What are inter-node communication delays?

Inter-node communication delays are like when you shout across the playground to your friend, but it takes a little time for them to hear you.

Imagine you and your friend are playing with blocks in different parts of the playground. You want to tell them what color block to use next. So you yell out, "Red!" But instead of hearing you right away, they wait a second, maybe two or three, before they reply, "Got it!"

That waiting time is communication delay. It's how long it takes for a message to go from one place (like your mouth) to another (like your friend’s ears). In computers, this happens between nodes, which are like the brain of a computer system.

Sometimes the playground is quiet, and your voice travels fast, like when there's no wind. But if it's noisy or windy, your message might get jumbled or take longer to reach your friend. That’s similar to how inter-node communication delays can be affected by things like distance between computers or how busy the network is.

So next time you're shouting across the playground, remember, you're doing something very computer-like!