In the past, a satellite connection was often seen as a backup solution to a landline. Now, this path of connectivity is being seen by some as a necessity, but should you incorporate this connection into your private network?
A satellite connection ensures connectivity can be retained even if a terrestrial network fails. Broadband fiber is vulnerable due to the fact that carrier fiber routes are often located on the public right of way, which causes path diversity to be lost. Losing path diversity means that there are fewer route options for the information to travel on and that poses the connection to more threats.
The Satellite Connection
“Satellite-based communications have been in operation for decades, providing reliable primary and backup services for a range of industries.” Nowadays companies utilize satellites to connect to all remote locations within the organization. This also allows information to be stored in the cloud and not in physical locations. However, most individuals have not relied on a satellite-based network for their Internet of Things (IoT) due to privacy concerns.
Usually, private connections travel via Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPSL) lines to public clouds, but with the growing popularity of industrial IoT and edge computing more and more users do not have MPSL access and need connectivity to the cloud. Fortunately, there has been a surge in low orbiting satellites due to the world-wide race to 5G. This will allow for decreased latency and increased signal strengths. These satellite connections may not be equal to MPLS connectivity’s bandwidth and latency, but they have greatly improved and companies like NetFoundry are also offering APIs that will bring speeds extremely close to the original private network connections.
The Benefit of Integration
The benefit of integrating satellite connectivity is that you can now have the same plane of security as previous connections and you do not have to juggle multiple varying connections. Individual users can benefit from the offload of background traffic with more secure data backup, economical and efficient delivery of content, and quicker download speeds.
This level of integration can be used for more then edge computing and IoT, but also organizations can utilize it for communications, mobility, disaster recovery, and enterprise connectivity. Certain companies, such as Amazon, have already been implementing satellites and cloud computing to ease the data bottleneck or the flood of data running out of space. Other companies have also started implementing these techniques driving the supply of sensor data that is space-based. Additional benefits that come along with this are insight and information extraction, being able to capitalize on scalability, reduce upfront capital for startups, a faster and higher performance, and being able to provide data-driven business solutions.
If you or your company could benefit from data-driven business solutions, contact our GeoTel experts today!
Author: Valerie Stephen
