PHILADELPHIA – With so much more rich media content available on web sites around the world, web browsing and media streaming are gaining on file sharing when it comes to bandwidth consumption on North American ISP networks.
A new report done by Waterloo-based network management solutions provider Sandvine says that file-sharing traffic continues to increase in absolute terms while maintaining its relative position as the leading application. However, digital media traffic like web browsing and media streaming has increased noticeably with richer web site content now widespread while video playback and streaming becomes a routine Internet activity for subscribers.
At the same time, interactive applications from VoIP to online gaming remain popular with strict network requirements as real-time traffic although lower traffic levels, says the report, which was compiled in May. “Looking beyond our focus on broad application trends, we observed the peak usage period for these various residential applications during late evenings, as expected, suggesting the need to balance network usage fairly in order to preserve the online experience for subscribers.”
In the downstream direction (towards the consumer), the rich web experiences that have come to characterize today’s Internet, specifically web browsing and streaming, have combined to overtake file-sharing in terms of traffic levels.
However, as a stand-alone category, peer-to-peer file sharing is still the leader. The three biggest traffic generators in the downstream direction are:
• Peer-to-peer file sharing (35.6%)
• Web browsing (31.6%)
• Streaming (17.9%)
In the upstream direction (away from the consumer), peer-to-peer file sharing still dominates, consuming more than twice as much traffic as all other traffic combined. “This reality presents opportunity for service providers as they seek to manage their networks to enable the evolving needs of their subscribers and the broad range of applications they value.
The three biggest traffic generators in the upstream direction are:
• Peer-to-peer file sharing (75%)
• Tunneling (9.9%)
• Web browsing (9.1%)
Focusing on the aggregate view, reads the report, web browsing and streaming combined to generate 42% of Internet traffic, which is consistent with the 42.7% found in last fall’s study. This level is roughly equal to that consumed by P2P.
In a study published last year, Sandvine presented an aggregate view of consumer broadband usage in which peer-to-peer file sharing applications represented 40.5% of all consumer Internet traffic. This year’s results show a slight increase up to 44%, indicating that peer-to-peer file sharing continues to play a major role in the lives of today’s broadband subscribers.
The three biggest generators in the aggregate are:
• Peer-to-peer file sharing (43.5%)
• Web browsing (27.3%)
• Streaming (14.8%)
This report is a study of a number of leading North American service providers, examining the usage trends of broadband consumers.
All data included in this study was gathered at the subscriber access network to ensure the findings paint a complete picture of subscriber habits. It’s a report that is large in breadth and depth, due to the month-long study and number of subscribers’ data patterns reviewed.
“Studies based on examination of traffic at the peering or transit links are significantly impacted by the omission of locally-routed traffic. This is an important point, as many of today’s most popular applications such as peer-to-peer file sharing and video streaming are designed to find the fastest routes and will therefore favor local nodes with all other factors being equal,” adds the release.
“Additionally, a large number of popular websites employ the services of content distribution networks (CDN), which often means that traffic can be served without crossing peering or transit borders.”
