{"id":6588,"date":"2026-10-11T20:00:32","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T03:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xlc.com\/glossary\/latency\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T20:00:32","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T03:00:32","slug":"latency","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/xlc.com\/jp\/glossary\/latency\/","title":{"rendered":"Latency"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <!-- CMS rich text: paste standard H2-H5, P, UL, OL, blockquote, image, and table HTML directly. --><\/p>\n<p>In simple terms, latency is network delay. Lower latency generally means faster response times, which is especially important for interactive applications such as online gaming, financial services, APIs, real-time communications, and cloud-connected workloads.<\/p>\n<p>Latency is different from bandwidth. A connection can have high bandwidth and still have high latency if data has to travel a long distance or follow an inefficient network path.<\/p>\n<h2>How Is Network Latency Measured?<\/h2>\n<p>Network latency is commonly measured in milliseconds. One of the most widely used measurements is Round-Trip Time (RTT), which measures how long it takes for a request to travel from the source to the destination and for a response to return.<\/p>\n<p>For example, an RTT of 40 ms means that the measured round trip takes approximately 40 milliseconds.<\/p>\n<p>RTT is not exactly the same thing as one-way latency. It is a practical measurement of the complete round trip and is commonly reported by tools such as ping. Network conditions and asymmetric routes can affect the relationship between one-way delay and RTT.<\/p>\n<p>For production systems, average latency does not always tell the whole story. p95 and p99 latency show the delay experienced within the slowest 5% and 1% of measurements respectively, helping identify occasional spikes that an average can hide.<\/p>\n<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Latency measures network delay between endpoints.<\/li>\n<li>It is usually expressed in milliseconds.<\/li>\n<li>RTT measures the time for a request and response to complete a round trip.<\/li>\n<li>Lower and more consistent latency generally improves responsiveness.<\/li>\n<li>Physical distance, routing, congestion, and network infrastructure can all affect latency.<\/li>\n<li>High bandwidth does not automatically mean low latency.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What Causes Network Latency?<\/h2>\n<p>Network latency is affected by multiple parts of the communication path rather than by a single factor.<\/p>\n<h3>Physical Distance<\/h3>\n<p>Greater physical distance generally increases latency because data has to travel farther between the endpoints.<\/p>\n<p>The speed of transmission through fiber and other network media is finite, so physical distance creates a fundamental limit on how quickly data can move between locations.<\/p>\n<p>This is why placing infrastructure closer to target users can be an important consideration for latency-sensitive applications.<\/p>\n<h3>Network Routing<\/h3>\n<p>The route selected between two endpoints can have a major effect on latency.<\/p>\n<p>Traffic may pass through multiple carriers, routers, autonomous systems, and internet exchange points before reaching its destination. A shorter or better-performing route can reduce unnecessary delay compared with a less efficient path.<\/p>\n<p>XLC&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/xlc.com\/jp\/network\/\">network infrastructure<\/a> uses multiple carriers, Tier 1 transit, internet exchange peering, and direct China connectivity to provide alternative routing paths for global and Asia-focused workloads.<\/p>\n<h3>Network Congestion<\/h3>\n<p>When a network link or device becomes heavily utilized, packets can spend more time waiting to be transmitted or processed. This queuing increases latency and can also make latency less consistent.<\/p>\n<p>Congestion can therefore affect not only average latency but also p95 and p99 performance.<\/p>\n<h3>Network Hops<\/h3>\n<p>Traffic often passes through multiple routers and network segments before reaching its destination.<\/p>\n<p>Each hop can introduce processing, queuing, or transmission delay. The number of hops alone does not determine latency, but unnecessary or inefficient intermediate routing can contribute to a longer network path.<\/p>\n<h3>Network and Server Processing<\/h3>\n<p>Routers, firewalls, load balancers, and other network devices can introduce processing delay.<\/p>\n<p>Server-side processing is a separate factor: an application may respond slowly because the server takes time to process a request, even when the underlying network has low latency. This is why network latency and total application response time should not be treated as the same metric.<\/p>\n<h2>Latency vs Bandwidth vs Throughput vs Jitter<\/h2>\n<p>These metrics describe different aspects of network performance.