title: What is database throughput?
body: <p>Well, not much to ask apart from the question. What do you mean when you say a  OLTP DB must have a high throughput.</p>
  
  <p>Going to the wiki.</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>"In communication networks, such as
    Ethernet or packet radio, throughput
    or network throughput is the average
    rate of successful message delivery
    over a communication channel. This
    data may be delivered over a physical
    or logical link, or pass through a
    certain network node. The throughput
    is usually measured in bits per second
    (bit/s or bps), and sometimes in data
    packets per second or data packets per
    time slot."</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>So does this mean , OLTP databases need to have a high/quick insertion rate ( i.e. avoiding deadlocks etc)??</p>
  
  <p>I was always under an impression if we take a database for say an airline industry, it must have quick insertion , but at the same time quick response time since it is critical to it's operation. And in many ways this shouldn't this be limited to the protocol involved in delivering the message/data to the database?</p>
  
  <p>I am not trying to single out the "only" characteristic of OLTP systems. In general I would  like to understand, what characteristics are inherent to a OLTP system.</p>
  
  <p>Cheers!</p>