Burstable Lines
Burstable lines can be found at their lowest cost at a colocation facility.
At a colocation facility, also known as a "colo," many users
share a large OC3 or OC12 pipe. Although anybody can purchase a burstable
T3, this type of connection can be costly. As a customer you will not
have to pay for a the fixed cost of such a large pipe, but you will have
the benefit of being able to burst up to very high speeds. If you need
the reliability of a large pipe fur busty traffic but do not have the
capital, it is wise to think about purchasing a colo. If you have a steady
volume and are consistent, you may consider keeping services in house
and going with a T3 connection.
Whether you are considering a colocations facility or a T3 to the door, make
sure you use a broker to help guide you through the providers and plans available.
When you need more capacity, you often have to buy it in the next available
increment, which may end up costing more than you want or can afford to spend.
In addition, with current application requirements, the need for additional bandwidth
can often be as temporary as it is critical. Service providers can help customers
deal with variations in traffic, and with avoiding a high fixed monthly payment
by providing flexible capacity or bandwidth on demand. True
bandwidth-on-demand
services should allow for a wide range in capacity. A T3
connection is a point-to-point dedicated line that provides 672 64-Kbps voice
or data channels or in other words 28 T1 lines. A T3 is used to transmit digital
signals at 44.736 megabits per second and has enough bandwidth to transmit full-motion
real-time video and very large databases over a busy network.
A T3 line can be installed as a major networking channel for a large corporation
or university with high volume network traffic. If all you require is three times
the speed of a T1 line, then you are better off with multiple T1 lines or connecting
them together in what is called bonded T1 service. Once you get past 6 or 8 T1
lines, the price of a T3 line is often competitive.
Very large call centers, enterprise wide
VoIP and IP PBX systems, Internet service
providers, universities, research labs, video conference centers and software
development companies are also good candidates for T3 lines with DS3 level service.
DS3 Bandwidth generally makes sense for corporations that have a need for high
speed electronic data transfer between plant sites or offices.
If a full DS3 line is more bandwidth than you really need, it is also possible
to get Fractional DS3, which gives you a portion of full DS3 bandwidth at
a lower cost. Of course, DS3 is also available in multiples to increase bandwidth,
similar to bonded T1 service.
