On the latest segment of Rothman Tech-Tips (#RTT), I interviewed Tom Collins of Atlantech Online an internet service provider out of Silver Spring, MD.
Tom and I discussed bandwidth, which is a measurement of the bit-rate of available data resources expressed in bits per minute. In layman’s terms, this means the speed of your internet service, or the size of your ‘internet pipe’. Tom told stories about the old days of the internet modem, and how slow internet connections used to be. Tom also listed some of the current internet service providers (ISPs) for both residential and business.
One key point I mentioned to Tom was the growth and adoption of Cloud computing, and how its growth relates to bandwidth. “Bandwidth is a big part of successful cloud computing, because the computing of the application is done on servers that are not in your local environment, they are out in the cloud.” In the old days, software was hosted on-premise, and you did not need a strong internet connection to have access to your locally stored software applications. But now with cloud computing you are leveraging the internet to access these critical applications.
The highlight of the video was when Tom discussed the differences between ethernet over copper, and ethernet over fiber. “Ethernet over copper uses copper wires, regular phone lines that you have been used to over the years, they get bundle together and at your premise, a device is put on place, looks like a cable modem, that aggregates the multiple copper pairs and delivers a ethernet interface that delivers this bandwidth over these copper wires.” There are some limitations to Ethernet over Copper, so then Tom went on to talk about Ethernet over Fiber. “The 2 main advantages of Ethernet over Fiber, there are no speed limitations, and no distance limitations.” For information on bandwidth, you can reach Tom at [email protected]
For the #idontcook portion of this vlog, I asked Tom for his favorite restaurant in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland. Tom’s company Atlantech Online is in downtown Silver Spring, and I wanted to know his number one spot in the area. Tom mentioned Ray’s the Classics, a steak house on Colesville Road, which is owned and operated by the Ray’s the Steaks folks on the other side of the river. Tom recommended the Filet and brocolli and the baked potato. “You can order one Filet, and 2 sides, and that can serve two people!”
