During peak business hours, users across your enterprise network report noticeably slower file transfers and applications that time-out. Monitoring shows that backbone and distribution links are running constantly at or near 100 % utilization, while interface error counters remain low and device configurations appear correct. Which of the following is the MOST likely root cause of the degradation?
Links that are saturated during specific periods indicate congestion: the offered traffic exceeds the designed capacity, creating a bottleneck that reduces throughput and increases latency. This situation is typically caused by high traffic volume. A duplex mismatch would introduce collisions or CRC errors (not observed), a faulty transceiver would raise interface errors, and an incorrect default gateway would break connectivity rather than merely slow it down.
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What are the signs of high traffic volume on a network?
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How can I manage high traffic volume in an enterprise network?
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What network tools help diagnose congestion issues?