Meaning & use
parallel pathing
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Meanings
noununcountabletechnicalcomputing
The practice of sending data along two or more separate routes at the same time.
Grammar: Uncountable; used to talk about the method, not individual instances.
Patterns
- parallel pathing between something
- use parallel pathing
The network uses parallel pathing to keep traffic moving if one link fails.
Parallel pathing can improve speed but makes troubleshooting harder.
Engineers configured parallel pathing across the two data centers.
noununcountabletechnicalcomputing
The state of having two or more paths that carry the same data or traffic.
Grammar: Uncountable; refers to the arrangement itself.
Patterns
- create parallel pathing
- avoid parallel pathing
Parallel pathing in the backup system means data can travel two ways.
They avoided parallel pathing to prevent loops in the network.
Common combinations
- parallel pathing between
- Parallel pathing between the two routers keeps the connection stable.
- configure parallel pathing
- The technician configured parallel pathing for the main servers.
- enable parallel pathing
- You can enable parallel pathing in the settings menu.
- parallel pathing across
- Parallel pathing across multiple links increases reliability.
Synonyms and how they differ
- multipathing
- A related technical term often used in storage and networking; it focuses on having multiple physical paths to the same device.
- load balancing
- Similar in that it spreads traffic, but load balancing is about distributing work, not necessarily using separate paths.
Opposites
Word family
- parallel path noun
- One of the separate routes used in parallel pathing.
Commonly confused: parallel pathing or parallel parking?
parallel pathing vs parallel parking
A driving skill, not a computing term; do not confuse the two.
Practice
In networking, what does parallel pathing allow?
Choose one answer.
Parallel pathing is about using multiple paths simultaneously. The other options describe different networking functions: storage, encryption, and deletion.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “parallel pathing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.