(1) The amount of time between the time when a network device originally receives a packet and the time when the packet is retransmitted.
(2) The time interval between the instant at which an instruction control unit initiates a call for data and the instant at which the actual transfer of the data starts.
(3) The time from the initiation of an operation until something actually starts happening (for example, data transmission begins).
(4) In replication, part or all of the approximate difference between the time that a source table is changed and the time that the change is applied to the corresponding target table. See also Apply latency, Capture latency, Q Apply latency, Q Capture latency, end-to-end latency.