Nagle's Algorithm
Nagle's algorithm coalesces small segments into full-size ones, reducing small-packet counts but potentially adding 40 ms of delay (through interaction with delayed ACK).
Purpose
It cuts small-packet overhead for throughput-sensitive, latency-tolerant bulk transfers; real-time applications should disable it.
Mechanism
While unacknowledged data is outstanding, small segments are buffered until they fill an MSS or the previous segment is ACKed. Interacting with delayed ACK can introduce 40 ms of latency, so real-time applications set TCP_NODELAY to disable it.
Use cases
- Bulk data transfer
- Telnet/FTP
- Reducing small packets
Related tools
HTTP Status Codes
Reference table of common HTTP status codes (1xx-5xx) with names, categories, and descriptions. Free, private, and 100% client-side. TOOL
URL Parser
Parse a URL into its components: protocol, host, path, query, hash, port, username, and password. Free, private, and 100% client-side. TOOL