Top Network Resource Hogs

Identifying the applications that bring most networks to its knees

Today’s network resources are taxed more than ever. With modern operating systems and the huge applications they come with, it’s transparent explain why. Following are some top network resource hogs. Identifying them is the first step in restoring your system to a healthy state.

 

P2P Applications

P2P is the acronym for peer-to-peer networks. Skype, Napster and BitTorrent are examples. The overriding reason P2P applications are such network hogs is that they both use and supply resources. Whether its compromising the speed of virtual application delivery in a corporate environment or simply slowing down everyone's access to Facebook from the dorm rooms, P2P applications can be a major network resource hog!

To explain, in a traditional client-server model, only clients consume, while only servers supply. In P2P networks, users are both suppliers and consumers. This taxes resources such as storage, bandwidth and processing power.

There are several reasons P2P applications are among the top network hogs, ie:

• Ease of Use: It used to be that you had to be a technophile (geek) to use P2P apps. This is no longer the case. Many of these applications are so simple to use now that even a tech-averse user can log on and participate;
• Excitement: One of the reasons P2P apps become so popular so fast is that they do new and interesting things. They’re exciting and fun to use; and
• Individuality: Many P2P apps support individuality and creativity. YouTube is an excellent example of this. Want to get famous or be on “TV?” You no longer have to wait for Hollywood to discover you. Log on and create your own channel of content. Before you know it, you’re an internet star!

 

Streaming Media

Expanding on the point above, today’s desktop users are extremely interactive. They share photos, music, content and video via popular outlets like YouTube and Napster, which many credit with putting P2P networks on the map.

 

File Transfers:

When a file is shared, it has to be transmitted. When you consider the billions of file transfers of music, video and other content sent each day, it’s no surprise that file transferring is a top network hog. In fact, file transfers can arguably be crowned the top network hog.

Network hogs can lead to system crashes and slowdowns. And, this is why identifying them is critical to system maintenance.