Toward a faster Net Analysis/Commentary At least three technologies are headed toward making the Internet faster and more effective. These are: the sellers of fiber optic wire, which lay down a better grade of cable; the network or backbone owners (like AT&T and Sprint), which foot the bill and arrange to coordinate network coverage; and the hosting centers or data centers for major websites. Some of the data centers resemble fortresses, with state-of-the-art servers, running twenty-four hours a day, in fireproof rooms and tornado-proof buildings. Some centers have their own generators in case of outages, and their own water cooling systems. They are owned by companies like Qwest, IBM, and EDS -- or Exodus, which boasts 1,300 major business customers (according to Inter@ctive Week). In addition, Internet Service Providers proliferate, and router companies, like Cisco, are working toward creating transparent connections. The Net braces for the e-commerce explosion and the advent of high-speed connections. Analysts predict that e-commerce will grow exponentially on the Net, so that profits will be tallied in billions and hundreds of billions of dollars in the years to come. Apparently, the days of the Mom and Pop store on the Net are as precarious as the apple cart. Move over 56K, here come DSL, cable modems, and video in uncompressed formats! Already, the price of bandwidth drops, and backbone owners scurry to make deals with local carriers. "Lack of bandwidth" seems to have found a conventional cure -- more wire, better servers, and an amazing capacity for speed. Where will all the money come from? From business investment, to begin with, and later from consumers themselves, who will likely be impressed by the variety of services the Net masters anticipate: free voice communication, unlimited choice in television viewing, and video on demand. But all this progress isn't happening too fast. The Net quickly crowds, and its infrastructure must keep up. With big business on the Web, consumers will expect increased reliability. No longer a geek's playground, the Net means serious business now -- and there's money to be lost from unreliable service, as well as gained by profitable opportunities. September 8, 1999