[BC] My prediction for the future

[Chris Gebhardt]

Paul Smith W4KNX wrote:
> I'm in a test area for Verizon, and they have just this week run a fiber
> optic cable right to my house.  When they light it up this fall, it is
> supposed to have several hundred TV channels, On demand movies, 6-10 mb
> internet transfer, and phone service.  The fast internet is supposed to be
> around 40 bucks a month.  I am really anticipating this.
> I'll start doing my own hosting of all the domain names I own.

As hosting is our bread & butter business, you might imagine we were a 
little concerned when we started hearing the rumours of this kind of 
transfer-rate to home users, not to mention business.

However, we're not all that concerned anymore.  While the occasional 
hobbyist will want to run their own machines from the house, as they do 
with their DSL and cable now, our research of FiOS (which is being 
extensively rolled out here in suburban Dallas) - both hands on and 
customer response - is that it signifies great progress from DSL and 
cable in their current incarnations, but outbound bandwidth is 
inconsistant.  Remember, the Internet uploading you get from FiOS is 
really an also-ran in terms of priority, according to the business model 
VZ has set forth for it.

A "true" Internet connection via commercial fiber or copper, combined 
with a network architecture and systems set up for the task will 
continue to power the Internet infrastructure for some time to come.

That said, on another list on which I am a member, there are a couple of 
guys putting together a small rack of servers on their high-bandwidth 
connection in California.  6 miles from the sea.  And the machines will 
go in the un-airconditioned garage.  They'll have fun with it, I'm sure. 
  But I fear for the lifespan of the machines.

</self-serving soapbox>
-- 
Chris Gebhardt
VIRTBIZ Internet Services
chris at virtbiz.com | (866) 4-VIRTBIZ