In
computer networking
A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. The computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections ar ...
, micro-bursting is a behavior seen on fast
packet-switched network
In telecommunications, packet switching is a method of grouping data into '' packets'' that are transmitted over a digital network. Packets are made of a header and a payload. Data in the header is used by networking hardware to direct the pac ...
s, where rapid bursts of
data packet
In telecommunications and computer networking, a network packet is a formatted unit of data carried by a packet-switched network. A packet consists of control information and user data; the latter is also known as the ''payload''. Control informa ...
s are sent in quick succession, leading to periods of full
line-rate transmission that can overflow
packet buffers of the network stack, both in network endpoints and routers and switches inside the network. It can be mitigated by the
network scheduler
A network scheduler, also called packet scheduler, queueing discipline (qdisc) or queueing algorithm, is an arbiter on a node in a packet switching communication network. It manages the sequence of network packets in the transmit and receive q ...
. In particular, micro-bursting is often caused by the use of
TCP on such a network.
See also
*
Head-of-line blocking
*
TCP pacing
References
Computer networking
Queueing theory
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