Spencer Nguyen - August 25, 2022
The future of the data transport system is changing the entire infrastructure of how businesses operate. Every passenger, client, and consumer produces data. This adds up to an enormous amount of data every minute and this will only grow more and more as the Internet expands.
The coronavirus has increased the collection of this data exponentially. With more online shopping and visits to the doctor or clinic, more data is collected.
Although home delivery has become the shopping method of choice for much of the population, many others still rely on transportation systems to get them where they need to go. Decarbonization objectives have sparked a transformation in the transportation sector, as well. Data collected from consumers is at the heart of creating data transport systems that work for everyone, and provide the resources that interconnected data-driven services need to shape the future of transportation.
How Data Travels Across the Internet
Data does not fly through fiber-optic cables in bits and pieces. It may seem that way. But it is put into packets first. Packets are relatively small. Each one can only carry a maximum of 1,500 bytes. The packets are “bubble-wrapped” for identification purposes with a header and a footer. The information within the wrapper lets the computers know what kind of data the packet contains, where the data originated, how it fits together with other data and where the data is destined to go.
This is similar to a post mark on a parcel or letter sent through regular mail, except this information is digital. You never see it when you send or receive data unless you go into the source code.
When you send someone an e-mail, a data transport system goes to work. The message is broken up into packets and sent across the network. Packets from your one message will not necessarily travel down the same path because it is too big. That is why the internet seems to send messages at lightning speeds. Different packets travel along different paths from one machine to another until their destination is reached. As the packets arrive, they are stored until the data can be reassembled, like a puzzle, to recreate the message as written.
All data that travels across the internet works on this principle. It is designed in this way to help networks manage traffic. If one path gets overloaded or gridlocked, packets will take a less traveled road. This is different than a traditional phone system, which creates a dedicated circuit through a series of switches. Any information sent through the old analog phone system passes back and forth between a dedicated connection. If the connection is broken, the call ends.
That is not how traffic across IP networks works. If one connection fails for any reason, data automatically finds and travels across an alternate route. This is the case for individual networks as well as the Internet as a whole. For example, even if one little part of the puzzle doesn’t make it to its final destination, the receiving machine can figure out which packet is missing by referencing the data, header and footer of the other packets. It will send a quick message to the initiating machine and send the data again, which creates redundancy. As complicated as this sounds, it all happens within just a few milliseconds.
The Future of Data and Adjusting to a Complex World
An ever-growing number of GPS systems and personal tracking methods that detail your every move – where you go and how you get there is used by the services you use to gather information. From public transportation, roads and railways to taxi and Uber services, you use some type of app and every app collects more and more data about you and your habits.
Managing all of this data of the public network system for the daily journeys of millions of people is an enormous task, and is only set to get tougher as the population grows and more apps are developed to make your life simpler. As the population increases, so does the need for transportation. City centers quickly become gridlocked, the air is pumped full of noxious car exhaust fumes, and the public transport system becomes overloaded with the increased demand.
Local management teams work hard to address these seemingly insurmountable problems with data-driven innovation. How the data is managed can turn a nightmare into a transportation utopia. The way transportation data is used and managed can go a long way towards preventing traffic congestion and overworked rail services.
Digital data transport systems are changing the way you live and interact with the world in your daily comings and goings. It’s changing the way cities are run, how food is produced and how you function in this computerized age. It is a digital commodity that with proper use can drive great social changes and have a profound effect on nearly every aspect of your life.
To learn more about innovative data solutions, contact DreamFactory for more information and help.
Barriers to Modernization
The concept of data collection has been up against many barriers in recent times, partially due to a series of high-profile abuse of power instances regarding the usage of data as reported by various media outlets. However, the use of digital data is normally not harmful, but can be a very beneficial tool for driving innovations in a variety of industries.
The data transport system is in use all around us, every second of every day. It reports which bus routes are most frequently used and at which times of the day and week, speed and traffic light cameras map areas where drivers disobey traffic laws and pay booths monitor where and when you purchase parking space, to name just a few. The way all of this data is used has the potential to revolutionize and improve the entire transportation infrastructure.
This will mean live road-mapping to relieve congested areas and reroute traffic to avoid the gridlock, or more bicycle docking stations for a cheaper and healthier alternative to getting you where you need to go. A data-driven transport system can save consumers time and money.
