Blog/Article
What does latency mean and how to optimize it
Latency is intrinsic to the digital economy, and low latency is synonymous with a great user experience. The opposite is also true, of course. So, what does latency mean, exactly?
In today's hyperconnected world, the performance of digital applications is critical to user satisfaction and business success. We all want to achieve that, right?
Whether someone is streaming a video, conducting a financial transaction, or playing an online game, latency plays a pivotal role in the experience.
Summary
By the end of this article, you will better understand response times and how they affect your business so you can optimize it properly.
What is Latency?
Latency is the noun for the time–usually measured in milliseconds (ms)–that it takes between the moment an online user makes a request and receives the corresponding response to that request.
Imagine you ordered something. This is a request, right? And the corresponding response to your request would be for it to get to your house. The amount of time it takes for your order to get to you is what we call latency on a network.
Many factors can influence the speed at which data travels through a network, potentially making it much slower, which is referred to as high latency, and different factors will impact that.
For example, propagation delay is the time it takes for a signal to travel from the sender to the receiver over a medium, such as fiber optic cables or Wi-Fi.
This delay depends on the physical distance between the two points. The greater the distance between the sender and the receiver, the longer it will take for the signal to travel, and more bandwidth is required for a satisfactory response time.
Similarly, transmission delay refers to the time it takes to transmit small packets of information onto the network.
When large amounts of data need to be sent, they are broken down into smaller packets, which are then sent individually across the network and reassembled at the destination. Almost like teleportation.
Processing delay also contributes to the overall experience. This is the time taken by network devices, such as routers, to process the packet's header and make routing decisions.
As you can imagine, the complexity of these processes and the performance of the network devices can significantly impact processing delay.
How to Improve Latency
Now you know that latency refers to the various delays that occur during data transmission across a network.
Several factors, including internet speed, the quality of internet connectivity, and the efficiency of the network connection influence these delays.
When we say "latency is the time" between a user action and the system's response, we're highlighting how critical it is to manage this delay effectively. High latency can lead to noticeable lag and a degraded user experience, making its minimization a priority for network engineers and developers alike.
To ensure optimal performance, it's crucial to understand how it impacts your business and take steps toward reducing it in your systems.
There are particularly problematic scenarios when it comes to slow response time: if real-time interaction is important, as in online gaming or in documenting transactions into a blockchain, it can be a deal breaker.
The amount of data being transmitted from one place to another is among the main factors that lead to an increase in latency, and the efficiency of the network connection plays a vital role. Unstable or congested networks can cause a significant impact in increasing the delay.
To achieve a lower latency, it's important to focus on optimizing both the physical and logical aspects of the network. Improving internet speed is one method, but reducing congestion and ensuring high-quality internet connectivity are equally important.
Additionally, selecting the right server infrastructure, such as Latitude.sh's bare metal servers, can significantly reduce delays by privately accessing the hardware.
You might ask: "What is bare metal?" Well, you can find the complete answer over here, but for now, just have in mind that bare metal refers to a physical server dedicated exclusively to a single tenant.
Dedicated server hosting can help minimize delays by ensuring that resources are not shared with other users, so the whole capacity of the server's network interface cards is fully dedicated to the workloads you are running on it.
Top-tier bare metal providers like Latitude.sh own the network topology connected to its servers and provide direct access to it on each data center through redundant internet service providers, major internet exchange points, and on-demand peering with other clouds. With carrier-graded networking hardware, multiple routing options, and servers equipped with high-bandwidth interface cards, even the most demanding real-time workloads can be handled with ease. Ultimately, reducing latency is all about fine-tuning the entire data transmission process to ensure that response times are as fast as possible, and relying upon a well-equipped provider is key to achieving it.
What Is a Good Latency Speed?
After reading all this, you might still wonder if there's an ideal metric to aim for. And while there is absolutely no specific number, there are ways to make sure latency is not an issue for your business.
In general, lower latency is always better, as it means faster response times and a more seamless user experience.
For example, in online gaming or video conferencing, where real-time interaction is crucial, latency below 50 milliseconds is often considered good.
However, for less time-sensitive applications like web browsing or email usage, higher latency may be acceptable without noticeably impacting the user experience.
While there isn't a specific number that defines good latency across the board, there are several strategies to ensure you're on the right track, like monitoring Ping and Traceroute.
Ping measures the time it takes for a small packet of data to travel from your computer to a destination server and back.
For instance, you can open a Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (macOS/Linux) and run the command ping google.com.
This will give you a real-time view of your connection’s latency, showing how many milliseconds it takes for the data to make the round trip. This can help identify issues both on the internet and within your local network.
When interpreting the ping results, focus on the time field (e.g., time=18ms), which shows the latency in milliseconds. Lower values mean faster connections.
Latency under 30 ms is usually considered excellent, while anything over 100 ms can start causing noticeable delays in real-time applications.
Traceroute goes a step further by showing the entire path that data takes through the network, including all the routers and servers along the way.
You can run the command tracert google.com (Windows) or traceroute google.com (macOS/Linux) to view each “hop” the data makes and measure the latency at each point.
This tool is particularly useful for diagnosing where delays are occurring in the network. By doing so, you can identify patterns and spot any anomalies that might indicate issues with internet connectivity or your network connection.
In traceroute, each hop represents a network device between you and the destination. The numbers (e.g., 12 ms, 30 ms) show the time it takes for data to reach each hop.
If one hop has a significantly higher latency than the previous one, it could indicate a problem at that point in the network.
Regular monitoring provides insights into how latency behaves over time, allowing you to take proactive steps to keep it within acceptable limits.
Optimizing your network, as previously mentioned, is another crucial step.
Ensuring that your internet speed is sufficient for your needs and that your network is capable of handling the amount of data being transmitted can make a significant difference.
This might involve reducing bottlenecks, upgrading hardware, and improving routing protocols to minimize delays. A well-optimized network is key to maintaining low latency and ensuring smooth data transmission.
Testing your systems under real-world conditions is also important. It's kind of like what game developers do on server stress tests.
Simulating actual usage helps you understand how latency might fluctuate under different loads and how it affects load times and response times for your specific applications.
This kind of testing offers a realistic picture of your system's performance and highlights areas that may need improvement.
Ultimately, good latency is about meeting the expectations of your users, which means regularly gathering feedback and observing how latency impacts user satisfaction.
By continuously adjusting your systems to keep latency low, you can ensure that your users enjoy a consistent and high-quality experience, even if there's no universally defined "good" latency speed.
Low Latency Across Major Markets
Let's say your company has clients all over the world and you want to make sure all of them have the same level of experience. You will need a way to ensure a good response time for all of them.
That means, in practice, you would need your applications running as close to your clients as possible and, preferably, on dedicated servers. Well, this is where Latitude.sh comes in.
Latitude.sh has servers available across 16 global cities: Buenos Aires (Argentina), Sydney (Australia), São Paulo (Brazil), Santiago (Chile), Bogotá (Colombia), Frankfurt (Germany), Tokyo (Japan), Mexico City (Mexico), Singapore, London (UK), Ashburn (US), Chicago (US), Dallas (US), Los Angeles (US), Miami (US), and New York (US). By deploying your production servers close to major markets, you are ensuring that users and potential customers are enjoying a seamless experience when using your services.
And as if this wasn't enough, you can even deploy a bare metal server in less than five seconds. Just create a free account today to get started.