[asterisk-users] OT: Bandwidth calculations

[Randy R]

Hi,

I know some of you are very experienced  as to the working of
networks. I wondered whether there is some accepted way of determining
bandwidth needs based on the network traffic over time. For example,
looking at the figures for the network traffic through the server
interface, we have hourly, daily and monthly figures. If everything
were linear, taking the hourly figure and dividing it by 3600 (or the
daily by divided 3600*24) would give us the required bps, but this
average is pretty meaningless.

Those of you who have experience and education in this area, where can
I look for guidance (links?) and do you have any rules of thumb you'd
care to share? I'm actually looking for this for a web server not
VoiP, but any info is welcome.

It seems obvious to me that taking the per second average and
multiplying it by some kind of seat of the pants number must give a
decent idea? WHat is that magic number?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

/r