The Network
Transburti system clients are provided a computer front end that is linked to servers installed at the Editora Graficos Burti studio. Each server has a 106-gigabyte hard disk capacity and can serve 24 CPUs working simultaneously. Each client has a parabolic antenna pointing to the relay tower and a router linked to digital radio stations located at 20 strategic places around Sao Paulo. With a span of up to 25 kilometers between them, the signals flow at a velocity of 10 megabits per second to the relay tower, 140 meters above street level. From the relay tower to Burti's headquarters, the data transmission speed is up to 90 megabits per second to avoid information log jams during the final phase of the journey from agency to printer. This also means that several agencies can simultaneously send their archives to Burti without risking system overload. Inside the print works, the internal network consists of 52 interlinked workstations operating at 100 megabits per second. There is an integrated network between Burti and its clients and a Silicon Graphics CHALLENGE® supercomputer located at Burti's headquarters in Sao Paulo.If Burti had used traditional Brazilian data transmisision lines as the basis for his network, he might be paying up to $3.6 million per year to transmit two-million digital information units per second-five times less than the 10 megabits he uses now. In two years, Burti will have recouped his $3-million investment. In the meantime, the system has already pleased more than a few of his clients and has proven to be an engaging selling point to attract new business.