Simple & Delicious

"Bandwidth...connectivity...network configuration...." These terms confuse many people.  So let's make this simple and delicious!  Imagine the Internet as a huge bowl of pasta.  The size of the pasta will determine how much data (or ricotta) can travel per second.  For onsite Internet access you need the correct size of pasta to connect to an Internet Service Provider.  Once you do this, you are Cooking with Connectivity.  As with everything, size does matter:

Bandwidth

Plain, Old Telephone Service (POTS) is 28-56 Kbps or capellini. Not much data can pass through here with any speed except voice and text. Internet access is slow, and video Webcasts can be painful to watch. For domestic use only.

ISDN at 128 kbps or penne. 4x as large as a POTS, an ISDN line can supply high-speed Internet access to a few computers. But beware, ISDN is a dial-up service and you will be charge for local and long distance calls to your ISP. Also, hotels offering ISDN service do not include the router or the ISP. Use with care.

T1 at 1.54 mbps is like cannoli or manicotti. T1 has the capacity of 12 ISDNs and is a dedicated line (no dial-up fees). It has plenty of bandwidth capable of supporting high-speed Internet access for numerous Internet Kiosks, surfing, Webcasting, and to drive networked Speaker Support. T1 is the workhorse for digital events. Relax with a nice Chianti. Mange Bene!

Digital Subscriber Line - Multi-Speeds. Where available, it is the Superman of digital events. DSL is an ordinary copper phone line that is transformed to reach extraordinary bandwidth, sometimes as much as multiple T1s. Priced reasonably and can be installed in much less time than a T1. However, there are may flavors of DSL. Be sure to ask about the speed of uploading (sending), as well as downloading (receiving) data. Example: SDSL - Symmetrical Digital Subscriber Line - same speed to download and upload. ADSL - Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line - much faster to download than upload. It will become as ubiquitous as elbow macaroni.

Routers, Hubs & Switches

A router is a dispatcher that checks the delivery address of the data and routes it to the messenger who delivers it through the wires (pasta) of the Internet. Routers connect any number of local area networks.

Hubs are boxes that connect segments of a local area network. They are common connection points for networked devices. Computers can plug into ports on the hubs to become part of the network and obtain services such as high-speed Internet access.

A switch (switching hub) is like a traffic cop at an intersection, preventing data traffic jams. A switch filters and forwards every data packet to the correct port based on the packet's address. A regular hub just rebroadcasts each packet to all ports for all segments of the network to see.

Events Digital pre-configures all computers with IP addresses, operating systems, software plug-ins, network cards so that onsite, you can plug into the network and go.

LANs, WANs & Extranets

These are network configurations. A LAN is a local area network...within the hotel or convention center. WANs are like Elvis - they leave the building. A wide area network is created for a multi-site network like a political convention or the Olympics. An Extranet knows no boundaries. Using the Internet as a backbone, an Extranet can connect any computer on the planet. A more secure version of an Extranet is called a VPN or Virtual Private Network.