IT Hosting News and Articles
When Speed Matters
When the Internet is a company's lifeline to its customers, a slow or poorly performing network is unacceptable. GoIWx does the research and establishes the relationships that make exceptional Internet service possible.
The end result? Low network latency — which translates into faster connections for end users.
GoIWx CTO Mark Picknell says one common misconception about the company's service is that it is higher-priced than other providers but provides the same service. Access is access, isn't it?
Not at all.
Large, Tier 1 Internet Service Providers often establish networks that will exchange traffic only with other Tier 1 providers. However, much of the information on the Internet is accessible only through local or regional carriers. To get to a final Internet destination, users who go through a typical Tier 1 provider may have to go through several network "hops" before they get to the network they need to access their final destination.
For example, imagine a banking customer, either at home or at a business, who needs to perform an account transaction. When the user has to go through several networks to access account information, the Web site seems "slow," and the user may become frustrated with the length of time it takes to complete the transaction.
To avoid adding network hops — and connection delays (latency) — GoIWx constantly analyzes customer traffic with an eye toward improving service by shortening the distance between users and their destinations.
GoIWx believes that Internet customers should be only one network hop from their final destination.
"We work on this weekly," explains Picknell.
"We have tools that analyze our total customer traffic, look at where that data is going to and coming from, and we continually look at how we can cut down on the number of hops in connecting to the final network."
This ongoing improvement project is not only global but also customer-specific.
"We can analyze a particular customer's traffic — not the data itself, but the header info that tells us where it's coming from and what final network it's going to," says Picknell. "It's like looking at the address on an envelope without looking at what's inside. That helps us figure out how to get to the network with that final address faster."
Unlike most Tier 1 providers, GoIWx works on establishing peering relationships with those end networks. Creating a direct connection with the networks their customers use most enhances service by eliminating the "middleman" — those intermediate hops.
"That creates a direct connection, which should translate into immediate improved quality for our customers," says Picknell.
Picknell says another common misconception about GoIWx is that the company is purely domestic.
"The fact is, more than 50 percent of the networks we directly connect to actually have a presence outside the United States," he says. "We connect directly with companies such as Telecom Italia, China Telecom, Korean Telecom and Chungwa Telecom [in Taiwan]."
At the same time, many ISPs in other parts of the world recognize that the United States has some of the most-accessed content in the world: sites such as Google, Amazon and eBay, for example.
"So many international ISPs, as an investment for their customers, have direct connections to the United States," says Picknell. GoIWx takes advantage of the American connection with global ISPs to extend its reach even further.
The best way for customers to experience GoIWx's approach to faster service is to try it. What happens then is often a surprise to skeptical network engineers.
"On everybody's router, there's a protocol called BGP that looks for the quickest path for the customer's traffic," says Picknell. "Very often, customers who try our service find that much of their traffic prefers our network over their existing service provider(s). So yes, we hear very positive feedback from our customers who may have been unsure about us — once they try it, they love it."
Picknell says businesses are welcome to accept GoIWx's 30-day challenge.
"Let your traffic decide — let your business be the driver!" he says. "If we're not the best, then tell us. But if we are, we deserve your business!"
