Difference Between Latency and Throughput

1. Are latency and throughput interconnected with each other?

Both Latency and Throughput are distinct network performance evaluation metrics, But they are related in a way that they influence each other to some extent in a network. For example, in a network to sustain high traffic the throughput metric of the network is increased which results in higher latency or waiting time for users for the response.

2. Latency or Throughput which metric is more important?

Latency or Throughput, now both are fundamental network performance evaluation metrics. The importance of either of the 2 metrics depends on the particular use case of the system or network. Consider an example, In the case of a real-time meet application, online gaming, or any interactive system latency plays an important role in ensuring a highly responsive user experience, While throughput is considered crucial in case of systems where we deal with a large amount of data transfers or large-scale data processing for example a CDN (content delivery network).

3. Can Latency and Throughput be improved simultaneously?

So, is it possible to improve the latency and throughput simultaneously of a computer network, the answer is yes it is possible, but to achieve this we may require different optimizations.  For example, reducing network congestion can improve both latency and throughput. While if we increase the bandwidth it will only affect the throughput.

4. Are latency and Throughput only applicable to a computer network?

Latency and Throughput are not only applicable to computer networks but also to various systems like storage systems, processors, memories, and other components that include some kind of data transfer. Latency and Throughput are considered to be the most fundamental metrics to evaluate the performance of different systems.

5. Is it possible to measure Latency and Throughput simultaneously?

Yes, it is completely possible to measure both Latency and Throughput simultaneously of a network or some system by using proper tools and methods. The most common way is to use Network monitoring tools that provide detailed insights into the metrics including both Latency and Throughput.

Difference Between Latency and Throughput: In a computer network computers are connected using different types of devices like routers switches, etc that form the network. One of the most fundamental concepts in computer networking is to test the connectivity between two computers, here is where different measures to evaluate the performance of the network come into play.

Latency is the measure of the delay users encounter when sending or receiving data over a network. Throughput, on the other hand, determines the network’s capacity to accommodate multiple users simultaneously, indicating how many users can access the network concurrently.

Latency and Throughput are two of the most important network performance evaluation measures. In this article, we have provided everything about what is latency, what is throughput, the difference between latency and throughput, and the similarities between latency and throughput.