What is 95th Percentile Bandwidth?
The 95th percentile is the highest value left when the top 5% of a numerically sorted set of collected data is discarded. It is used as a measure of the peak value used when one discounts a fair amount for transitory spikes. This is different from the average. When the 95 percentile method is used to calculate bandwidth usage, we capture all raw data usage and normalize this into 5 minute samples. At the end of the billing month, those 5 minute usage samples are sorted in an increasing order with the top 5% of the highest recorded usage being completely discarded. This eliminates normal traffic spikes. The advantage of the 95 percentile billing is that you effectively get the performance of a high-speed circuit connection, while paying only for the actual usage. This bandwidth delivering mechanism is inherently burstable, being completely different from the traditional fixed circuits. The 95 percentile style of billing can be applied to inbound only, outbound only, the greatest of inbo
