Does one computer using maximum bandwidth affect other computers on a network?

[Simfish]

If one computer on a LAN network is using maximum bandwidth on, say, downloading a file, then will this affect the bandwidth of other computers on the network? And is bandwidth usually artificially constrained or naturally constrained?

 

[Evo]

If one computer on a LAN network is using maximum bandwidth on, say, downloading a file, then will this affect the bandwidth of other computers on the network?

Yes.

And is bandwidth usually artificially constrained or naturally constrained?

It has to be artificially constrained.

Are you just talking about within the LAN, or do you mean the internet? When you say download, I am assuming you mean the internet. You have to set parameters allocating priority to the type of data (for example, if you have both voice and data, voice would be given priority as it is more sensitive than data), you can also give priority to the type of data, file transfer over browsing for example. It can either be set in the router or in the network. The two types are commonly referred to as COS/CoS (class of service) or QoS (quality of service).

 

[delta_moment]

Depends, A Ring Network is piece-wise, and none can influence the max_rate of another.

End-to-End is dominated by throughput.

Whereas, common in connectivity, parallel, then it would be affected. This is due to the adapter-hub interface. Where the hub has to check-balance all transfers.

 

[Evo]

Depends, A Ring Network is piece-wise, and none can influence the max_rate of another.

End-to-End is dominated by throughput.

Whereas, common in connectivity, parallel, then it would be affected. This is due to the adapter-hub interface. Where the hub has to check-balance all transfers.

Token Ring and the others are pretty obsolete.

 

[mheslep]

If one computer on a LAN network is using maximum bandwidth on, say, downloading a file, then will this affect the bandwidth of other computers on the network? A

Yes.

Well not necessarily. If the LAN is setup on an Ethernet layer 2 switch vs a hub, and the switch is non blocking, then no the bandwidth to the 'other computers' on the same LAN will not be diminished.

 

[delta_moment]

Token Ring and the others are pretty obsolete.

Yeah, the token use is. Not secure enough. But, where peer-to-peer observation/computation is necessary, other protocols are used. As in Research and Development.

Any physical peer-to-peer network, just about, will take into account what it can. Where power is a must.