best effort


best effort

(networking)A classification of low priority network traffic,used especially the Internet.

Different kinds of traffic have different priorities.Videoconferencing and other types of real-timecommunication, for example, require a certain minimumguaranteed bandwidth and latency and so must be given ahigh priority. Electronic mail, on the other hand, cantolerate an arbitrarily long delay and is classified as a"best-effort" service.

[Scientific American, Nov. 1994, pp. 83-84].