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North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical Re: What does 95th %tile mean?
On Thu, 19 April 2001, Geoff Huston wrote: > It leads to the situation where the provider confidently asserts that the > 95% value was xkbps, and the customer confidently asserting ykbps and both > readings are equally valid, with both measurements using the _same_ > measurement technique. How is the consequent billing dispute resolved _fairly_? The great thing about changing jobs every once in a while is I get to experience the joy of looking at things from the outside. Because colo's use a lot of power, I'm learning a lot about how the electric companies work. Geez, if you thought telephone companies were bad :-) The power industry has a version of the 95% billing. Like ISPs, originally it was a simple measurement every 5 (10, 15, etc) minutes. Figure out the peak measurement, and you are done. Users figured out how to better control their usage, i.e. turning on motors for 9 minutes and then turning them off for six minutes. Were there billing disputes, you betcha! Now electric companies use a variety of sliding windows, and different ways to calculate usage. The top-of-the-line power meters have over 100 different ways to measure (and therefor different ways a utility can charge) power consumption. Each becoming progressively more complex, trying to eliminate ways for people to game the system. To resolve some billing disputes, the top meters include "pulse" connections so you can precisely synchronize your check meter with the utility's meter for auditing. So, does someone need to develop an Internet meter for your Internet line with a dial which spins faster when you use more packets?
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