Performance Analysis
Which correctly describes throughput and latency as server performance measures?
- AThroughput and latency are the same thing
- BThroughput is the number of requests processed per unit time; latency is the time from receiving one request to responding
- CHigher latency means better performance
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Throughput is the number of requests processed per unit time; latency is the time from receiving one request to responding
Throughput measures how much work can be done; latency measures how quickly a single piece of work completes. Batching many requests raises throughput but can lengthen latency by the time spent waiting to batch. Overnight batch processing values throughput, while web responses that users wait for at the screen value latency.
- A. They are different quantities.
- B. Correct. Which matters more depends on the goal.
- C. Lower latency is better.