Pipe Dream

Network managers want more bandwidth, but streamlining data is the answer for now.

Data-rich files, audio and streaming video applications, and a mandate to share more information are eating up loads of bandwidth at federal agencies. The pipes connecting their networks are becoming more clogged with fat digital files, and information technology managers are having a hard time meeting demand.

Bandwidth refers to how fast data flows over a computer network connection; it's measured in kilobits, megabits or gigabits per second. The Federal Communications Commission's definition of broadband, derived from "broad bandwidth," is at least 200 kilobits per second (Kbps) of traffic in one direction. The standard transfer rate for data-only traffic is about 80 Kbps, for MP3 audio files 128 Kbps, and for streaming video between 300 Kbps and 400 Kbps. But consider the increasing popularity of online services, which involve the constant transfer of day-to-day data operations over a network. Before long, bandwidth can slow to a crawl.

Federal networks are under increasing pressure to carry more data and bigger files, including those laden with graphics, video, images and bulging spreadsheets. As demand grows, IT managers and agency leaders will have to invest in more capacity. "Software as a service and service-oriented architectures will place new demands on agency bandwidth" as employees access business processes over the Web, says Shawn McCarthy, director of government vendor programs at Government Insights in Falls Church, Va.

Some agencies are conserving data resources by banning nonessential data-hogging applications, such as YouTube. But that will take an agency just so far, McCarthy says. "Limiting things like streaming audio or video will help for a while, but investment in bandwidth will have to increase," he says. IT executives including Colleen Coggins, chief architect at the Interior Department, are finding that managing bandwidth is an essential business practice. "With videoconferencing and increased collaboration, the need for additional bandwidth is on the rise and not expected to taper off in the near future," she says.

The Army is expanding its use of optical fiber networks, which offer greater bandwidth than traditional metal cables. Col. Ronald Stimeare, director of the Army Global Network Operations and Security Center, says the service has sought to boost capacity because the demand increases 30 percent a year, with streaming video applications as the biggest resource hog. Telemedicine, for example, requires users to send high-resolution images worldwide. "The average user is getting hooked on the ease of information access and exchange," Stimeare says. "These individuals touch the Army's network in some form or another and expect the same quality and speed of service throughout. The challenge is balancing competing priorities based on individual, organizational and operational needs."

The Treasury Department receives a torrent of information coming from financial markets and economic institutions, with most now sent over the Internet, says Treasury Chief Information Officer Michael Duffy. The increase has pushed annual Internet use up about 40 percent a year for the past several years.

These demands-combined with tight IT budgets-make it more important to develop a policy for managing bandwidth. Because of varying missions, a one-size-fits-all governmentwide policy is untenable. While Treasury's network traffic primarily is attributed to dense financial spreadsheets, military and intelligence agencies might require more bandwidth for streaming video for surveillance needs.

"Government has to give individual organizations leeway in how they manage their own bandwidth," says Mike Paxton, principal analyst of consumer markets at communications research firm In-Stat in Scottsdale, Ariz. "Power down to individual IT managers in these organizations and let th

em decide, with the caveat that everyone can't have unlimited bandwidth." Where should you start? Establishing a policy is a good place. An effective strategy, network experts say, starts with understanding how your agency uses its allocated bandwidth and what is essential to carrying out its business.

This year, the Defense Department decided to block access to social networking, video-sharing and other recreational sites on its networks. In May, Rear Adm. Elizabeth Hight, vice director of the Defense Information Systems Agency and deputy commander of the Joint Task Force Global Network Operations, said the blocked sites-11 in all, including YouTube and MySpace-accounted for the largest amount of bandwidth use.

Analyzing each new system's capacity is an approach the Army has chosen. It requires system developers to obtain a certificate to operate before the department will consider a system "networthy." The certificate indicates that the Army recognizes what services are riding on the network, and forecasts and manages additional bandwidth demands. The service continuously evaluates access to sites that require a lot of capacity and reviews usage statistics before permitting upgrades.

Once a policy is set, agencies should prioritize demands on bandwidth according to operational and mission requirements and then monitor usage. Treasury works with its bureaus and business partners to determine needs and allocate access. E-government and e-commerce initiatives that call for access to government financial information are top priorities, because they improve efficiency and customer satisfaction.

To offset demands, Treasury managers try to make the most of the IT infrastructure through practices such as:

• Network optimization, which uses diagnostic and management tools to maximize performance.
• Traffic shaping, which stabilizes data flow through the network.
• Content caching, which stores information on the computer to be reused instead of reaching out for the same information on the Internet.
• Compression, which compacts data as it travels over the network, therefore using less bandwidth.

Agencies also should determine whether users need to access an online service in real time or whether the application should be configured to access only archived information, says the Army's Stimeare.

Sometimes you have to act like a traffic cop, as does Peter Tseronis, director of network services at the Education Department. The department has a sophisticated Internet protocol architecture in place, which allows voice and video to both reside on the network as top priorities, Tseronis says. Data traffic is monitored and shaped as needed. "With the convergence of voice, video and data communications, broadband management is like a [high-occupancy vehicle] lane," he says. "You specify traffic to best fit the requirements."