Bottleneck literally refers to the narrowed portion (neck) of a

bottle A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal stop ...

near its opening, which limit the rate of outflow, and may describe any object of a similar shape. The literal neck of a bottle was originally used to play what is now known as slide guitar. Periit pars maxima memoria Horozco

Metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

ically, the term may also be used as an analogy for any of the following implications of rate limitation or function restriction:

Computing

Bottleneck (network) In a communication network, sometimes a max-min fairness of the network is desired, usually opposed to the basic first-come first-served policy. With max-min fairness, data flow between any two nodes is maximized, but only at the cost of ''more or ...

, in communication networks using max-min fairness *

Bottleneck (software) In software engineering, a bottleneck occurs when the capacity of an application or a computer system is limited by a single component, like the neck of a bottle slowing down the overall water flow. The bottleneck has the lowest throughput of all ...

, a software component that severely affects application performance *

Internet bottleneck Internet bottlenecks are places in telecommunication networks in which internet service providers (ISPs), or naturally occurring high use of the network, slow or alter the network speed of the users and/or content producers using that network. A b ...

, when high usage slows the performance on the Internet at a particular point *

Von Neumann bottleneck The von Neumann architecture — also known as the von Neumann model or Princeton architecture — is a computer architecture based on a 1945 description by John von Neumann, and by others, in the '' First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC''. T ...

, a limit of throughput between a computer's processor and memory *

Interconnect bottleneck The interconnect bottleneck comprises limits on integrated circuit (IC) performance due to connections between components instead of their internal speed. In 2006 it was predicted to be a "looming crisis" by 2010. Improved performance of compute ...

Geography

* Bottleneck (K2), a mountain feature near the top of K2 mountain *

Choke point In military strategy, a choke point (or chokepoint) is a geographical feature on land such as a valley, defile or bridge, or maritime passage through a critical waterway such as a strait, which an armed force is forced to pass through in order ...

, a feature that reduces passability of terrain * Free State Bottleneck, a quasi-state that existed in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic

Other

* Bottleneck (engineering), where the performance of an entire system is limited by a single component *

Bottleneck (production) In production and project management, a bottleneck is a process in a chain of processes, such that its limited capacity reduces the capacity of the whole chain. The result of having a bottleneck are stalls in production, supply overstock, pressur ...

, where one process reduces capacity of the whole chain of processes * Nocturnal bottleneck hypothesis to explain several mammal traits * Population bottleneck, an evolutionary event that drastically reduces a population *

Traffic bottleneck A traffic bottleneck is a localized disruption of vehicular traffic on a street, road, or highway. As opposed to a traffic jam, a bottleneck is a result of a specific physical condition, often the design of the road, badly timed traffic lights, ...

, a local disruption in a transportation network

Computing

Geography

Other

See also