What kind of Internet connection is needed for servers?

[Sharks445]

Do data centers get Internet from an ISP like any other home? Or is it a different provider?
Does the max. number of concurrent users depend on the speed? (eg. 1gps up, 1gps down)
Does more speed = more users?

 

[mcnumpty23]

i would imagine they get a far better/faster connection than home users

but at a far higher price as well

for example my isp can give me up to 76mbs/20mbs

but the same isp can give business 10gbs/10gbs

 

[Master Kittens]

Data centers get internet and network connections from familiar, and unfamiliar (to the home user) providers. Depending on what the data centers serves, different providers and types of circuits would be ordered.

A data center I worked in had circuits coming in from Windstream/Paetec, Verizon, Level 3, ATT, and others. Different providers were used based on different customer needs. Some circuits were used for failover, in case your primary went down, you still had a connection to the outside world.

If you are simply running an internet facing LAMP or FTP server, all you need is a fat pipe (size depends on bandwidth needs) with a static IP. To get that you'll need to order "business class" in most locations, due to ISP restrictions.

 

[Kewlx25]

Datacenters typically pay for a connection with an SLA(service level agreement). The datacenter can pretty much guarantee what performance they will get. Most home users do not get such guarantees, they typically get best effort if they lucky, and no effort if they're not lucky.

Many ISPs do not care about quality, they just care about your money, and if slapping a bigger number on your connection gets you to pay more for the same service, they're perfectly happy lying to you. With an SLA, you could effectually sue the ISP for breaking contract. Suddenly the ISP cares.