The length of time required to move a packet from source to destination through the internetwork is called what?

• A. Reliability
• B. Delay
• C. Bandwidth
• D. Load

Answer: (B)

The main idea being tested is how long it takes for a packet to travel from the source to the destination, which is delay (often called latency). This total time isn’t just a single factor; it’s made up of several parts. Propagation delay depends on the distance and the speed of the transmission medium, while transmission delay depends on how much data is being sent relative to the link’s bandwidth. Processing delay is the time routers spend examining headers and making forwarding decisions, and queuing delay is the time a packet waits in a queue when the network is busy. Together, these delays determine the end-to-end time for a packet to reach its destination.

This choice is different from reliability, which is about whether the packet actually arrives without errors; bandwidth, which is the rate at which data can be sent; and load, which refers to how much traffic the network is carrying.