Slow-start

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Used in the TCP protocol. (see also TCP congestion avoidance algorithm) Slow-start is an algorithm that, combined with a Congestion Avoidance algorithm, avoids congestioning the Internet before realizing through timeouts that it's initial throughput was to high.

Slow-Start algorithm exponentially grows the Congestion Window (cwnd = cwnd * 2) size until a predefined Slow Start Threshold is reached, when it enters in linear Congestion Avoidance growth (cwnd = cwnd + 1). When packets get dropped, it sets the Slow Start Threshold to half of that cwnd used when packets were dropped, and starts all over again with Slow-start.

Although it is called "Slow-start", it's Congestion Window growth is quite aggresive.(Jacobsen, 1988)

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See also: Slow-start, Computer, TCP congestion avoidance algorithm