A 10 Gbps or 20 Gbps dedicated server is a physical server whose network port can send and receive data at up to 10 or 20 gigabits per second. Streaming platforms, download sites and content delivery networks use servers like these to move large amounts of data to many people at once.
This article explains what the port speed means in practice, how much traffic it can carry, the difference between unmetered and metered plans, and how to work out the speed you need.
What 10 Gbps and 20 Gbps mean
The figure is the speed of the server's connection to the network: the most data it can push through at one moment. A gigabit is a billion bits, and a byte is 8 bits, so:
- a 1 Gbps port moves up to about 125 megabytes a second;
- a 10 Gbps port moves up to about 1.25 gigabytes a second;
- a 20 Gbps port moves up to about 2.5 gigabytes a second.
Port speed measures capacity, not latency. A faster port lets more data flow at once, but it doesn't make each packet travel faster. Latency depends mainly on distance and on the networks between the server and the user.
How much traffic a 10 Gbps or 20 Gbps port can carry
Running flat out for a 30-day month, a port would transfer about:
- 1 Gbps: 324 TB;
- 10 Gbps: 3,240 TB (3.24 PB);
- 20 Gbps: 6,480 TB (6.48 PB).
Real traffic rises and falls through the day, so a busy service uses a fraction of this. The point of a fast port is to cover the peaks: the evening hours when most viewers watch, or the day a large file is released.
Unmetered or metered bandwidth
An unmetered plan has no monthly transfer limit: the port speed is the only limit, and the monthly price stays the same however much data you send. A metered plan includes a set amount of transfer each month.
Unmetered suits services whose traffic is high or hard to predict, such as video streaming and file hosting. A metered plan can cost less when you need a fast port for peaks but move less data overall.
How to work out the speed you need
Estimate your peak: the most people you expect at the same time, times the data rate each one uses. For video, that is the stream's bitrate. For example:
- 1,000 viewers watching a 5 Mbps stream need about 5 Gbps;
- 2,000 viewers at 5 Mbps need about 10 Gbps;
- 4,000 viewers at 5 Mbps need about 20 Gbps.
Leave headroom above your estimate, because traffic rarely arrives evenly.
The rest of the server has to keep up with the port. To send 1.25 gigabytes a second, the disks must read that fast: a single hard disk reads far slower, so high-speed servers use SSDs or several disks working together. Enough memory to cache popular files also takes load off the disks.
Who uses 10 Gbps and 20 Gbps servers
Video streaming and video on demand
Live streams and video libraries send the same large files to many viewers at once. A fast port keeps playback smooth at peak times, and adaptive streaming lets each viewer's player pick a quality that suits their connection.
File downloads and software distribution
Download mirrors, game updates and software releases create sharp peaks when a new version comes out. A 10 or 20 Gbps port serves those peaks without queuing users.
Content delivery networks
A CDN keeps copies of content on servers close to users. The servers that feed it, and the busiest edge locations, need high-speed ports to move content in and out.
Gaming
Game servers mostly need low latency, which comes from location and routing rather than port speed. A fast port helps with the heavy part: patches, downloads and many players connected to one server.
Backups and large data transfers
Copying terabytes of backups or moving data between sites takes hours on a 1 Gbps link. At 10 Gbps, the same transfer takes a tenth of the time, if the disks at both ends can keep up.
10 Gbps and 20 Gbps servers at LyraHosting
Our 10 and 20 Gbps dedicated servers, and one 5 Gbps plan, run in our Netherlands data centers. Every port is dedicated to you, never shared with other customers.
- unmetered traffic on most plans, or a 10 Gbps plan with 300 TB of monthly transfer;
- plans from €399.99 a month;
- servers go live within 24 hours.
Compare our 10 Gbps and 20 Gbps server plans and pick the port speed that matches your peak traffic.
