【Cisco】Forwarding Rate vs. Throughput Rate

Forwarding Rate vs. Throughput Rate

Of these two terms, you’re likely more familiar with throughput rate. Also referred to as bandwidth or capacity it’s the amount of data that can travel through your connection and is measured in bits per second (bps). For example, a 5 Gbps network can handle 5 billion/giga bits traveling through it every second.

Forwarding rate, on the other hand, refers to the number of network packets that can be processed by your networking equipment (e.g., your switch or router). Forwarding rate is measured in packets per second (pps) and DDoS mitigation gear typically handles rates in multiples of a million/mega packets per second (Mpps).

Figuratively speaking, throughput rate is similar to the weight capacity of an elevator car, while the forwarding rate can be thought of as the maximum number of people permitted inside.

Credit: Normativesigns.com

https://www.incapsula.com/blog/throughput-forwarding-rate-ddos-attacks.html