I notice that Linode talked a good bit about their bandwidth and included outbound bandwidth in their pricing model which DO does not. I wonder if DO has a similar model or if transfer capacity the only thing you have control over.
Transfer - How much they let through the pipe.
Just a guess.
> What happens if I exceed my monthly transfer quota?
> You will be invoiced $0.10 for each GB over your pooled network transfer quota. Please note that all inbound traffic is free and will not count against your quota.
Bandwidth is the maximum Mbps that your VPS can spill out at any moment, whereas transfer is the maximum amount of per-month cumulative traffic that you can send out before incurring on additional traffic costs.
Its like downloading a 1 GB file to your computer using a 56k modem or a cable modem... the transfer amount will be 1 GB either way, but the cable modem will be a hell of a lot faster due to the increase in its bandwidth. As you upgrade your plan with Linode, your "modem" gets faster, however DO doesn't mention the speed of their "modem" or if its speed is affected by the price level you select.
bandwidth = d(transfer) / dt