Infrastructure
Hosts on the Internet, January 1999
Map provided by Matrix Information and Directory Services, Inc.
An Internet host is defined as a computer that is connected to the Internet. MIDS has researched the size, capacity, and growth of the Internet since 1993 and is the oldest company with such data available. MIDS organizes the information textually, graphically, and geographically. Matrix IQ uses this data to provide an Internet monitoring service for ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and Corporate Networks.
At the start of 1999, 206 of the world's 246 countries and territories were on
the Internet represented by an estimated 50 million hosts, 700 million
web pages, and 140 million users. In mid 1998 an estimated 1 PetaByte
(1 quadrillion, 10 ** 15 bytes) per week was sent over the Internet.
The then MCI Internet Backbone, now Cable & Wireless Backbone, alone
was carrying 200 TByte/week in mid-1998 (from Vinton G. Cerf,
Sr. Vice President, Internet Architecture and Technology, MCI WorldCom).
The number of bytes sent per week over the Internet is currently doubling
about every six to twelve months. See the MIDS website for additional
connectivity maps.
