Slashdot Mirror
Are Web Pages Getting Larger?
An anonymous reader asks: "I work for a large multinational in a remote part of world. Our connectivity to the outside world (the Internet as well as company communications) is all done via a single E1 line - that's 2Mbps. Thousands of users. The company keeps access pretty well screwed down for security reasons, and the fact that our link to the outside world costs almost $300K/year! Our growing problem is Internet traffic. While policing of non-business use is very active, Internet traffic continues to grow. I'm becoming convinced that one of our problems is that average web page size is growing. As more of the world enjoys broadband access, I think web developers have less reason to limit the size of their web pages. Large images, flash animations and other size-increasing content seem increasingly common. Am I right? Can anyone point to a recent study that would support my theory, and help me convince my management that we just plain need more bandwidth?"
You need to change policy, not spend more money. Change the cache settings on clients. Insert caching proxy servers. Make sure mail, DNS, etc. is local. Et cetera. You should find a solution that does not have a linear (at best) relationship with the number of users.
Web pages are getting larger. It might be what is causing your increase in utilization, but to me it's hard to believe (although if your users are viewing a lot of embedded videos, that's another story). And, if it's hard for me to believe, it's probably going to be hard for your PHB to believe, too.
this is one of the dumbest /. stories ever
I mean wtf....are they getting bigger? you mean...you mean as more and more people attach databases? and...and...java? etc...
I mean really...how stupid is this
We seldom regret saying too little but often regret saying too much.
A T1(or E1) in a downtown metro area == cheap.
A T1 out in, say, Montana in the US? NOT cheap.
It all depends where you are.
INsigNIFICANT
Install Opera and browse with the loading of graphics off by default. Rightclick and download only the graphics that look useful. This saves time and bandwidth by avoiding the downloading of adverts and other gratuitous graphics. I did this all the time when I was on dialup with a 28.8 Kbit/sec modem and a 25MHz cpu -- the text downloaded quickly and I would download only 1 image in 20. I recommend Opera to anyone who's on a skinny pipe.