What is latency in networking?

Latency in networking refers to the delay before a transfer of data begins following an instruction for its transfer. It is usually measured in milliseconds (ms) and can be affected by several factors, including the physical distance between the source and destination of the data, the quality and type of the transmission medium, the efficiency of the devices and protocols handling the data, and network congestion. Lower latency enhances the responsiveness of network-connected services and applications, making it a critical parameter in many real-time computing and communication scenarios.