1MB Transfer

The time to transfer 1MB reveals the true hierarchy of system performance. From RAM (0.25ms) to intercontinental networks (150ms), we see a 600x difference. This impacts everything from database design (keep hot data in memory) to CDN strategy (cache large assets at the edge).

Remember: bandwidth is rarely the bottleneck—latency is. Even on gigabit networks, the round-trip time dominates small transfers. For large files, use compression (60-90% reduction for text), chunking for parallel transfers, and CDNs to minimize distance.