they have multiple
    paths to multiple providers.

 Internal Connectivity

 A provider's local area network is not often enough being seen as a point
of latency. The
    two main sources of latency for a full-time Internet connection are the
user's local area
    network and the Internet provider's local area network. Our network's
network is anchored by Cisco
    5500 Series etherswitches and high-end Cisco routers (like our Cisco
7513). This
    top-of-the-line network hardware ensures that data requests get to their
destination and
    back out of the network as fast as possible. We use etherswitches
instead of hubs because
    of their speed and their security capabilities. Whereas only one
computer plugged into a
    hub can talk at one time, all the machines connected to a switch can
talk at the same time.
    This means more data can travel through a switch and each server acts as
its own node on the
    network. Furthermore, since each servers is its own node on the network,
it is difficult for
    hackers to trace data packets with sensitive information (i.e.
passwords) to a particular server.

 Servers on our network do not share a single path (T3). Instead, the
servers are connected
    into a high-speed ethernetswitch. This switch is connected to the core
router at our facility.
    From the core router, data is sent back to the end user across the
fastest available path.
    Whereas statically routing traffic over one path creates a single point
of failure, this
    distributed architecture ensures that users can access data extremely
quickly and have
    multiple paths both into and out of our network.

 Network Monitoring

 In addition to its multi-homed connections and high-speed backbone, Our
network network also has 24/7
    network monitoring. Our network Network Operations Center OnLine (NOCOL)
software monitors the ports
    on the servers to check if they are active. This software can monitor
the web port (80),
    the Real Media port (7070) or any other port which our clients have
designated as a
    mission-critical application running. When the designated port is
unreachable, an e-mail
    is sent to every member of the technical staff. More detailed monitoring
services are also
    available.