How number of users can affect the perfomance of a network?

Answer 1

A network is very similar to many roadways in many societies on earth today. The roadways are a means for people to travel from one place to another. The more people that are on the roadway, the more congested it is and this impacts the speed with which you can travel to your destination. A computer network (including the internet) handles data a little differently than the multi-lane freeways/roadways, but essentially the quantity of people (users) accessing any given system will directly impact the speed and reactiveness of that system. Your local grocey store may be viewed in the same way. There are 'n' number of cashier/checkout bays in the store and under almost all conditions that is enough to handle the 'traffic' that flows in and out of that environment on a daily basis. There are peak times and lull times in each day. But, when threat of an impending storm is looming, that store may see a surge in activity that is well above the normal peaks and lulls it experiences throughout each day. The number of cashier/checkout bays becomes inadequate, but also the amount of products that are on the shelves is also inadequate. While a network or the Internet never 'runs out of product' on the shelves, it can see a surge in activity during certain catastrophic events (major earth quake, major fire, rioting, or terror attacks, etc) that results in a much higher level of traffic compared to other typical days. This will naturally cause the overall system to seem slow, sluggish, and in some cases completely inoperable. Though these are not perfect parallels (comparing a network to your local traffic or grocery store), the general theme is the same; any given system will experience a slower response time when the number of users, people, or just requests (a 411 Operator, for example) increases. If the system is over-designed and architected to handle even the highest level of traffic, then there will be almost no change in the response time.