A01 chaf6542 06 se fm indd

Dedicated server

Server contains only 

content and applications 

for a single company.

M03_CHAF6542_06_SE_C03.indd   104

7/22/14   1:37 AM

---

105

Chapter 3  Managing digital business infrastructure

widely used service is Akamai (www.akamai.com). These are used by companies such as 

Yahoo!, Apple and other ‘ hot-  spot’ sites likely to receive many hits.

The speed is also governed by the speed of the network connection, commonly referred 

to as the network ‘

bandwidth

’. The bandwidth of a website’s connection to the Internet and 

the bandwidth of the customer’s connection to the Internet will affect the speed with which 

web pages and associated graphics load. The term is so called because of the width of range of 

electromagnetic frequencies an analogue or digital signal occupies for a given transmission 

medium.

As described in Box 3.5, bandwidth gives an indication of the speed at which data can be 

transferred from a web server along a particular medium such as a network cable or phone 

line. In simple terms bandwidth can be thought of as the size of a pipe along which informa-

tion flows. The higher the bandwidth, the greater the diameter of the pipe, and the faster 

information is delivered to the user. Many ISPs have bandwidth caps, even on ‘unlimited’ 

Internet access plans, for users who consume high volumes of bandwidth.

Bandwidth

Indicates the speed at 

which data are transferred 

using a particular network 

medium. It is measured in 

bits per second (bps).

Box 3.5

Bandwidth measures

Bandwidth measures are in bits per second where one character or digit, such as the 

number ‘1’, would be equivalent to 8 bits. So a modem operating at 57,600 bits per 

second (57.6 kbps) will transfer information at 7,200 characters per second (57,600 ÷ 

8). When selecting an ISP or hosting provider it is important to consider the bandwidth 

of the connection between the ISP and the Internet. Choices may be:

● 

ISDN – 56 kbps up to 128 kbps

● 

Frame relay – 56 kbps up to a T1 communications channel (1.55 Mbps)

● 

Dedicated point-to-point – 56 kbps up to T3 (45 Mbps): connected to the Internet 

backbone.

kbps is one kilobit per second or 1,000 bps (a modem operates at up to 56.6 kbps)

Mbps is one megabit per second or 1,000,000 bps (company networks operate at 

10 or more Mbps)

Gbps is one gigabit per second or 1,000,000,000 bps ( fibre-  optic or satellite links 

operate at Gbps).

A major factor for a company to consider when choosing an ISP is whether the server is 

dedicated to one company or whether content from several companies is located on the same 

server. A dedicated server is best, but it will attract a premium price.

Availability

The availability of a website is an indication of how easy it is for a user to connect to it. In 

theory this figure should be 100 per cent, but sometimes, for technical reasons such as fail-

ures in the server hardware or upgrades to software, the figure can drop substantially below 

this. Box 3.6 illustrates some of the potential problems and how companies can evaluate and 

address them.

Box 3.6

Preventing wobbly shopping carts

The extent of the problem of e-commerce service levels was indicated by The 

Register (2004) in an article titled ‘Wobbly shopping carts blight UK e-commerce’. The 

research showed that failure of transactions once customers have decided to buy is 

M03_CHAF6542_06_SE_C03.indd   105

7/22/14   1:37 AM

---

106

Part 1  Introduction

often a problem. As the article said, ‘UK E‑commerce sites are slapping customers in 

the face, rather than shaking them by the hand. Turning consumers away once they 

have made a decision to buy is commercial suicide.’ The research showed this level 

of problems:

●