[OT] Internet lag/connectivity options

["White, Peter" <peter.white@xxxxxxx>]

Hi All

This is totally OT, but I know there's lots of clever IT types on the
list....

We're setting up a system between my company, and 2 other third-party
companies.  One of these is based in the US and has a leased line into us,
so no probs.  The other is based in Milton Keynes, and requires
connectivity
into our SAP system in Dallas, which they'll get via a web front-end.  This
isn't high-bandwidth stuff, but the screen refreshes must be fast, with no
noticeable lag.  We'd originally planned to do this over the web, but the
other companies have big concerns about slowed response times during the
afternoon (when the US wakes up); apparently they've had problems before.

So, on the basis that we don't want to spend a small fortune on a dedicated
leased line, what other options do we have??  We could host the SAP Web
server in the UK, but I'm not sure that would help.  We've currently got a
2Mb VPN connection between us and our US parent company, but presumably
this
is also venerable to the web slowdown?

In summary - we have VPN to our parent company.  Third-party 1, also based
near Dallas, has multiple leased-lines into the parent company. 
Third-party
2, in MK, has a 20Gb(!) internet pipe, but no other existing connectivity
to
us.  We need to provide on-line access to the MK company, with no
noticeable
contention, but for the lowest cost solution (but they will not accept a
'web-based' solution, though that is open to interpretation.

Email me off-list if you prefer.

Thanks, Pete


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