Burstable?

[Freckled]

I have a question for any of you that have had servers with straight bandwidth offerings and also mbit burstable bandwidth.

It took me a few days and many questions to finally understand how much bandwidth 1MB equals (about 320GB)

But my question to you is which one if you had the choice would you always choose and why would you choose it?

I have seen comments hear and there about what but never why someone likes it.

Anyone know the advantages/disadvantages one over the other?

 

[BlackStorm]

If you are going to use a site which has downloads, maybe a server used for games which are played online (Through sites, not PC games which has an online option) or other sites which would need a lot of bandwidth, its normally a lot cheaper to go with a connection which doesn't have a limit.

If you want a server for something which requires fast connections, ie. running an important site which needs high quality bandwidth, a mysql server which gets a lot of connections or something like that, then having higher quality of bandwidth and a limit can be a lot better.

You will get a lot faster transfer and connections speeds to servers which have a set limit on the bandwidth/transfer then on an "unlimited" transfer connection

You can get information on connections here:
http://hostingrefuge.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=118&highlight=connection
That shows their speed and the amount of transfer it can do every day.

 

[imported_HadleyHost]

I guess its good if you need a lot of bandwidth

 

[imported_Macbeth]

If I had a choice between 320 gb burstable to 10mbit, or 1mbit connection upstream, I would chose 320 gb burstable.

The reasoning behind this:

Night/Day access times fluctuate. During the day I could have people accessing my site at 1.5 mbit upstream, and during the night I could have people accessing the site at 0.5 mbit upstream. If I have 320 gb to spare, that averages out to be exactly that. However, if i am limited to mbit 1.0 mbit upstream, I would suffer packet loss if people would access my site at 1.0mbit upstream or more.

 

[GordyMac]

IRC hosts tend to like the burstable bandwidth so they can sell 'unmetered' IRCd servers to clients, which clients love.

My personal choice, for IRC or gaming, or something along those lines that could use more/less each day, I would pick burstable, but for a website (that I knew was going to use xGB per month), I would buy xGB for it, quality bandwidth so I know I am getting what I paid for.

 

[Freckled]

Yes that was what made it harder for me to understand as I was always used to having a set amount and knowing exactly what I did or didn't have, now that I have had this for a while now I am finding I do prefer the burstable. Thanks Gordy and Macbeth, now I just have to make sure the gamers and IRC clients don't find me. I actually do have a couple gaming clans and I make sure they read the terms on bandwidth several times before I sign them up.