In the context of a network switch, what exactly is "serialisation delay"? (I've heard this term a few times.) I've also heard that 10Gb Ethernet (as opposed to 1Gb Ethernet) as a transport technology helps reduce serialisation delay even when the full 10Gb bandwidth is not used.
What is serialisation delay? Why does 10Gb Ethernet help reduce it?
Best Answer
Serialization delay is the time it takes to move data from a processor to a network link. Since a 10Gb ethernet link can put bits on the wire ten times faster than a 1Gb ethernet link, the serialization delay will be less.
Think about a typical store-and-forward network switch. The switch must receive a packet, decide which link to send it on, and then send the packet. So the switching latency will be the sum of the time it takes to do each of those three things. The faster the wire speed, the less time it takes to receive or send the packet.