Data traffic

In information technology, data traffic (or, simply, traffic) refers to the flow of information within computer networks.

This traffic is quantified by the amount of data transferred. If I transfer e.g. a 1 megabyte (large) file from one PC to another this results in traffic of (approximately) 1 MB.

Usually this term is used by hosting providers and is meant for cost accounting. Most providers have a free quota (or free traffic) and the client only pays for additional traffic. The real costs vary greatly depending on the amount of data and the guaranteed bandwidth, but are usually a mere 5 cents per gigabyte. The customer usually pays from 20 Cents to several Euros per gigabyte.