A systems administrator is troubleshooting a database server that is experiencing severe performance degradation. The issue is most prominent when the application generates large, complex reports, causing transaction timeouts. The administrator has already verified that the server's CPU and memory utilization are elevated but not at maximum capacity, and that file permissions and network connectivity are correctly configured. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of this issue?
A Host-based Intrusion Detection System (HIDS) is throttling connections it misidentifies as malicious.
A misconfigured host-based firewall rule is dropping packets during high-traffic periods.
The anti-malware solution's real-time protection is scanning the database's data and log files.
The service account for the database lacks the proper write permissions to a network file share.
The correct answer is that the anti-malware's real-time protection is scanning the database files, which is a common cause of I/O-related performance degradation on database servers. When the database engine performs high-volume read/write operations for large reports, the on-access scanner from the anti-malware software intercepts and scans these files, causing contention and delays. Best practice is to configure exclusions in the anti-malware policy for database directories, data files (.mdf), and transaction log files (.ldf). A misconfigured firewall would likely cause connection failures rather than performance degradation. Incorrect file share permissions would result in access denied errors, not slow performance. While a Host-based Intrusion Detection System (HIDS) could potentially interfere, it is more likely to block a query it deems malicious rather than cause a generalized slowdown during high I/O operations.