Calculate the average data throughput over a transfer session or time window.
Average throughput measures the effective rate of data transfer by dividing the total volume moved by the elapsed time, providing a single number that summarizes performance over a session, test, or reporting window. Unlike instantaneous speed test readings, this figure smooths out momentary fluctuations and is often what matters for judging a completed transfer, backup job, or billing period.
Average throughput
throughput = total_data_transferred / time_period
Bandwidth is the theoretical maximum capacity of a link (e.g. a 1 Gbps port), while throughput is the actual, measured rate of successful data transfer achieved over a real transfer, which is always equal to or lower than the bandwidth due to overhead, contention, and inefficiency.
Protocol overhead (TCP/IP headers, retransmissions), application-layer inefficiency, and competing traffic on the same link all reduce the useful data rate below the underlying link's rated bandwidth, which is why measured throughput and rated bandwidth rarely match exactly.
For steady, sustained transfers (large file copies, backups) a short window works fine, but for bursty application traffic, average over a longer period (an hour, a day) to avoid a single spike or lull skewing the result unrepresentatively.