Currently
there is a full 2000 mbps (2GiG-E connections) supplying our Data Center.
In OC fiber line terms that’s close to 3- OC-12 lines and 1- OC-3 line.
The use of
non-blocking gigabit devices throughout the network ensures regional
latency of a few milliseconds or less, suitable for the most demanding
delay-sensitive traffic. Use of redundant fiber rings ensures network
reliability and availability.
The data
center has connections to many different Internet backbones including
Level3, Genuity, Time Warner and Yipes. By connecting to multiple tier 1
backbones, the data can be distributed through many sources. This
architectural design also means that the network connections are not
dependent upon an single Internet backbone. Thus when problems
occur, traffic rerouting is automatic, thereby ensuring the integrity of
the network and continued access for our high-speed servers.
This takes
the term “multi-homing” to a whole new level. Presently bandwidth
utilization is 5% during peak traffic times. Therefore, the network is
very flexible. If one of the backbone connections experiences
problems, the traffic can simply be rerouted over other paths, thereby
ensuring that users receive fast access times to sites hosted on our
network.
In addition,
the 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
redistributed 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.