Netsplit

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What Does Netsplit Mean?

Netsplit is a computer networking term that refers to the act of disconnecting a node from its previous connection. This phenomenon is represented specifically in Internet relay chat (IRC).

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Techopedia Explains Netsplit

The easiest way to describe netsplit is by looking at an example of IRC servers and clients. Consider an example in which four servers (A, B, C and D) are connected with each others. Server A has a single user, John; Server B has a user named Sam; Server C has a connected user that is named Smith; Server D has a user named Sohail. At the start, each user is connected to his or her respected server and all these servers are running IRC front-end applications and are connected with the others.

Suddenly, Server A disconnects and John is notified that Sohail, Smith and Sam are disconnected. In reality, this is not exactly the case. In fact, it is John who is disconnected, while the other three users are still connected to their servers.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.