A network administrator notices that the drop counters on a switch interface connected to a newly installed server are rapidly increasing. What is the most likely cause of this behavior?
Mismatched duplex settings between the switch and the server
Mismatched duplex settings can generate a large number of packet drops on an interface. When one side of the link operates in full-duplex while the other operates in half-duplex, simultaneous transmissions create collisions; the frames involved are discarded and both devices must retransmit, so the drop counters rise quickly.
Incorrect speed settings normally prevent a link from establishing or cause it to renegotiate to a common speed rather than stay up and silently drop packets. A faulty cable is more likely to produce CRC and other physical-layer errors or an intermittent link, not sustained drops. A misconfigured VLAN affects logical connectivity but does not by itself raise physical-interface drop counters.
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