Capterra Glossary
Packet Coalescing
Packet coalescing is a data transmission technique that merges various data packets together when sending them over a network to limit the number of interrupts (signals sent to a user computer to let them know data is available) a computer system receives. This technique helps network cards avoid overloading the host system's central processing unit (CPU) with interrupts, which often cause long load times, system crashes, or program freezes. In other words, packet coalescing lowers the amount of processing a computer has to perform to obtain network data.
What Small and Midsize Businesses Need to Know About Packet Coalescing
Small and midsize tech startups that develop multiplayer video games and small hedge funds that use high-frequency trading algorithms to buy and sell stocks often turn off packet coalescing on their high-performance computer CPUs. Although packet coalescing is beneficial for CPU utilization, it often takes longer for data packets to get from one destination point to another (otherwise known as network latency). By turning off packet coalescing on high-performance CPUs, these small businesses can increase their network latency which helps multiplayer video games run smoother and high-frequency trading algorithms process quicker.
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