Data Usage Checker Tools

I am about to begin a project for a new client, and am worried about a few things concerning data usage on their internet plan. We're in an area where most of the major networks don't cover the area, and the ones that do, have very expensive plans, with very low data allowance per month.

I need to develop 开发者_运维问答an app, but part of the problem lies with checking database values every 30 seconds. It's pretty important that this check is happening every 30 seconds, as the database is actually updated all day everyday, approx. every 5seconds (apparently).

Each row in the database consists of about a page full of text if you were to paste it into MS Word.

So, are there any logical ways of minimizing data usage in my case, and also how am I able to see exactly how much data is used just to establish a connection to the database? Are there any tools for this kind of info?

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What if the "full page of text" was compressed? You would save on how many bytes are transfered with the tradeoff that you need to spend some processor time to compress and uncompress the data.

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Wireshark and Ethereal would help you figure out exactly what is exchanged on the network, including your connections to the database.