Dedicated telecommunication lines—one for voice, one for video, and one for data—are no longer required. Telecommunications transport methodologies and packetized multiplexing methods of data transfer support a variety of signals on the same line. Recent technological advances in data concentrators and multiplexers allow users with different types of data distributed throughout their enterprises, created at different locations, to maximize their investment by sharing common telecommunications lines for various functions, sources, and types of data.
Research indicates that on average, costs for T1, T3, and Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) lines are coming down at a rate of 30 percent annually in the U.S. In 1992, line charges were about $80,000 per month for T3 services installed. Today, that equivalent line charge is about $1,000 a month. Table E-1 compares the transfer times for 1 gigabyte of data across different channels.
Use of private networks, dark fiber, and SONET are enabling increased communications bandwidth. All these advances are driving increased competition and lower-cost transmission and communication lines.
Table E-1. Transfer times by topology
Topology | Time to Transfer 1 G (in hours) | Time to Transfer 1 G (in minutes) |
---|---|---|
56 K Link * | 41.7711 | 2506.27 |
T1 Link * | 1.5189 | 91.14 |
T3 Link * | 0.0520 | 3.12 |
10BaseT | 0.3086 | 18.52 |
100BaseT | 0.0309 | 1.85 |
1000BaseFX | 0.0033 | 0.20 |
FDDI | 0.0234 | 1.40 |
Token Ring 4mb | 0.5848 | 35.09 |
Token Ring 16mb | 0.1462 | 8.77 |
ATM OC-3 | 0.0221 | 1.32 |
ATM OC-12 | 0.0055 | 0.33 |
Hardware compression has reached the high end of computing. T3 data compression, impossible until recently, is now enabling twice the effective data rate from 44 Mb to over 88 Mb across a single dedicated line.
Internet- and intranet-based remote data storage and access open a new frontier for business continuity. Secure, offsite, and high-availability data solutions are technologically ripe for the picking.