Data latency is the time it takes for data packets to be stored or retrieved. In business intelligence (BI), data latency is how long it takes for a business user to retrieve source data from a data warehouse or BI dashboard.
In computer networking and internet communications, data latency is the time it takes data to travel from a source to a destination.
As a rule of thumb, the lower the network latency, the higher the speed and performance of a network. For an organization to be agile and quickly respond to changing market conditions, it needs to reduce latency and provide business users with data access to real-time and near-real-time operational data.
The following are a few benefits and use cases of low data latency:
Latency is a key performance metric that is typically measured in seconds or milliseconds in round trip time (RTT), which is the total time data takes to arrive at its destination from its source. Another method of measuring latency is time to first byte (TTFB), which records the time it takes from the instant a data packet leaves a point on the network and arrives at its destination. RTT is more popular than TTFB, as it can run from a single point on the network and doesn't require the installation of data collection software at the destination like TTFB does.
Following are some common ways of measuring data latency:
Observing the latest data. By determining how recently the data was stored inside a database or a data warehouse, companies can evaluate any signs of data latency. Alternatively, companies can observe the data stream of a microservice to see how quickly it's being processed. Organizations can use website analytics tools such as Google Analytics to monitor website speed and performance. Also, network monitoring tools, including SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor and Paessler Router Traffic Grapher, can provide a great visual analysis and latency features, such as generation of alerts when network latency reaches above a certain threshold.
Using the Packet Internet Groper utility. Ping is a handy network administration tool used for measuring latency across Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the internet. Ping can be used on both Windows and Mac computers. To observe latency across a website from a Windows machine, open a console or a windows terminal and type ping domain name -- domain name can be the URL or the IP address of the destination website -- and hit enter. The ping command will first try to verify if the domain name can be resolved and reported back to its corresponding IP address. Then it will report the minimum, maximum and average round trip latency in milliseconds.
Using traceroute. Another great way to test latency across a network is by doing a traceroute test. Traceroute gives full information about the entire path that data takes to reach its destination. It delivers three packets to each hop -- the time it takes for data to travel from one router to another in the network -- and displays each elapsed time which helps determine the levels of latency at that time. For example, the traceroute from a source computer in Boston to a destination server in San Jose, California will show the entire path complete with each hop and the time it takes to go and come back. To run traceroute on any website or IP address on a Windows machine, open a console or a terminal window and type traceroute IP address or traceroute hostname and press enter. An asterisk in the reply simply means a response wasn't received, which is indicative of packet loss.
Bandwidth and latency define the speed and performance of a network. They work in conjunction with each other but play separate roles, as bandwidth measures the size or maximum capacity of data that can be transported and latency measures the time it takes the data to arrive at its destination. To understand this better, think of a bus -- bandwidth -- that transports 50 passengers versus a car -- latency -- that transports four passengers to the same destination. The car is faster and reaches the destination before the bus, but the bus transports more passengers. Thus, depending on the requirement, bandwidth and latency can be equally important.
In a nutshell, bandwidth is a measure of the amount of data -- measured in bits per second -- that can move between two nodes over a given time. Alternatively, latency is the measure of speed or the delay that occurs during the transport of that data from one node to another.
High data latency can have a direct effect on the performance of a network. Explore three important steps to reduce network latency.
24 Jun 2022