August 28th, 2021 | Updated on March 8th, 2022
In computing, “latency” describes some type of delay. It typically refers to delays in transmitting or processing data, which can be caused by a wide variety of reasons. Two examples of latency are network latency and disk latency.
Network latency describes a delay that takes place during communication over a network (including the Internet).
Disk latency is the delay between the time data is requested from a storage device and when the data starts being returned. Many of other types of latency exist, such as RAM latency (a.k.a. “CAS latency”), CPU latency, audio latency, and video latency.