Several data transport systems are already being used in many large cities around the world, like traffic cameras and bike docks. By analyzing the information gathered about how you pay for and use the current services, city planners can improve networks for a smoother ride for everyone – both cheaper and quicker.
Parking your car will also be much easier. Smart parking apps will allow you to see in real time where the closest parking is available, how much it will cost per hour or day and how long you can stay, plus what payment methods are accepted. Currently, most parking lots will only accept credit cards, although there are still a few in some cities that accept cash. No more driving around the block three or four times before you can find a safe place to leave your car while you shop, dine or visit with friends.
In many cases, you are charged by the length of time you are actually parked in the lot, in ten minute intervals – not down to the very second, instead of by the hour. However, they usually also have a day rate, if you plan to stay for the day, this is a cheaper option for longer stays. The system will always calculate the cheapest rate for you.
The Road to Data-Use Modernization
For years there has been much hype about autonomous vehicles. Although there are still many people and industries against the idea, innovators have not given up on the idea of self-driving cars. Teaching these cars to safely navigate around the city will require a plethora of data streams. Data transport systems will track the actions and reactions of a human being driving a car so that the car computer can replicate the proper way to maneuver the vehicle safely.
Bike-sharing services use the data collected from riders to gauge high use and demand areas. This enables them to stock these areas with more bikes so that no one goes without a ride.
The transportation infrastructure of the future will be ever more reliant on an open network of data that is gathered from all sectors of the population. Today’s modes of transportation, from hiring a ride on your app to autonomous vehicles are all being built on open-source data platforms and APIs. Modernization involves the continued innovation and development of these modes, therefore, it is increasingly reliant on open access to business and personal data.
Responsible use of the data collected will allow city planners, businesses and investors to predict your needs before they occur and quickly respond to issues before they become a public nuisance or a safety hazard, such as road congestion or road construction areas. You will be offered rerouting options to avoid gridlocks or construction areas or alternative travel modes in case of service delays or cancellations.
The possibilities and uses of a comprehensive data transport system are almost endless. By working together, private and public transportation service providers can develop a series of solutions that greatly benefit everyone, and put you back in control of your journeys. Data-driven innovations will potentially create many other on-demand services and constantly update and respond to new information as it happens.
Questions? DreamFactory would love to explain more about who we are and how we can help you.
Adopting a Modern and Future-proof Approach
Collecting data to make life easier for everyone is just one step in the equation. Once the data is collected from various operations you perform and transactions businesses incur, the data must be stored and transported to a secure, efficient, and easy-to-use data warehouse. A safe and secure migration service, in conjunction with a customized data transport device is used to migrate terabytes or petabytes of local data to a secure location in the cloud. This guarantees high efficiency and safety during massive data transfers.
The scalability of these operations makes the collection and transport of data future-proof because the system grows with the needs. Benefits include:
- Flexibility, scalability and affordability. These benefits are passed down to you. You enjoy the comfort and peace of mind knowing that your data will only be used for your benefit and never be shared or misused, plus the more the data transport system advances, the lower the end cost will be for you. The innovators and developers save money, so they pass some of those savings down to the consumer.
- Easy to deploy. The DreamFactory Data Transport System provides professional data migration devices, standard racks, and power supplies. With this, you can deploy multiple devices to save time and improve the overall efficiency of your migration. Multiple types of data sources are supported, including local file systems and network-attached storage (NAS) file systems.
- Super secure and always reliable. A data transport system is virtually useless if it fails all the time or has constant glitches. You want a system you can depend on to be working properly at all times. Data is constantly being collected, therefore it needs to be constantly migrated to a secure cloud location for analytics and other uses. If, by some chance the transport does fail, the system automatically retires until a successful transfer can be made.
Contact DreamFactory to learn more about the safe and secure data transport system.
