network meltdown (networking) (By analogy with catastrophic failure of a nuclear reactor) An event that causes saturation, or near saturation, of a network. Network meltdown usually results from illegal or misrouted packets (see Chernobyl packet) and typically lasts only a short time. It may also be caused by a hardware fault. It is the network equivalent of thrashing.
[Jargon File] Last updated: 2004-02-17
