Where is Bandwidth originated?

[TheDevopsGuy]

I've always been questioning something.

ISP's provide the customers a leased line (The coaxial or fiber line from their infrustructure to the customers home) from their homes to the ISP and onward outside to other BGP neighbors. This is how the internet is mainly branched.

But where is all the bandwidth originating from? How can an ISP say I have X amount of bandwidth capacity? For example my ISP leases its own bandwidth from a TIER 1 ISP. Where is the Tier1 ISP creating the bandwidth from.

Are the amount of routers at the Tier 1 ISP generating the network processing power? Is it simply something which is generated from every Modem NIC card or is the bandwidth simply determined from the Fiber Submarine cables width capacity?


Thanks,

TechGamer

 

[Gabriel Pike]

The ISP is simply the transport. The originator is wherever the datacenter sits for the service. The Tier 1 providers are the backbone between datacenters. Some ISPs use caching servers to store some of the frequently requested data locally so that the request does not leave their networks. I work for a small ISP that has 3 BGP peers to Tier 1 providers and then the traffic is balanced across each peer. When you need more capacity you get better equipment or bond interfaces to match the demand.

 

[DelJo63]

1. Bandwidth (RF) is the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a continuous band of frequencies. It is typically measured in hertz, and depending on context, may specifically refer to passband bandwidth or baseband bandwidth. Passband bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower cutoff frequencies of, for example, a band-pass filter, a communication channel, or a signal spectrum. Baseband bandwidth applies to a low-pass filter or baseband signal; the bandwidth is equal to its upper cutoff frequency.

2. Bandwidth (computer) bandwidth is the maximum rate of data transfer across a given path. Bandwidth may be characterized as network bandwidth,[1] data bandwidth,[2] or digital bandwidth.[3][4]

3. Network bandwidth capacity
   The term bandwidth sometimes defines the net bit rate 'peak bit rate', 'information rate,' or physical layer 'useful bit rate', channel capacity, or the maximum throughput of a logical or physical communication path in a digital communication system. For example, bandwidth tests measure the maximum throughput of a computer network. The maximum rate that can be sustained on a link are limited by the Shannon-Hartley channel capacity for these communication systems, which is dependent on the bandwidth in hertz and the noise on the channel.

 

[TheDevopsGuy]

The ISP is simply the transport. The originator is wherever the datacenter sits for the service. The Tier 1 providers are the backbone between datacenters. Some ISPs use caching servers to store some of the frequently requested data locally so that the request does not leave their networks. I work for a small ISP that has 3 BGP peers to Tier 1 providers and then the traffic is balanced across each peer. When you need more capacity you get better equipment or bond interfaces to match the demand.

So simply put any data which is being processed is from the agent/service provider? ISP's simply offer the interconnection/web of BGP peers and the underlying cabling/medium to arrive from one place to another.

As for Bandwidth speeds I'm guessing regulations on the amount of transfer speed is done through traffic shaping from the ISP's side?

 

[Gabriel Pike]

So simply put any data which is being processed is from the agent/service provider? ISP's simply offer the interconnection/web of BGP peers and the underlying cabling/medium to arrive from one place to another.

As for Bandwidth speeds I'm guessing regulations on the amount of transfer speed is done through traffic shaping from the ISP's side?

You are correct on both. In my case we use Preseem for bandwidth shaping. This is done between our core routers and the BGP uplinks.

 

[TheDevopsGuy]

Thanks both of you I had an overall idea but I wasnt sure. Now I know. Appreciate it.

 

[TheDevopsGuy]

@Gabriel Pike what is your role at youe ISP if I may ask? Recently I interviewed for a network engineering job at a local ISP. Maybe somebody can shed some further information on the day to day running of a network engineer purely focused on the ip backbone stack.

 

[Gabriel Pike]

Network Engineer. Shoot me a DM and I can try to answer anything you want to know.