While learning about networking, or if you happen to hear the terms bandwidth and throughput, it's likely that a question arises in your mind: "What's the difference between the two?"
Although both terms are similar, they are not the same.
Let's look into it.
The terms bandwidth and throughput are important in the context of networking, as they play a crucial role in managing congestion and optimizing data flow.
Bandwidth Definition
Bandwidth refers to the maximum amount of data that can be transferred over a network connection in a given amount of time, usually measured in bits per second (bps).
Bandwidth is often mistakenly thought of as speed, but it's the capacity, not the actual rate of data transfer. However, higher bandwidth can result in higher data transfer speeds if other factors like network congestion or latency are not limiting the performance.
Throughput Definition
Throughput refers to the actual amount of data that is successfully transferred from one point to another in a given amount of time.
Difference between Bandwidth and Throughput
So what's the difference?
Let's understand it with two examples.
Example
When you travel by road, you might notice that the speed of the car can reach its maximum when the road is empty, like early in the morning when there's no traffic. However, on normal days, the actual speed varies depending on how congested the road is.
This maximum speed can be compared to bandwidth, while the actual speed can be compared to throughput.
Practical Example
Imagine Guy A has an upload speed of 50 Mbps, and he's sending data to Guy B, who has a download speed of 100 Mbps. Even though Guy B can download at a much faster rate, the actual data transfer will be limited by Guy A's slower upload speed. In this case, Guy B will receive the data at 50 Mbps, because that’s the maximum speed at which Guy A can send it.
Here:
Guy A's upload bandwidth is 50 Mbps, and Guy B's download bandwidth is 100 Mbps.
Throughput is the actual speed of data transfer, which in this case is 50 Mbps, limited by Guy A’s upload speed.
Why these two terms ?
Bandwidth is the capacity for the rate of data transfer, and we know that not everything works at its maximum capacity.
Data transfer can be affected by latency, packet loss, or network congestion.
I hope you now understand and will never forget the difference between the two!
Moreover,The impact of bandwidth on throughput is significant when aiming to maximize performance, as various factors affecting network throughput, such as bandwidth throttling and throughput bottlenecks, come into play. Measuring both bandwidth and throughput helps identify issues like network congestion, where bandwidth utilization becomes inefficient. Understanding the relationship between bandwidth and internet speed, along with bandwidth vs latency, is crucial for optimizing throughput. Proper network traffic management ensures optimal bandwidth for high throughput, preventing bottlenecks and improving overall efficiency.
Top comments (3)
This was interesting! Led me down the rabbithole of figuring out why P2P is faster than normal HTTP downloads. The bandwidth gets distributed among peers and the throughput of one peer doesn't affect the others :)
Yeah, P2P networks like BitTorrent are great examples that solve the bottleneck issue mentioned, as the data is downloaded in chunks from multiple peers.
Very good explained