<\/p>\n<table class=\"glossary-term-table\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Metric<\/th>\n<th>What it measures<\/th>\n<th>Typical unit<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Latency<\/td>\n<td>Delay between network endpoints<\/td>\n<td>ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bandwidth<\/td>\n<td>Maximum data transfer capacity<\/td>\n<td>Mbps \/ Gbps<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Throughput<\/td>\n<td>Actual amount of data transferred over time<\/td>\n<td>Mbps \/ Gbps<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Jitter<\/td>\n<td>Variation in packet delay<\/td>\n<td>ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>A network can have high bandwidth and high latency at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>For example, a high-capacity connection between two distant regions may transfer large amounts of data efficiently while still taking longer to establish a response because of physical distance and routing.<\/p>\n<p>Increasing bandwidth can improve throughput when capacity is the bottleneck, but it does not automatically shorten the physical or network path between endpoints.<\/p>\n<p>This distinction is important when choosing <a href=\"https:\/\/xlc.com\/jp\/dedicated-servers\/\">dedicated servers<\/a>. Server location, routing, carrier connectivity, and network architecture can be just as important as the available bandwidth when latency matters.<\/p>\n<h2>Why Does Latency Matter?<\/h2>\n<p>Latency matters most when an application depends on fast interaction between users, servers, databases, or other systems.<\/p>\n<h3>Online Gaming<\/h3>\n<p>Multiplayer games continuously exchange data between players and game servers.<\/p>\n<p>Lower and more consistent latency can reduce the delay between a player&#8217;s action and the server response. High or unstable latency can make gameplay feel less responsive.<\/p>\n<p>Ping is commonly used in gaming to describe a measured round-trip time, although technically it is the diagnostic method rather than a separate network characteristic.<\/p>\n<p>XLC positions its <a href=\"https:\/\/xlc.com\/jp\/use-cases\/gaming\/\">gaming infrastructure<\/a> around low-latency connectivity and direct Asia and China network reach for latency-sensitive multiplayer workloads.<\/p>\n<h3>Financial Services<\/h3>\n<p>Trading platforms, payment systems, and other financial applications can depend on predictable response times.<\/p>\n<p>For these workloads, tail latency can matter alongside average latency because occasional delays can affect time-sensitive operations.<\/p>\n<h3>APIs and Web Applications<\/h3>\n<p>Latency affects how quickly an application receives a response from a remote service.<\/p>\n<p>If an application makes several sequential network requests, the individual delays can accumulate and increase the overall response time.<\/p>\n<h3>Cloud and Hybrid Infrastructure<\/h3>\n<p>Applications that communicate between dedicated infrastructure and public cloud services can introduce additional network paths.<\/p>\n<p>The quality of the connection between those environments can therefore affect application responsiveness, particularly for workloads that exchange data frequently or require low-latency communication.<\/p>\n<p>XLC&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/xlc.com\/jp\/cloud-network\/direct-cloud-connect\/\">Direct Cloud Connect<\/a> provides private connectivity between dedicated infrastructure and cloud platforms, with the aim of reducing latency and improving traffic consistency compared with public-internet paths.<\/p>\n<h3>Real-Time Applications<\/h3>\n<p>Latency is also important for video conferencing, interactive streaming, remote applications, voice communications, and other services where users expect near-real-time responses.<\/p>\n<p>For traditional on-demand video, bandwidth and throughput may be more important than extremely low latency. For interactive applications, latency becomes more significant.<\/p>\n<h2>What Is Low Latency?<\/h2>\n<p>There is no single latency value that qualifies as low latency for every application.<\/p>\n<p>The appropriate target depends on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>application type;<\/li>\n<li>geographic distance;<\/li>\n<li>network architecture;<\/li>\n<li>user expectations;<\/li>\n<li>protocol;<\/li>\n<li>workload characteristics;<\/li>\n<li>required response time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A latency level that is acceptable for a background data transfer may be unsuitable for a multiplayer game or real-time financial application.<\/p>\n<p>The goal should therefore be latency appropriate to the application&#8217;s requirements, rather than an arbitrary universal threshold.<\/p>\n<h2>How Does Data Center Location Affect Latency?<\/h2>\n<p>Server location is one of the most important factors to consider when latency matters.<\/p>\n<p>If most users are concentrated in a particular geographic region, placing infrastructure closer to that region can reduce the distance traffic needs to travel.