[c-nsp] Bit, byte huh?

[Tom Storey]

> Hi, I was wondering what unit of bandwidth measurement does Internet
> Bandwidth Providers usually use?  Megabits or Megabytes?
> in the usual, cisco router and switches, how do we measure bandwidth? by
> bit
> or by byte? It is a bit confusing as 1 byte = 8bits right?
> I'm afraid some of my calculations might be off when measuring bandwidth
> in
> routers and switches. Thanks!
>
> regards,
> chris

Usually bits when it comes to bandwidth, while usage is counted in bytes.

To convert from bits to bytes, divide by 8. To convert from bytes to bits,
multiply by 8.

A 64kbit circuit supports 8kbyte of throughput.

2mbyte/sec equals 16mbit/sec.

But those are true conversions. Overheads etc lower actual throughput.
Dividing/multiplying by 10 usually works to give you a roughly more
accurate figure.

Hope that helps. :-)