Meaning – Data Transfer Rate, or DTR, is the amount of data that is being transmitted from one location to another location, in a given amount of time.
The data transfer rate can also be defined as the speed at which the data is being transmitted from one location to another. It is directly proportional to the bandwidth, in the sense that, greater the bandwidth of an internet connection, the higher is the data transfer rate.
Typically, data transfer rate is measured in bits per second. On Ethernet local area networks, data transfer can be as fast as 10 megabits per second. Network switches are planned that will transfer data in the terabit range.
In computers however, the data transfer rate is measured in bytes per second.
Example of usage – “The highest data transfer rate to date is 14 terabits per second over a single optical fiber, reported by Japan’s Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT DoComo) in 2006.”
