C10k problem: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Problem of optimising network sockets to handle a large number of clients at the same time}}

The '''C10k problem''' is the problem of optimizing computer [[networknetworking socketstack]]s to handle a large number of clients at the same time.<ref name=C10K>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kegel.com/c10k.html |title=The C10K problem |archive-date=2013-07-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722134723/http://www.kegel.com/c10k.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The name C10k is a [[numeronym]] for [[Concurrent computing|concurrently]] handling ten thousand connections.<ref name=Liu-Deters>{{Cite book | last1 = Liu | first1 = D. | last2 = Deters | first2 = R. | chapter = The Reverse C10K Problem for Server-Side Mashups | doi = 10.1007/978-3-642-01247-1_16 | title = Service-Oriented Computing – ICSOC 2008 Workshops | series = Lecture Notes in Computer Science | volume = 5472 | pages = 166 | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-3-642-01246-4 }}</ref> Handling many concurrent connections is a different problem from handling many [[requests per second]]: the latter requires high throughput (processing them quickly), while the former does not have to be fast, but requires efficient scheduling of connections to [[network socket]]s or other endpoints.

The problem of socket server optimisation has been studied because a number of factors must be considered to allow a web server to support many clients. This can involve a combination of [[operating system]] constraints and web server software limitations. According to the scope of services to be made available and the capabilities of the operating system as well as hardware considerations such as multi-processing capabilities, a multi-threading model or a [[single threading]] model can be preferred. Concurrently with this aspect, which involves considerations regarding memory management (usually operating system related), strategies implied relate to the very diverse aspects of I/O management.<ref name=Liu-Deters />