What does the term "latency" refer to in networking?

Latency in networking refers to the time it takes for a data packet to travel from the source to the destination. This time measurement includes various factors such as the processing delays in routers and switches, queuing times, and the transmission time over the physical medium.

Understanding latency is crucial because it impacts the performance of network applications, especially those requiring real-time communication like video conferencing or online gaming. High latency can lead to delays that affect user experience, making it essential for network engineers to monitor and optimize this metric.

Other options relate to different aspects of networking, such as data loss, available bandwidth, and transfer rates, which do not define latency but instead describe other important performance metrics.