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BetterBandwidth Concepts

BetterBandwidth uses 'tc' (a built in Linux tool) to provide traffic shaping for users that have their own network interface. The tc tool on its own does not provide a mechanism for limiting bandwidth usage by uid/user on a shared network interface. BetterLinux has added this functionality into its BetterBandwidth feature. Now admins can limit bandwidth for a single user on a shared server that has a corporate internet connection.

A common problem for web hosts is that one single user with a 1Gbit connection could kill the entire TCP stack. Often the host is unaware that it happens because they use 5 min bandwidth averages to monitor bandwidth on their 1 gig or 10 gig port. But all it takes is a 30 second spike in bandwidth out of 5 mins to make customers angry. And because of the 5 minute average it looks like the peak was around 50Mbits when it easily could have been 500Mbits. Customers will blame it on the server or the hosting company.

Many hosting companies give out IPs just to be able to limit bandwidth. This is an expensive approach. The BetterLinux BetterBandwidth feature can do it without giving out dedicated IPs.

BetterLinux has an apache mod called mod_betterlinux that allows BetterBandwidth to limit bandwidth for all ports for an individual user or group of users like email, FTP, etc is all included. This is a tremendous advantage for a host. BetterBandwidth monitors and controls individual, group, and system-wide bandwidth usage in multi-tenant Linux environments. Administrators can now limit outbound bandwidth as if each user had a dedicated IP address. This lets admins consolidate multiple users onto a single IP, which innovatively addresses the fast-increasing IPV4 IP address shortage.

Configure BetterBandwidth

Follow the BetterBandwidth HOWTO guide for configuring bandwidth limiting