USID.com | Our Network

Our Network

Three Backbone Connections

Usid.com Server Center located in Baltimore, Maryland is OnNet with GlobalCenter (GC), Qwest Communications and GTE through three separate bandwidth-on-demand connections which enter Baltimore in our building.

GC, a Tier 1 provider whose 13,000-mile fiber optic network and Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology provide an enormous 460 gigabytes per second (Gbps) of capacity worldwide, has an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) fiber node located just a few floors below the Usid.com Server Center.

Qwest comes into Baltimore with an OC-12 line and plans to upgrade their connection to an OC-48 in the near future. They also have an ATM fiber node floors below the Usid.com Server center. Our Qwest connection enables Usid.com to offer additional redundancy and better routes to Europe, Latin America and Asia. With our carriers, our router has up to 150,000 possible routes to send each packet of traffic.

Genuity, a division of GTE, is our third Tier One Internet backbone. Genuity provides excellent network performance as a result of their high-speed peering arrangements with other Tier One Internet backbone providers. The GTE global network delivers customers directly onto the Internet via a high-speed connection to its private, super-capacity backbone, including 17,000 miles of fiber and OC192 capacity. It is comprised of more than 800 U.S. local access points and approximately 1,500 international local access points in more than 150 countries.

Furthermore, because of these unique connections, Usid.com does not need to link to the Internet though an OC3 or T3 Telecom circuit. Instead, independent cables run inside our building directly from the Usid.com Server Center to all three carriers points of presence. These lines can handle the bandwidth of a T3 or an OC3 with DWDM. Plus, they handle several times the bandwidth of an OC3. Whatever your bandwidth needs may be, Usid.com has the scalability to meet them.

Network Redundancy

Usid.com uses intelligent end-user routing software called Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), between Qwest, GC and GTE, who use the same protocol. BGP identifies which path is the most efficient for each data packet and then routes the packet to its destination on the fastest path. This increases the speed at which web pages sent from our Server Center arrive at their destination.

Studies have shown that the most common reason for downtime is circuit failure on Tier 1 provider backbones, the major data highways. To guard against this potential problem, we have three Tier-1 providers. If one experiences problems, we can route traffic down the other one.

Furthermore, because we are OnNet with GlobalCenter, Qwest and GTE, we share their digital distribution architecture, which includes private peering network connections to major Internet carriers such as MCI, Sprint, UUNET, EUNET, AT&T, AOL, Best, Erols, @Home, IBM Advantis and others. These private peering arrangements allow Usid.com to exchange packets of data with every major backbone carrier in a one-to-one environment quickly and efficiently.

In addition, GC has high-speed links to eight public exchanges including both MAE East and West and several NAPS. Through these public exchanges, customers have the ability to reach their site, no matter from where they are coming on the Internet.

Network Reliability

Industry analysis reveals that 70% of downtime over ten hours with any ISP is caused by telephone circuit failure. Since our Server Center is in the same building as Global Center, Qwest and GTE, circuit failure is virtually eliminated because there is no phone circuit between us and our providers. Instead, there is a direct connection between our Cisco 7500 routers and theirs.

Usid.com's providers also have peering connections with other major Tier 1 providers, which allows traffic to be switched to alternate backbones should the need arise. Raw Performance Equals Low Latency/High Throughput. Too often providers operate their networks at three to four times responsible capacity. As a result, their corresponding transfer times reach over 300ms. Usid.com's network daily average is 27% of its capacity, with midday peak spikes reaching only 33% capacity. Usid.com makes sure that clients will be carried off our network in less than 80ms over a five minute average at any time of day or night.

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