  We present a closed-form expression for the minimal delay that is achievable
in a setting that combines a buffer and an erasure code, used to mitigate the
packet delay variance. The erasure code is modeled according to the recent
information-theoretic results on finite block length codes. Evaluations reveal
that accurate knowledge of the network parameters is essential for optimal
operation. Moreover, it is shown that, when the network packet delay variance
is large, the buffer delay becomes negligible. Therefore, in this case the
delay budget should be spent mainly on the erasure code.
