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latency Last modified: Monday, October 09, 2006
(1) In general, the period of time that one component in a system is spinning its wheels waiting for another component. Latency, therefore, is wasted time. For example, in accessing data on a disk, latency is defined as the time it takes to position the proper sector under the read/write head. (2) In networking, the amount of time it takes a packet to travel from source to destination. Together, latency and bandwidth define the speed and capacity of a network. (3) In VoIP terminology, latency refers to a delay in packet delivery. VoIP latency is a service issue that is usually based on physical distance, hops, or voice to data conversion.
Enterprise VoIP Planet The IT Manager's Guide to Voice over IP Hardware Central Detailed test reports on the latest desktop and laptop computers. Plus news on trend-setting products just coming into the pipeline. It's the Latency, Stupid If you want to transfer a large file over your modem it might take several seconds, or even minutes. The less data you send, the less time it takes, but there's a limit. No matter how small the amount of data, for any particular network device there's always a minimum time that you can never beat. That's called the latency of the device. PracticallyNetworked.com PracticallyNetworked.com provides easy-to-understand help for small-network builders. The site contains how-to information for setting up and debugging home-office and small-business networks. Users can also find extensive troubleshooting information, tips on getting applications to work through firewalls, product reviews on network hardware and software, and more. PracticallyNetworked.com Discussion Forums If network connections, sharing computers, router problems or other networking issues are bogging you down, then the PracticallyNetworked.com discussion forum is the place to be. Here you'll find help and support for all your network-related problems.	Related Categories Hardware Internet Telephony Networks Performance Related Terms bandwidth hop network packet QoS VoIP wait state