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Protocol overhead refers to characteristics of computer communications schemes. An application which transfers data across a network can not expect to use the full bandwidth of the communications medium, since some data is necessary for routing of the message, describing the information content of the message, and other protocol needs. This extra data is referred to as overhead, since it does not contribute to the information in the content of the message.
Thus, protocol overhead, expressed as a percentage, is the number of non-application bytes (protocol and media framing) divided by the total number of bytes in the message.
References
- Common Performance Issues in Network Applications Part 1: Interactive Applications, Windows XP Technical Articles, Microsoft
- Protocol Overhead in IP/ATM Networks, Minnesota Supercomputer Center
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