Difference between Bandwidth and Throughput

Bandwidth

Bandwidth refers to data capacity of a channel. It is defined as the potential of data which can be transferred in specific period of time.

Throughput refers to measurement of data transferred in a specific time period. It is also termed as effective data rate or payload rate.

Following are the important difference between Bandwidth and Throughput.

Sr. No.	Key	Bandwidth	Throughput
1	Definition	Data Capacity of a channel which can be transferred in specific period of time.	Actual measure of data transferred over a specific period of time.
2	Measurement Unit	Bits	Bits per Sec
3	Objective	To trasfer data.	To communicate.
4	Layer	Physical Layer of OSI model.	Any Layer of OSI model.
5	Dependency	No Dependency.	Dependent on latency.
6	Impact	Not impacted by physical obstructions.	Highly impacted by external interference, network devices, transmission errors.
7	Analogy	Speed of Water coming out of tap in particular time frame.	Actual water flown out of tap in particular time frame.

Published on 27-Nov-2019 09:12:50