Managing the optical networking solution: is increased bandwidth enough to reduce delays?

Many corporate network managers and service providers believe that more capacity can address bandwidth demands as well as delays in message transfer. As the sidebar "Optical Technology and Wavelength-Division Multiplexing" briefly describes, the solution of choice is optical technology that uses wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM). The implication of WDM is that network managers can improve their Internet application and network response time by leasing more capacity from service providers - response time being the sum of message (request and response) and application-processing delays. But although WDM transmission is promising, it presents a trade-off between bandwidth and message-transfer latency - a trade-off that is particularly significant for long-haul networks where latency begins to dominate and offset any additional bandwidth advantage for single-message transfers. To help IT network managers get the most from WDM-based technology, the authors have derived a model that establishes a boundary bandwidth for single message transfers. The boundary represents the point at which latency begins to offset any advantage from additional bandwidth. The model clearly shows that bandwidth management is as critical to the success of this technology as having access to a large supply of raw bandwidth.