Reserved or Spot-Market Bandwidth?

There are two ways to purchase bandwidth The amount of data transmitted or received per unit of time. When we refer to acquiring or selling bandwidth, we mean the amount of information that can be sent over a connection at one time, at the allowed speed, without packet loss or excessive delay. Bandwidth is measured in bits-per-second. in a Merkato InvisibleHand's software platform, which dynamically prices, sells, and allocates IP bandwidth in real time. Merkato means "market" in Esperanto. system.

• You can create a bidding strategy and bid for bandwidth with other buyers, establishing a fair market price The price for something that buyers and sellers agree on. Merkato establishes a market price for bandwidth during each spot market auction round. There is a fixed amount for sale, so as demand increases, prices rise. The market price is reached when the cumulative demand of all the buyers is exactly equal to the amount of bandwidth being offered by the seller.based on supply and demand.
• You can request and reserve a fixed amount of bandwidth, at a fixed price, for a fixed term.

The first method is called the Spot market The Merkato mechanism by which bandwidth is traded, in a progressive second price auction. An optimal fair market price is established and bandwidth is allocated to buyers, based on their bids relative to other buyers. and uses a Spot market agent The program that interacts with the rest of Merkato on behalf of buyers and sellers. Buyers can acquire bandwidth by configuring their agents to offer the price they are willing to pay for a range of available quantity, or use their agent to request a quote for a fixed-price bandwidth reservation. Sellers configure their agents with a quantity of bandwidth for sale and a minimum price they are willing to accept for that quantity.. The second method is called the Reservation market The Merkato market mechanism by which a specified quantity of bandwidth, for a specific duration, is sold for a firm price specified by the seller and agreed to by the buyer. This is an automated process based on a rate sheet that the seller establishes in advance. and uses a Reservation agent.

To get bandwidth from the Spot market, you configure your Merkato agent to bid on your behalf in a continuous bandwidth auction. To get bandwidth in the reservation market, use your Merkato agent to ask for a fixed-price quote, based on the quantity and duration you specify. Bandwidth may be obtained on both markets simultaneously and combined into a single allocation An amount of bandwidth available for your use. Depending on the type of service being offered through Merkato, this can represent the maximum bandwidth available to you or a minimum guarantee of bandwidth available to you. .

(For a complete description of each method, see Spot Market and Reservation Market Agents.)