cycle crunch n.,obs.
A situation wherein the number of
people trying to use a computer simultaneously has reached the
point where no one can get enough cycles because they are spread
too thin and the system has probably begun to thrash. This
scenario is an inevitable result of Parkinson's Law applied to
timesharing. Usually the only solution is to buy more computer.
Happily, this has rapidly become easier since the mid-1980s, so
much so that the very term `cycle crunch' now has a faintly archaic
flavor; most hackers now use workstations or personal computers as
opposed to traditional timesharing systems, and are far more likely
to complain of `bandwidth crunch' on their shared networks rather than
cycle crunch.
A situation wherein the number of
people trying to use a computer simultaneously has reached the
point where no one can get enough cycles because they are spread
too thin and the system has probably begun to thrash. This
scenario is an inevitable result of Parkinson's Law applied to
timesharing. Usually the only solution is to buy more computer.
Happily, this has rapidly become easier since the mid-1980s, so
much so that the very term `cycle crunch' now has a faintly archaic
flavor; most hackers now use workstations or personal computers as
opposed to traditional timesharing systems, and are far more likely
to complain of `bandwidth crunch' on their shared networks rather than
cycle crunch.
Related:
- cycle crunch: n. A situation wherein the number of people trying
to use a computer simultaneously has reached the point where no one
can get enough cycles because they are spread too thin and the
system has probably begun to {thrash}.
This scenario is an inevitable result of Parkinson's... - cycle drought: n. A scarcity of cycles. It may be due to a {cycle
crunch},
but it could also occur because part of the computer... - cycle drought n.
A scarcity of cycles. It may be due to a
cycle crunch,
but it could also occur because part of the computer... - cycle: 1. n. The basic unit of computation. What every hacker
wants more of (noted hacker Bill Gosper describes himself as a
"cycle junkie").
One can describe an instruction as taking so many... - dump: n. 1. An undigested and voluminous mass of information about
a problem or the state of a system,
especially one routed to the slowest available output... - cycle
1. n. The basic unit of computation. What every
hacker wants more of (noted hacker Bill Gosper described himself as
a "cycle junkie").
One can describe an instruction as taking so many... - dump n.
1. An undigested and voluminous mass of information
about a problem or the state of a system,
especially one routed to the slowest available output... - smart terminal: n. 1. A terminal that has enough computing
capability to render graphics or to offload some kind of front-end
processing from the computer it talks to.
The development of workstations and personal computers... - number-crunching: n. Computations of a numerical nature,
esp. those that make extensive use of floating-point...
