Bandwidth

[Omari]

what in the hell is it?

[NC_TOM]

band·width
n.

The numerical difference between the upper and lower frequencies of a band of electromagnetic radiation, especially an assigned range of radio frequencies.
The amount of data that can be passed along a communications channel in a given period of time.

[Nick]

Look at it this way:

+ Your site has 100MBs of bandwidth.
+ You have a 500kb page.
+ Once that page is viewed 200 times you've used 100MBs of bandwidth.

This is why warez sites with 15MB files that get downloaded thousands of times eat mad bandwidth.

In other words, It's allowed MBs of bandwidth per/mo.

[Omari]

Originally posted by Nick
Look at it this way:

+ Your site has 100MBs of bandwidth.
+ You have a 500kb page.
+ Once that page is viewed 200 times you've used 100MBs of bandwidth.

This is why warez sites with 15MB files that get downloaded thousands of times eat mad bandwidth.

In other words, It's allowed MBs of bandwidth per/mo.

yeah i know that, but what exactly is it?

[Sphosting.com]

its the word use to describe the ammount of data transfer from a website.

[Nick]

Originally posted by Omari
yeah i know that, but what exactly is it?

Well, we've told you three different times. What type of answer are you looking for, Omari?

[coolguy23]

maybe he's just plain stupid ;)

[Omari]

Originally posted by Nick

Originally posted by Omari
yeah i know that, but what exactly is it?

Well, we've told you three different times. What type of answer are you looking for, Omari?

What I mean is like why do people have to pay for it? Is it somthing that uses up a computer's space?

[Nick]

Originally posted by Omari
What I mean is like why do people have to pay for it?

Because the greedy bastards that provide it have to make a profit ;). It's the ammount of transfer going over the company's connection lines, and when you're using someone else's resources, you have to pay.

And if that isn't what you want, I give up :p.

[NC_TOM]

It is bought from the main Internet backbones, by online service providers. If the provider is a web hosting company, they need to charge their clients for the bandwidth to compensate for the charges which are being placed by the owner of whatever backbone they are connected to.
It's just the way it works.. bandwidth has existed long before the internet. Phone companies use it for the things they do. It's the way things move around on the net, I guess you could say.

[Gayowulf]

Bandwidth - the total amount of speed a network connection device (a modem, a network card, a mail pigeon etc') can get to. For example: I just bought a new modem. It has a bandwidth of 100Ks per second, meaning it can transfer up to 100Ks per second.
When you use your network device to do something it will drain some of the bandwidth in order to do this operation.

my2bits

[Chicken]

Originally posted by Omari
What I mean is like why do people have to pay for it? Is it somthing that uses up a computer's space?

Well, the cable fairy decided it didn't want to lay line any more nor pay for the costs associated with providing the connectivity. :)

Bandwidth is the speed (thus capacity) of the line. This relates to what you are thinking of which is transfer (the *amount* of data that moves through the line). Speed affects this amount since the wider the pipe, the faster you can push more data.

Think of a thin garden hose. Think of how much water could possibly be shot out the end of it, even at full pressure. Now think of a fire hose. This is bandwidth.

If you still wonder why you have to pay for it, *think* about it a bit. The cable fairy does not exist (though some FWP and paid providers would lead you to think it did). :)