Business Definition for: bottleneck
bottleneck
an activity for which the work equals or exceeds the capacity of the activity.
bottleneck
the part of a computer system that slows down its performance, such as a slow disk drive, slow modem, or overloaded network. Finding and remedying bottlenecks is much more worthwhile than simply speeding up parts of the computer that are already fast.
The Von Neumann bottleneck is a limit on computer speed resulting from the fact that the program and the data reside in the same memory. Thus, at any moment the CPU can be receiving a program instruction or a piece of data to work on, but not both. Newer computers overcome theVon Neumann bottleneck by using pipelines and caches.
See also
Von Neumann architecture
,
cache
,
pipeline
Related Terms:
a type of computer design in which programs and data are stored in a single kind of memory. Contrast Harvard architecture.
- a place where data can be stored to avoid having to read the data from a slower device such as a disk. For instance, a disk cache stores copies of frequently used disk sectors in RAM so that they can be read without accessing the disk.
The 486 and Pentium microprocessors have an internal instruction cache for program instructions that are being read in from RAM; anexternal cache is also used, consisting of RAM chips that are fasterthan those used in the computer's main memory. See also L1 cache; L2 cache.
- a set of files kept by a web browser to avoid having to download the same material repeatedly. Most web browsers keep copies of all the web pages that you view, up to a certain limit, so that the same pages can be redisplayed quickly when you go back to them. If a web page has been changed recently, you may have to reload it to see its current contents.
term referring to the underwriting process that involves securities being proposed for public distribution. The phrase used is "in the pipeline." The entire underwriting process, including registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission, must be completed before a security can be offered for public sale. Underwriters attempt to have several securities issues waiting in the pipeline so that the issues can be sold as soon as market conditions become favorable. In the municipal bond market, the pipeline is called the "Thirty Day Visible Supply" in the Bond Buyer newspaper.
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