Key takeaways
- Latency is travel time; response time is latency plus server processing.
- Confusing the two leads to optimising code when the problem is distance.
- Measure from where users are, since latency is a property of the route.
Let’s say that you want to access a web service or a web page. The response time that you can see with different tools is a sum of the server processing time of the request and the delay involved for your request to reach to server and back.
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This is getting more important when remote data centers are hosting the web page or web service.
Latency + Processing Time = Response Time
You can have a look at the latency vs. response time chart as you need to understand these different aspects of the system, and it is important for all the parties involved to know the difference between the two when they are doing a performance analysis.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between latency and response time?
Latency is travel time to the server and back. Response time is that plus the server’s processing, so response time always includes latency.
Why does the distinction matter?
Because confusing them leads to optimising code when the problem is distance. Nothing you do to the application will remove the time a packet spends crossing an ocean.
How should I measure it?
From where your users are. Latency is a property of the route, so a figure measured next to the data centre tells you very little about anyone else.
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