# Latency, Bandwidth and Throughput

### **Definition of terms**

Definition from the article [Understanding Latency versus Throughput](https://aaronice.gitbook.io/system-design/distributed-systems/latency-bandwidth-and-throughput):

#### **Latency**

**Latency** is the time required to perform some action or to produce some result.

Latency is measured in units of time -- hours, minutes, seconds, nanoseconds or clock periods.

#### Throughput

**Throughput** is the number of such actions executed or results produced per unit of time.

This is measured in units of whatever is being produced (cars, motorcycles, I/O samples, memory words, iterations) per unit of time. The term "memory bandwidth" is sometimes used to specify the throughput of memory systems.

#### Bandwidth

**Bandwidth** is the maximum amount of data that can travel through a 'channel'.

**Throughput** is how much data actually does travel through the 'channel' successfully.

### Analogy

[What is the difference between latency, bandwidth and throughput?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/36949735/what-is-the-difference-between-latency-bandwidth-and-throughput)

* **Latency** is the amount of time it takes to travel through the tube.
* **Bandwidth** is how wide the tube is.
* The amount of water flow will be your **throughput**

## Reference

[Understanding Latency versus Throughput](https://community.cadence.com/cadence_blogs_8/b/sd/posts/understanding-latency-vs-throughput)

[Throughput and bandwidth difference?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24246446/throughput-and-bandwidth-difference)

[What is the difference between latency, bandwidth and throughput?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/36949735/what-is-the-difference-between-latency-bandwidth-and-throughput)


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://aaronice.gitbook.io/system-design/distributed-systems/latency-bandwidth-and-throughput.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.