Why does it make sense for a business to consider satellite technology for its WAN?

Satellite WANs offer businesses an always-on broadband solution with customizable network speeds, on-site maintenance plans, and a uniform service quality for a set price per month per site – all available from a single service provider. Unlike terrestrial options, VSAT is perfectly suited to data multicasting, which is a huge advantage for stores distributing data or other content to multiple sites. In addition, satellite can be less expensive than Frame Relay, more consistent than DSL and faster than dial-up options. Other benefits include high levels of uptime, nationwide availability (even in remote locations), unique support for business-centric applications, a consistent service speed/level across all stores, scalable networks, high security and easy deployment.

What factors go into determining a good fit for a satellite WAN?
Size and geography are two important factors for determining a good fit for a satellite WAN. Satellite scales well from a single site up to more than 10,000, and can reach any location as long as there is a clear view of the southern sky. businesses looking for “out of the box” support for business applications, a centralized network, support for multicasting data (inventory updates, pricing files, training videos, etc.) and a need for high reliability are a good fit. If you’re just looking for the absolute cheapest possible connectivity and you don’t care about SLAs or business applications, then satellite probably isn’t the best fit.

What type of business tends toward it, and why?
Satellite appeals to multi-site businesses seeking a high-bandwidth solution to support an application-centric network. Spacenet provides services to a wide range of businesses including Goodyear, Do It Best Hardware, Kroger, Dollar General, and Beall’s. If there is a common thread among our business customers, it’s that they are looking for a high-reliability, centralized and single-vendor solution that works well with business applications. A satellite network offers a secure and seamless connection to and from multiple stores while providing a customized setup for each location and a centrally managed network. businesses who want to utilize their networks for more than just their traditional connectivity needs can take advantage of supported applications such as emerging multi-media services – increasing their network ROI.

What advantages does a satellite WAN have over its terrestrial counterparts?
With DSL, you can only reach a subset of your locations, and not all locations will have a consistent speed or type of DSL available. With Frame Relay, you can reach all of your locations but often at an exorbitant cost. By contrast, VSAT customers can receive uniform speeds and service levels along with nationwide coverage from a single provider - eliminating the hassle of dealing with numerous service agreements and billing arrangements. (It is worth noting that Spacenet also offers DSL services, so customers can have their choice of technologies and still receive it from a single provider.)

Satellite can be deployed easily and cost effectively to multiple locations that are geographically scattered. Installation simply involves configuring a VSAT at the location, and a modem and router are installed. Growing companies can benefit from the scalability that satellite WANs offer – allowing customers to easily expand their network and bandwidth, or quickly redeploy sites if store locations move or close and others open up. Another benefit of satellite over terrestrial options is that data can be sent to many locations at once through VSAT, known as multi-casting, resulting in more efficient use of bandwidth. Overall, a satellite WAN offers consistent communications across multiple locations at an affordable price.

Does satellite connectivity create any bandwidth limitations?
Satellite speeds are comparable to those of DSL or leased lines. Spacenet offers a variety of services ranging from low-cost narrowband solutions to 2Mbps connections. There is no real bandwidth speed limitation, although the latency involved in the transmission is not optimal for some applications (see below).

What centrally deployed applications work best via satellite?
Business companies choose satellite so often because it is has proven to work so well with their applications. Traditional applications at which satellite excels include credit/debit card authorization, data polling and point-of-sale, software and content distribution and Internet/intranet and e-mail access. Newer hot business applications for satellite include support for frequent shopper programs, employee training and communications (one-way or two-way video), surveillance, digital signage and in-store music and messaging.

Are there any applications that just don't work via satellite?
Because you're bouncing signals off a satellite that's orbiting 22,000 miles above the equator, even at the speed of light you're going to see about 1/2 second of latency in a round-trip. Spacenet uses packet acceleration technologies to diminish the latency effects, and for most applications there is no noticeable delay at all. But certain "chatty" applications that are hard for us to accelerate just aren't going to be great over VSAT. It puts a ceiling on the performance of things like VPNs, SMB/CIFS Windows file-sharing, NTLM authentication, SSH/telnet, some Citrix applications and things like that. Still - and this is the important point - the huge number of major commercial WANs running over VSAT wouldn't be there if most business applications didn't work just fine over VSAT.

What are the three most important features any business should look for in a satellite WAN solution?
When looking for a satellite WAN, businesses should look for business grade-service, support for a variety of business applications, and a service level offering that matches their needs. Businesses should seek commercial-grade services, such as Spacenet’s Connexstar offering, that provides professional installation, service level agreements, and a choice of maintenance options. Residential-grade services may not provide the security and reliability that is required by business customers – businesses should be detailed and ask questions, because (just as with DSL) some “business” satellite solutions are really just re-packaged consumer offerings. Businesses should make sure they can easily integrate their network with their application services, including credit card authorization, inventory management and point-of-sale, Internet/intranet and e-mail access, in-store music and messaging, software and content distribution, employee training and communication, and frequent shopper tracking programs. When seeking a satellite WAN, businesses must also look for a service offering that meets their business requirements (speed and reliability guarantees/SLAs). Spacenet offers a variety of Connexstar services ranging from solutions for POS applications and limited web access to high-speed Internet connectivity and file transfer, or a fully customized built-to-order service. Businesses can easily and cost-effectively upgrade their service levels for each store as the need arises.

• VSAT Pros & Cons
• Other VSAT Resources
• Why Choose Satellite?
• VSAT FAQs
• Comparing Satellite and Terrestrial Networks