What is Bandwidth and Memory?
By definition, bandwidth is the amount of data which passes through a connection over any given time. It is most often measured by bps (bits per second) or mbps (megabits per second). The term bandwidth is most often used by electrical engineers to refer to the frequency range of an analog signal. However, with the internet community rapidly growing to astounding numbers, the term is now used loosely to refer to channel capacity, otherwise known as the rate of a link.
In the computer world, bandwidth is often used as a synonym for data transfer rate, or the amount of data that can be carried from one point to another in a given period of time. This time period is usually a second. This type of bandwidth is usually measured in bits per second, or occasionally in bytes per second or Bps. For example,. A modem that works at 57,600 bps has twice the bandwidth of a modem that works at 28,800 bps. A link with a high bandwidth is one that may be able to carry enough information to sustain images in a video presentation. The wider the receiver’s bandwidth is, the more information it can receive on different frequencies.
In some instances, bandwidth is “wasted”. Things like large images or needless information on web pages waste bandwidth that could be better utilized for transferring important information. A full page of text is approximately 16,000 bits. A fast modem has the ability to move 15,000 bits in one second’s time. A full screen video, however, would require approximately 10,000,000 bits per second. Some points have narrow bandwidth, which means that only a small amount of information can be transferred at one time. Other points have high bandwidth which indicates that a larger amount of information can be transferred at one time. When some or most of the information flowing through a point is of no use to the user, it is referred to as wasted bandwidth. This might include overloading a site’s network connection. However, wasted bandwidth often can leave a large room for argument. What is one person’s waste may be essential information to another.
When choosing a web host, the amount of bandwidth you choose to include in your package can be crucial to the success to your site. The more bandwidth you have, the more traffic your site will be able to handle at one time. To determine how much bandwidth you will need, you simply need to estimate how big each page on your site will be and how many people will be viewing it.
Computer memory is an internal storage area in the computer. The term memory actually refers to the data storage and the word storage is used for memory that exists on tapes or disks. However, the term memory usually refers to the physical memory, which refers to the actual chips capable of holding data. Every computer includes a certain amount of physical memory, which is usually referred to as main memory or RAM. The amount of memory in the computer is crucial because it determines how many programs can be running, and how much data is available for each program.
There are two basic types of memory available. DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) is constantly refreshed or it will lose its contents. SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) is faster than DRAM and less volatile. However, it requires more power and it’s more costly.
When purchasing a computer or shopping for a web host, bandwidth and memory are two very important factors to consider. Both bandwidth and memory can either make or break the success of a web site.
Todd Mumford is co-owner and operator of GDO Web Hosting, offering state of the art web hosting with Cpanel 10, Fantastico and free setup on every new account.