Bandwidth throttling is a method of ensuring a bandwidth intensive device, such as a server, will limit ("throttle") the quantity of data it transmits and/or accepts within a specified period of time. For website servers and web applications, bandwidth throttling helps limit network congestion and server crashes, whereas for ISP's, bandwidth throttling can be used to limit users' speeds across certain applications (such as BitTorrent), or limit upload speeds. Bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower cutoff frequencies of, for example, a filter, a communication channel, or a signal spectrum, and is typically measured in hertz. ... In information technology, a server is an application or device that performs services for connected clients as part of a client-server architecture. ... A crash in computing is a condition where a program (either an application or part of the operating system) stops performing its expected function and also stops responding to other parts of the system. ... ISP may mean: Internet service provider, an organization that offers users access to the Internet and related services. ...

A server, such as a web server, is a host computer connected to a network, such as the Internet, which provides data in response to requests by client computers. Understandably, there are periods where client requests may peak (certain hours of the day, for example). Such peaks may cause congestion of data (bottlenecks) across the connection or cause the server to crash, resulting in downtime. In order to prevent such issues, a server administrator may implement bandwidth throttling to control the number of requests a server responds to within a specified period of time. The inside/front of a Dell PowerEdge web server The term Web server can mean one of two things: A computer program that is responsible for accepting HTTP requests from clients, which are known as Web browsers, and serving them HTTP responses along with optional data contents, which usually are... This article is about computer servers. ... A computer network is an interconnection of a group of computers. ... For other uses, see Data (disambiguation). ... In computing, a client is a system that accesses a (remote) service on another computer by some kind of network. ... A bottleneck is literally the neck of a glass or pottery bottle. ... A crash in computing is a condition where a program (either an application or part of the operating system) stops performing its expected function and also stops responding to other parts of the system. ... Downtime refers to a period of time or a percentage of a timespan that a machine or system (usually a computer server) is offline or not functioning, usually as a result of either system failure (such as a crash) or routine maintenance. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

When a server using bandwidth throttling has reached the allowed bandwidth set by the administrator, it will block further read attempts, usually moving them into a queue to be processed once the bandwidth use reaches an acceptable level. Bandwidth throttling will usually continue to allow write requests (such as a user submitting a form) and transmission requests, unless the bandwidth continues to fail to return to an acceptable level. A queue (pronounced /kuː/) is a particular kind of collection in which the entities in the collection are kept in order and the principal (or only) operations on the collection are the addition of entities to the rear terminal position and removal of entities from the front terminal position. ...

Likewise, some software, such as peer-to-peer (P2P) network programs, have similar bandwidth throttling features, which allow a user to set desired maximum upload and download rates, so as not to consume the entire available bandwidth of his or her Internet connection. A peer-to-peer (or P2P) computer network is a network that relies on the computing power and bandwidth of the participants in the network rather than concentrating it in a relatively few servers. ...

See also

• Bandwidth cap, often used by Internet providers
• Bandwidth management
• Traffic shaping
• Rate limiting

Administered by an Internet service provider (ISP), a bandwidth cap or download cap limits the transfer of a specified amount of data over a period of time. ... In computer networking, bandwidth management is the process of measuring and controlling the communications (traffic, packets) on a network link, to avoid filling the link to capacity or overfilling the link, which would result in network congestion and poor performance. ... Traffic shaping (also known as packet shaping) is an attempt to control computer network traffic in order to optimize or guarantee performance, low latency, and/or bandwidth by delaying packets[1]. Traffic shaping deals with concepts of classification, queue disciplines, enforcing policies, congestion management, quality of service (QoS), and fairness. ... In computer networks, rate limiting is the function of controlling the maximum rate of traffic sent or received on a network interface. ...

External links

• NetLimiter - Traffic shaper and monitor for Windows
• Traffic Shaper XP - A freeware traffic shaper for Windows
• HomeQOS DU SuperController - A shareware program for Windows
• LARTC - Website for the 'Linux Advanced Routing and Traffic Control' project
• MasterShaper - A Free software web interface for Linux Traffic Shaping & QoS
• trickle - A userspace traffic shaping tool for Linux & BSD
• Throttled Pro - A traffic shaping tool for Mac OS X and FreeBSD