What is a latency and bandwidth in computer architecture?
Answers
Latency is the amount of time it takes for data to travel from one point to another. It is dependent on the physical distance that data must travel through cords, networks and the like to reach its destination. Bandwidth is the rate of data transfer for a fixed period of time.
Bandwidth refers to how wide the data pipe is, not how fast the data is transferred. The transfer rate is measured in latency. And latency means “delay.” So speed and bandwidth work together.
What is bandwidth? Bandwidth is how wide the data pipe is.
Bandwidth
The wider the pipe is, the less delay you’ll experience when loading webpages and transferring files. This is one reason you don’t want people using your WiFi without your knowledge. People who hack your WiFi just for free Internet also consume your bandwidth. In some cases, this can become very costly. With Tomato firmware, it’s easy to monitor your bandwidth. And if necessary, use a MAC address filter to slow down those unwanted freeloaders.
What is Latency?
Latency (pronounced: la·ten·cy) is the amount of time it takes a data packet to travel from point A to point B. Together, bandwidth and latency define the speed and capacity of a network. Latency is usually expressed in milliseconds and can be measured using a ping command from your computer.
When you run a ping command, a small packet of data (usually 32 bytes), is sent to another machine whereby the round-trip-time is measured in milliseconds. The ping command measures how long it takes for the data packet to leave the source computer, travel to the destination computer, and return back to the source computer.
Bandwidth is expressed in bits per second. It refers to the amount of data that can be transferred during one second. Obviously, the wider the pipe, the more bits can be transferred per second. And if your bandwidth is congested, your latency (delay) is increased.
Think of it like a crowded highway. The more vehicles there are on the highway, the more congested the traffic will be. As a result, everyone is forced to drive slower. Thankfully, Tomato firmware has a nifty feature that will give you more control over bandwidth.