Recent network upgrades ensure that the Virtual Servers are connected to the Internet via one of the fastest Internet backbones available. We've upgraded from 4 DS3s (45 Mbps) to 2 OC3s (155 Mbps) on the Verio backbone plus a Sprint DS3. Verio's backbone consistently ranks among the fastest networks as measured by Keynote Systems, the world's leading provider of Internet performance data.

We are also continually evaluating router data in order to prioritize what future connections need to be secured. Additional connections not only add redundancy to our system, but more importantly minimize delays in data transfer.

Transfer Capacity

The transfer capacity of each of our connections is at least that of a DS3 line. A fiber optic DS3 is capable of transferring roughly 45 Mbps of data per second, making a DS3 roughly thirty times faster than a T-1 line (many hosting companies still only have access to T-1 lines to connect to the Internet). The chart below shows how important the right Internet connection is for transmitting information. For example, to transfer 680 MB of data using a T-1 line would take approximately one hour. The same amount of data can be transmitted via a DS3 in 2 minutes.

Preferential Routing

The Internet is a large and complex aggregation of network hardware connected together by transmission gateways on diverse backbones (e.g. the Sprint backbone or UUNET backbone). A location where two or more backbones exchange traffic is termed a Network Access Point (NAP). There are several major NAPs on the Internet (such as MAE West, MAE East, etc) each of which is plagued by latency and packet loss because of the amount of traffic which passes through these points.

When you connect to a remote server, your request is routed through the shortest sequence of gateways available. If the host you are connecting to is located on a different backbone than your ISP, it is very likely that your path to the remote host will include a major NAP. This can cause delays, loss, and sometimes complete failure of data transmission.

Now consider that your Internet presence is that remote host and your prospective customers are attempting to access your web or ftp site. If your Internet presence is not hosted with a provider that has redundant connections to the Internet, visitors to your site will experience sluggishness and in some cases failure to connect.

Because our Virtual Servers are hosted in an environment redundantly connected to the Internet via diverse carriers or backbones, your site can take advantage of "preferential routing". Basically this means that visitors to your site will not need to route through saturated NAP gateways in order to connect to your site. Instead requests are routed directly through the backbone to your Virtual Server.