Data Transport as a Service
Data Transport System is a file transferring mechanism that gives you a safe and reliable method of transporting data across a wide variety of methods. A data transport system optimizes the amount of bandwidth available through better control over when and how the network is used for maximum efficiency. As a service, the system offers features such as:
- Proper configuration of parcel size
- Efficient bandwidth throttling
- Restarting, if necessary at certain checkpoints
- Automatic routing and protocol determinations, such as fan-out, multi-casting and broadcasting
- Secure encryption
- File compression
- Automatic or manual transfer scheduling
- Utilization of multiple routes simultaneously
A data transport system consists of four main components:
- The Network Object Server (NOS) is designed to respond to requests it receives from the Transfer Object Server (TOS). It is responsible for keeping track of variables that exist in the network objects. The NOS uses the Worldview component to access this data. The variables it employs are configured within a 2D Map. Variables may include the transfer schedule or calendar, size of the parcel, the throttle factor, and protocol. Although The NOS values are considered permanent, they can be adjusted as needed. The set values can be stored indefinitely and are implemented every time a transfer is made to that specific device.
- The Transfer Object Server (TOS) is responsible for handling requests that initiate and manage data transfers. The software delivery system communicates with the TOS to create and manage all file transfers efficiently. The TOS communicates with the data transport system to initiate a transfer and monitor the status of the transfer. The TOS retains and maintains information such as the name of the sending machine or initiator, the name of the receiving machine or the respondent, the name of the file, the number of retries due to network issues and the amount of time between retries.
- The Schedule Object Server (SOS) is the component that handles the scheduling of the data transport system transfers. It interfaces with Worldview and Calendaring for accurate and updated information. In the Calendaring module, you can create schedules and calendars to keep the transports flowing smoothly. For example, transfers can be scheduled during slow times to not bog down the system. You can associate a system or set of systems with the calendar. The allows the SOS to evaluate these relationships and trigger a suspension or restart of the transfer to match up with the configured parameters.
- The Data Transport Agent (DTA) is responsible for handling the actual file transfer. It uses one-to-one communication without any outside interference. You need a DTS agent on the sending and receiving ends of the transfer. In some cases, the TOS will communicate with the sending agent (Domain Manager) when the receiver is a scalable server. The system sending the data initiates a slave process that manages the specific transfer. The slave communicates with the responding system on the other end to begin the transfer negotiations. At the same time, the responding system also spawns a slave process. Communication between the two sides is established and the initiator begins to send through the file.
The initiator starts the process by breaking down the file into manageable parcels. At this stage, the data is also encrypted or compressed. The initiator proceeds to send the first parcel of data to the receiver who then verifies its integrity. If the parcel is cleared to be safe and free of errors, a reply is sent to the initiator. The data is then placed in the staging area.
These steps are repeated until all of the parcels have been securely sent to the proper receiver. The receiver then filters the data out of the file-level stage and places everything into a permanent location.
If the receiver does not send an acknowledgment to the initiator an automatic failure tag is placed on the data. The initiating agent waits a pre-determined amount of time and attempts to send the parcel again. This continues until the retry limit is reached. If the parcel still can not be sent, it is marked as a fail.
This is the start to finish journey of a point-to-point transfer when you only have one initiator and one receiver. However, the data transport system will usually send out to more than one system simultaneously. In these instances, the initiator will send one or more parcels to multiple targets and wait for a response from all the targets. If any of the targets do not respond with an acknowledgment, they are temporarily dropped from the list of targets.
The agent will continue to send parcels to receivers in the order that they appear on the list to any of the systems that are still responding. This will continue until all the systems fall into retry status. At this point the agent goes back to the point when the first failure occurred and adds all of the targets back to the receiver list. The agent will then begin to send to all the target systems from the point of the last successful transfer. This cycle continues until all of respondent targets have received the file successfully or the limit for retries has been reached.
The status for all transports can now be marked as complete and the receiving agents can proceed with installation.
Conclusion
The future of the world and how we live in it will depend more and more on digital information. That means data transport systems will need to grow to meet this ever-increasing need. The more data that is collected, the more it will need to be safely and securely transported to its required destination. Keeping data secure is the main goal. With every new data security feature developed, hackers seem to find a new way to break in.
In the past, breaking into a company’s files was easiest during transport. Modern and updated data transport systems have put a stop to that, but that doesn’t mean it can not happen again in the future. Every data transport system has to be safe and secure now and in the future. Everyone counts on this security and at DreamFactory, we help you achieve this goal.
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As a seasoned content moderator with a keen eye for detail and a passion for upholding the highest standards of quality and integrity in all of their work, Spencer Nguyen brings a professional yet empathetic approach to every task.