How does a website use bandwith or causes it to to go up and down? Is it the graphics within the sight? People Accessing the graphics? Number of visitors on the sight? or a combination of these and other factors?

Combination of all the above.  # of users, what they are doing re: text/graphics, speed of their connections via either T1, T3, DSL, or dial-up.  Also it can be throttled by the ISP by the same combination of circumstances.  Like a water hose - the biggest you have with the fewer holes gets the most water out.

So does having a lot of pics and GIFs use up bandwidth even if you don't have traffic?

Let say I link to my site to post a pics or an .exe program. Does that use bandwidth?

If the files are never requested and just sit on the server then it is not using any bandwidth. But if someone calls up one of the files and the server sends it then it is using bandwidth.

Basically, if anyone downloads anything from you that is using some bandwidth. It can be a difficult concept to understand, but the easiest way to look at it is in K per second averaged out over 24hours. Well, maybe that is not the easiest way to look at it, but it is a very common way.

To answer your question about the link, the link, per-se, will not take up and bandwidth. However, if the user chooses to download the file that will take up bandwidth.

I hope this helps!

Ian

Basically, bandwidth is the amount of data that can pass over a line at one time. For instance, a 56kbps modem can pass 56 kilobits of data per second. Now, every time you load a new website, data is being sent to your computer. While the data is being sent, you are using bandwidth. If you are not loading a website, but simply looking at one you have already loaded, like I am right now with the page of ar15.com that I am on, I am not using any bandwidth. When I click "Submit", I will be using bandwidth to both send this text to the server, and to recieve the new page from the server. Hope that helps a little.

P.S. The more graphics, pictures, etc. a website has, the longer, and the more bandwidth it will take, to "load", or download to your computer. But, once it is done loading, it will not use any more bandwidth on your line than looking at a text document. And remember, every time you view a website, it is downloading the code onto your computer, and your computer displays it for you.

Thanx guys. At least now I have some basic understanding the usage of bandwitdh.

err...

Bandwidth is the maximum size of the connection (i.e. T1 line is 1.5 mb/sec)

Throughput is how fast data goes through the pipe.  For instance, I can have a T1 into my business, but if the website is slow, throughput will also be slow.

For example,  a four lane highway represents available bandwidth.  How fast you go during rush-hour vs. non-rush hour is throughput.

There are quite a few issues that can cause a site to take up bandwidth, and multiple ways to try to keep the bandwidth lower overall, such as caching, persistent connections, version of HTTP and the like.

Additionally, hardware, software (even the way that the webpage is coded) can cause issues, in addition to the number of users that the site experiences.

Well I'm getting rid of pics on my site and just referring them to my Webshots account instead.

I will keep the gif of "juggs" on my site though.

bandwidth is only an issue when people are transfering the files