Which component would most affect latency on a network path?

• A. The size of the local DNS cache
• B. The number of DNS queries per second
• C. The time for a packet to traverse a path
• D. The encryption algorithm used

Answer: (C)

Latency is primarily driven by how long a packet takes to travel from the source to the destination along the network path, which is the propagation delay. This delay depends on the physical distance and the speed of the transmission medium, so longer routes or slower links add more time to each packet’s journey. In many networks, especially over wide areas, this path transit time is the largest portion of end-to-end latency.

The size of the local DNS cache and the number of DNS queries per second affect how quickly a domain name is resolved before data can be sent, influencing initial connection setup more than the ongoing per-packet transit time. The encryption algorithm can add some processing delay because more complex algorithms require extra CPU work, but that typically impacts per-packet processing time rather than the fundamental travel time across the network path.