What is Metcalfe's Law? - Definition from Whatis.com

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Metcalfe's Law

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Metcalfe's Law

Metcalfe's Law is expressed in two general ways:

1) The number of possible cross-connections in a network grow as the square of the number of computers in the network increases.

2) The community value of a network grows as the square of the number of its users increase.

Metcalfe's Law is often cited as an explanation for the rapid growth of the Internet (or perhaps more especially for the World Wide Web on the Internet). Together, with Moore's Law about the rate at which computer power is accelerating, Metcalfe's Law can be used to explain the rising wave of information technology that we are riding into the 21st century.

Related glossary terms: NBMA (non-broadcast multiple access), ring, bus network, client/server, star network, mesh network, master, master/slave, loose coupling, tree network

Contributor(s): Shigeki Shibayama

This was last updated in November 1999

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