bandwidth
Definition
How much data can be transmitted in a time period over a communications channel, often expressed in kilobits per second (kbps).
Information
The difference between bandwidth and data transfer causes much confusion and is worth noting.
Bandwidth is a rate and data transfer is a total. For example, you might buy bandwidth of 128 kbps for a maximum monthly data transfer of roughly 40 GB.
128 kbps |
= bits |
= bytes |
per second |
128,000 |
16,000 |
per minute |
7,680,000 |
960,000 |
per hour |
460,800,000 |
57,600,000 |
per day |
11,059,200,000 |
1,382,400,000 |
per month |
331,776,000,000 |
41,472,000,000 |
|
|
divide by one billion
~41 gigabytes/month |
Note: many hosts use the terms bandwidth and data transfer interchangeably, referring to a monthly data allowance as bandwidth.
Synonyms
n/a
Related Terms
n/a
Sites
Yahoo! : Communcations and Networking : Broadband
Articles
WebHosting Bandwidth - An Introduction
SitePoint.com (May 14, 2001)
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