They constantly have users connecting to them for downloading the latest OS patches or searching online for technical problems. The user is always overwhelming such huge companies and when some downloads are for free - (freeware), it's no wonder they have so many customers accessing their servers.
Speed is the order of the day now and everyone wants things done faster. So companies have to keep up with the demands or the impatient customer, or he/she will look elsewhere for a quicker solution. Cable connectivity is the way forward now and we are seeing great 1 & 2 Mb services being offered by companies like BT, Blueyonder and NTL at very competitive prices. .
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2) Switching.
Circuit switching, as opposed to packet switching, sets up a dedicated communication channel between two end systems. Voice calls on telephone networks are the best example. A phone connects to a local telephone-switching centre via twisted-pair cables. If the connection is between two phones in the same area, the local switch creates a connection between the circuits from each phone. .
A dedicated circuit is a circuit that is switched on once and stays on. You lease the line from the local carrier or combination of local and long-distance carriers. Circuit services are often called TDM services because they use TDM (time division multiplexing). Data is transmitted in time slots that can guarantee bandwidth for time sensitive voice and video, assuming enough bandwidth is allocated in the circuit.
The advantage of switched circuit is that you can connect to a variety of reconfigured locations rather than a single location. This type of service is good for backing up and replicating data between remote systems, or for videoconferences. ISDN is an example of a circuit-switching service that is practical for home and small office users. The main disadvantage is cost, because maintaining the communications creates more overheads.
