What is latency bandwidth and throughput?

Bandwidth, Speed, Latency and Throughput – let’s take a closer look at these topics.

In this post, we would like to talk on the subject of network Bandwidth, and related scenarios, like speed, latency and throughput, in everyday life. No-one pays too much attention to network bandwidth till they are starting to see dropped packets or suddenly applications are running slow, underperforming.
We want to explain all the crucial information regarding those four topics: Bandwidth, Speed, Latency and Throughput. Once you have a clear understanding of the matter, then applying small tweaks can make considerable changes to your network and user experience.
However, please remember any changes on the live network could cause an outage if not planned and implemented correctly, be careful before you jump into the command line and start making changes.

What is network Bandwidth?

Data Network bandwidth is the capacity of a wired or wireless network telecommunications link to transmit the maximum quantity of data from one point to another over a computer network or the Internet connection in a given amount of time – usually, one second (megabits per second – Mbps). The same with capacity, bandwidth describes the data transfer rate. Bandwidth is not a measure of network speed – a common misunderstanding.

How does bandwidth work? The more bandwidth a data connection has, the more data it can transmit and receive at one time. Network bandwidth can be compared to the amount of water that can flow through a water pipe. The bigger the pipeline, the more water can flow through it at one time.

Bandwidth vs Speed

Bandwidth is how much information you receive every second, while speed is how fast that information is received or downloaded. Let’s compare it to filling a bathtub. If the bathtub faucet has a wide opening, more water can flow at a faster rate than if the pipe was thinner.
Think of the water as the bandwidth and the rate at which the water flows as the speed.

Bandwidth vs Latency

Latency = delay or ping rate. It’s the lag you experience while waiting for something to load. If bandwidth is the amount of information sent per second, latency is the amount of time it takes that information to get from its source to you – destination
Latency is noticeable over greater distances; we can’t defeat laws of physics. This explains why Cloud data centers are spread out all over the world, and data is being replicated between them. Users will access services closest in their geo-location.

Bandwidth vs Throughput

Throughput is how much information actually gets delivered in a certain amount of time. So if bandwidth is the max amount of data, throughput is how much of that data makes it to its destination – taking latency, network speed, packet loss and other factors into account.

How much bandwidth office of 100 users needs?

Bandwidth calculation will depend on the organisation and what users do within the company. For instance, an accounting company would generally require less bandwidth to the Internet, compering to media, marketing, an advertising agency.

An accounting firm would require about 150Mbps bandwidth to the Internet, while Media / Advertising Agency at least double that amount for 100 users.
We believe that connectivity within network infrastructure at 1Gbps Full-Duplex will be sufficient for an accounting firm; however, 10Gbps Full-Duplex network needs to be deployed for the Media / Marketing Agency. User experience is vital, as they will be accessing, uploading, downloading videos, ample bandwidth will provide an awesome user experience.

Full Duplex vs Half Duplex

In the world of digital communication, full-duplex means that a system or circuit is capable of both transmitting and receiving data at the same time. In contrast, half-duplex means that communication can only go in one direction at a time.
A good analogy is comparing telephones to walkie-talkies; phones are full-duplex, and walkie-talkies are half-duplex.

Switching Capacity

The switching capacity (backplane bandwidth) of a switch refers to the maximum amount of data that can be transmitted between a switch interface processor or interface card and a data bus. The switching capacity indicates the total data exchange capability of the switch, in bps.
An aggregate input and output bandwidth of all ports. So a 48 port gigabit switch would have 48Gbp/s in and 48Gbp/s out, that leaves us with only 96Gbps, and apparently, 80GBps would likely be the stacking port rate.

Packet forwarding

That’s a measure of how many packets per second the switch can process for certain sized packets.  When packet’s size isn’t described, today it’s usually denoted for minimum size Ethernet packets, i.e. every 64 bytes. Minimum size Ethernet, to run at gig rate, is 1.488 Mpps.  Unlike fabric, you don’t need to account for duplex as one port’s in is another port’s out. So for 24 gig ports, and the optional dual 10g ports, we need (24 + 20) * 1.488 = 65.472 Mpps to support full rate.

How can you improve overall performance in your network?

Providing that the design of the entire data network infrastructure is correct, and there are no bottle-necks in the environment than deploying some simple fixes should greatly enhance the performance. It is amazing how many time people ignore the obvious signs and misconfiguration of the hardware: switches and routers.

1. Have a good understanding of the entire data network infrastructure
   Without having an understanding of what’s actually happening on your network, you are likely to fail at any attempt to address performance issues. It is good practice to review it; sometimes, even a basic audit will show areas that need improvements. We are taking on account that network is segregated, like; Data network, Users, Backup, ILO are on separate Vlans; this applies even to small/medium businesses. Backup can congest the network, sometimes overruns the nightshift, and users will notice poor performance straight in the morning.
2. Quality of Service (QoS)
   One way of improving perceived performance is to ensure that the most important applications get priority; voice and video. We hear you, so many people are saying that this is overcomplicated in small business and they don’t have resources. Please read the other steps, and you should be fine.
3. Checks the logs – errors, collisions and dropped packets
   May sound obvious, and sometimes any issues are staring at your face. By analysing the logs from the routers and switches, you can determine what ports are causing the problem. In many cases, the port has been misconfigured or hardware issue. Just moving a connection to a different port will solve the issue.
4. Out of band (OOB) Management
   Good OOB management is a must. It puts you in control, and you can fix all problems remotely without worry that you may lock yourself out. Any ongoing issues can be resolve in a matter of 30 min, instead of waiting for a technician next visit, which could be weeks. How can you manage your infrastructure in Covid-19 outbreak?
5. Quality cabling, harnessing
   Start with the speed of your organisation network. If you have 1Gbps or higher the old ethernet cable will hold you back. Anything above Cat 5 will be fine. When possible use fibre cables for all the uplinks and to high-performance servers. Also, well-structured harnessing and cabling structure will eliminate cross-talk or jitter.
6. Network topology
   It plays a vital role, looking from the top: Core, Distribution and Access Layer. Connections need to be cascaded through high-availability, high bandwidth uplinks, which allows for scalability and traffic flow, without any bottle-necks.
7. Best Networks are Simple Networks
   We have seen this number of times. Server to Server traffic is going via 7x hops, where in fact only 3x hops are needed. Don’t overcomplicate your network; it will slow it down dramatically
8. Educate your users
   This can be simple advice that makes up part of your company’s IT induction process and informs staff how not only to practice good network security but also understand how to use applications correctly and not affect the network’s performance.
9. Use Full-Duplex where possible.
   As per explanation above, use Full-Duplex setting whenever possible. Half-Duplex gives you 50% of the speed.
10. Upgrade to new technologies
    Route traffic wisely, if you are using Cloud applications, traffic can be access directly by using SDWAN technologies, instead of going via HQ.
11. Filter, block, drop unwanted traffic.
    You must understand what’s taking up your valuable bandwidth as this can often be caused by junk traffic. Say, for example, your employees are running online games through their lunch period, depending on the software involved this could be consuming large amounts of your capacity.

Please take a look at our Case Studies and other Posts to find out more:

What makes an outstanding Data Network Design?

10 Top Network Design Best Practices for your Infrastructure

Smooth SD-WAN migration; this is where everyone is moving!

Migration from Cisco Catalyst Switches to Cisco Nexus Network

How to troubleshoot Enterprise Data Network issues?

What is latency and throughput?

What is throughput and bandwidth?

What is the difference between the term bandwidth and throughput?

What is throughput of data?