<\/p>\n<p>Location also affects the available carriers, internet exchanges, submarine cable routes, and connectivity options.<\/p>\n<p>For example, an application serving users across Asia may benefit from infrastructure located within the region rather than routing traffic through a distant server location.<\/p>\n<p>XLC currently lists <a href=\"https:\/\/xlc.com\/jp\/data-center\/\">data centers<\/a> in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Hong Kong, providing infrastructure options across North America and APAC.<\/p>\n<p>However, geographic distance alone does not determine latency. The actual network route, carrier selection, congestion, and intermediate network infrastructure also matter.<\/p>\n<h2>How Can You Reduce Network Latency?<\/h2>\n<p>Latency cannot be eliminated completely because physical distance and network processing create unavoidable delays. However, network architecture can often reduce unnecessary latency.<\/p>\n<h3>Choose an Appropriate Server Location<\/h3>\n<p>Deploying infrastructure closer to the majority of users can reduce the physical distance traffic needs to travel.<\/p>\n<h3>Optimize Network Routing<\/h3>\n<p>Efficient routing and carrier diversity can help avoid unnecessarily long or degraded network paths.<\/p>\n<h3>Use Direct Connectivity<\/h3>\n<p>Private connections between infrastructure and cloud platforms can provide a more controlled path than routing traffic through the public internet.<\/p>\n<h3>Reduce Unnecessary Network Hops<\/h3>\n<p>Network architecture can be designed to avoid unnecessary intermediate systems where application and security requirements allow.<\/p>\n<h3>Use Regional or Multi-Region Infrastructure<\/h3>\n<p>Applications serving users across multiple markets may benefit from deploying infrastructure in more than one geographic region.<\/p>\n<h3>Monitor Tail Latency<\/h3>\n<p>Average latency can hide intermittent problems. Monitoring p95 and p99 latency can reveal spikes that affect a smaller percentage of requests but may still have a noticeable impact on users.<\/p>\n<h2>Does Higher Bandwidth Reduce Latency?<\/h2>\n<p>Not necessarily.<\/p>\n<p>Bandwidth determines how much data a connection can transfer, while latency measures the delay involved in moving data between endpoints.<\/p>\n<p>Increasing bandwidth can improve throughput when a connection is capacity-constrained, but it does not automatically reduce physical distance, change the route, or eliminate network congestion elsewhere in the path.<\/p>\n<p>For example, upgrading a connection from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps does not by itself reduce the latency between Los Angeles and Tokyo.<\/p>\n<p>For latency-sensitive workloads, server location, routing, carrier connectivity, congestion, and network architecture may be more important than simply increasing port capacity.<\/p>\n<h2>How Should You Evaluate Network Latency?<\/h2>\n<p>When comparing infrastructure providers or server locations, a single advertised latency number is not enough.<\/p>\n<p>Consider:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>User location<\/strong> &#8211; measure latency from the actual markets that matter to the application.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Destination<\/strong> &#8211; latency to a nearby network endpoint may differ significantly from latency to end users.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Measurement method<\/strong> &#8211; ping, RTT, TTFB, and application response time measure different aspects of performance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Average and tail latency<\/strong> &#8211; p95 and p99 can reveal instability that averages hide.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Network route<\/strong> &#8211; examine carriers, transit providers, peering, and intermediate hops.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Time of measurement<\/strong> &#8211; network conditions can change with traffic levels and routing events.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Application architecture<\/strong> &#8211; database calls, API requests, and sequential network operations can add to total response time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For production infrastructure, testing latency from the locations that matter to the application is more useful than relying solely on a generic provider claim.<\/p>\n<p>            <!-- End CMS rich text. --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","glossary_category":[245],"class_list":["post-6588","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry","glossary_category-network-connectivity-jp"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Latency | XLC.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/xlc.com\/jp\/glossary\/latency\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ja_JP\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Latency | XLC.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In simple terms, latency is network delay. 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