Overrun

What Does Overrun Mean?

In computing systems, an overrun happens when there is too much demand placed on a system, where it is not able to handle all of the processes and threads that are happening. IT pros might talk about a “CPU overrun” when the CPU is not able to handle demand, or an “interface overrun” when the OP crashes because of insufficient process handling capability.

Techopedia Explains Overrun

One example of overrun is when a process has been started, and a
computing system cannot complete a prior task before handling a new one, it
might flag an overrun indicator. Various types of overrun errors alert users
that something is wrong. Another example is in a network overrun error where
techs can go in and look at workload to determine what the bottleneck is and
why an error occurred.

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Margaret Rouse

Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.

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