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Transfer rate is a standard metric that is used to measure the speed at which data or information travels from one location to another. It is often expressed in bits or bytes per second, with the prefix changing to accommodate the variable size of the data being transferred such as "kilo," "mega" or "giga." Transfer rate often depends on the technology being used for the transfer.
Techopedia Explains Transfer Rate
Transfer rate is often related to data, as in data transfer rate (DTR), which is often tied to a specific technology such as the kind of network and communication infrastructure being used. Newer technologies such as 4G and LTE have better data transfer rates compared to older ones (e.g., 3G and 2G).
This metric is also used for technologies that deal with storing data exclusively, such as disks and disk arrays and clusters. The transfer rate for disks is dependent on the speed of the disk rotation and on the accuracy of the read/write head, whereas for solid state drives, the transfer rate depends on the efficiency of the flash technology. For storage arrays and clusters, the transfer rate takes into consideration the network connectivity between each node of the cluster, so the transfer rate serves as the throughput of the system.
Transfer rate can be calculated with the following formula:
TR = D ÷ T
Where:
TR = Transfer Rate
D = Amount of Data
T = Time (usually seconds)
