Buffering is a problem that plagues the Internet. It's not just annoying, it can be downright frustrating and even dangerous to your computer if left unchecked. So what causes this issue? What are some of its symptoms? How does one fix it? Read on for all these answers and more!
What Is Buffering And Why Does It Happen?
The first thing you need to know about buffering is that there isn't any such thing as "buffering" in itself. There are two types of buffers: temporary buffers and permanent buffers. Temporary buffers are used when transferring large amounts of information over slow connections like dial-up or satellite links. Permanent buffers are used whenever an application needs to save something locally before sending it somewhere else. The difference between them is important because they have different effects on the overall performance of your system. Let me explain...
Temporary Buffer Effects On Performance
When using temporary buffers, your computer will store data temporarily until it has enough space available to write it out to disk. When writing to disk, your hard drive must wait until it finds free blocks of storage so it can start storing new data. If you're downloading from a website with lots of images, videos, etc., then your browser may use temporary buffers to hold those files while waiting for the page to load completely. However, once the file transfer completes, the temporary buffer gets flushed into the real memory area where programs run.
That means that the program doesn't get access to the temporary buffer anymore -- instead, it only sees the contents of the actual RAM. As long as the temporary buffer contains valid data, everything works fine; but if the buffer becomes empty during the process, the next time the program tries to read from the buffer, it'll return nothing. In other words, the temporary buffer acts as a cache for the main memory. But since the temporary buffer never goes away, it takes up valuable resources that could otherwise go towards running applications. To avoid this situation, make sure that your web browsers don't keep too many temporary buffers open at once. Another way to reduce the number of temporary buffers is to set your browser to automatically clear them every few minutes. You should also try disabling cookies to prevent websites from keeping track of which pages you've already visited.
Permanent Buffer Effects On Performance
When using permanent buffers, your computer stores whatever information was saved by the application directly onto the hard drive without ever flushing it back into the RAM. Since the buffer stays around permanently, it uses up precious RAM space that could be put to better use elsewhere. For example, suppose you were playing a game online and wanted to quit. Your computer would still remember all the things you'd done previously even though you weren't actively using the computer right now. So what happens when you restart your computer? Well, the same thing that happened last time: the old stuff just comes back! Even worse than having unused RAM lying around is having uselessly big chunks of unallocated space sitting idle inside your hard drives. That's why most operating systems include tools called defraggers that help move these pieces of junk around so that more useful areas of the disks become accessible.
It depends on whether you're using temporary or permanent buffers. With temporary buffers, you won't notice much of a problem because the temporary buffers aren't very big anyway. They usually contain less than 1 MB worth of data each. And they are cleared after about 30 seconds of inactivity. The biggest issue here is that there isn't any guarantee that the temporary buffers will always stay intact. Sometimes, an error occurs somewhere along the line and causes one of the temporary buffers to disappear before its time expires. Then, whenever you visit a site again, you have no choice but to download the entire page over again. Temporary buffers are great for saving bandwidth, but not for reliability.
1. Avoid opening too many tabs at the same time. In other words, avoid multi-tasking. This will just derail you and end up slowing your system.
2. Increase your internet bandwidth If possible, buy yourself some extra gigabytes per second of speed. It may seem like a lot, but it adds up quickly.
3. Disable cookies. Cookies can cause problems with temporary buffers. When you close down your browser, it saves the state of your current session. However, sometimes sites store their cookies on your machine. These cookies allow them to recognize you later on. Disabling cookies prevents this kind of tracking.
4. Use a caching proxy server. A caching proxy server sits between your computer and the Internet. Whenever you request something from the Internet, the proxy checks first to see if it has cached the file locally. If it hasn't, then it sends out a request to the source. Once the response arrives, the proxy caches it and returns it immediately to you. Caching proxies work well for static files such as images and videos. But they don't work nearly as well for dynamic content such as web pages. Because websites change frequently, new versions keep coming out every few minutes. As soon as you load a website, the contents might already be outdated. You'll need to wait until the cache gets updated before you get anything meaningful.
5. Clear your history regularly. Every once in a while, go through your list of recently visited websites and delete everything except those which you've used. Doing this helps prevent unnecessary traffic from being sent across the network.
6. Turn off auto-play video ads. Some websites offer free streaming movies and music. Unfortunately, they often come packaged with annoying advertisements. To turn off automatic playback, click on the "Ads" button next to the media player window. Clicking on the link should bring up a pop-up
7. Don't use flash. Flash is notorious for causing buffer overflows. That's why most browsers disable it by default. So unless you absolutely must watch a movie online, try disabling it instead.
8. Download only what you want. Most people tend to open multiple windows when browsing the net. Instead, focus on downloading only the parts of a webpage that you intend to view. For example, if you're looking for information about a particular product, look for the part where all the details appear. Scroll down to find the price range, features, etc. Only download these sections. Otherwise, you risk wasting valuable bandwidth.
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