Your business is expanding but your network system isn’t keeping up with the pace, does it make you exhausted thinking about it? Do you regularly move large amounts of data between sites within the UK or across the world and don’t get the performance you’d expect? It could be because you may not be getting the most out of your WAN (Wide Area Network) connectivity, or there are limitations that simply cannot be overcome.

When the geography that your business covers increases, the longer it takes for the Network to transfer data between them. Data transfer is fast, but not instantaneous! As the distance of your Network increases, it takes longer to cover that distance (even at the speed of light, 15 milliseconds delay is longer than a 1 millisecond delay!).  Secondly, if you are relying on a shared backbone for your WAN using technology such as MPLS, the 'Number of hops' will impact your network latency. A hop is a router, which routes your packets from the sender to the receiver. Each hop adds in a small amount of latency while it re-transmits your data onto the next part of its journey.

For a smoother service, it’s worthwhile ensuring you have the latest patches and updates for your PC or servers and then using a bandwidth optimisation tool to set the low-level settings for you or making the changes manually yourself. Intrigued? For a comprehensive explanation of these issues, then read the white paper written by Lumison CTO Richard Morrell, High bandwidth data transfers over the internet.