Latensie

Latensie, often referred to as latency, is a term used in computing and networking to describe a delay between an action and its response. It measures the time it takes for data to travel from its source to its destination and for any acknowledgment or reply to return. High latency can significantly impact user experience, particularly in applications that require real-time interaction.

In networking, latency is often measured in milliseconds (ms) and is influenced by several factors. These include the physical distance the data must travel, the number of network hops or routers it passes through, the transmission medium (e.g., fiber optic cables vs. copper wires), and the congestion on the network. Network latency is a critical component of quality of service (QoS), affecting the performance of online gaming, video conferencing, and remote access applications.

Beyond networking, latency can also refer to delays within a single system. For instance, in computer hardware, memory latency is the time it takes for a processor to access data from memory. In software, processing latency refers to the delay between when an application receives input and when it produces an output. Minimizing latency is a key objective in the design of high-performance systems and responsive applications. Understanding and managing latency is crucial for optimizing the speed and efficiency of various technological processes.