Question

A network engineer is measuring the transfer of bits across the company backbone for a mission critical database application. The engineer notices that the network throughput appears lower than the bandwidth expected. Which three factors could influence the differences in throughput?

1) Network congestion
2) Packet loss
3) Network latency
4) Bandwidth limitations
5) Hardware failure
6) Software configuration

Answer 1

Network throughput may be lower than expected due to network congestion, packet loss, and network latency. These factors can cause data transfer delays, require data to be resent, and create traffic bottlenecks.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question pertains to why network throughput might be lower than expected despite adequate bandwidth. Three major factors that can impact network throughput are:

1. Network congestion: When too many users or devices try to send data over the network at the same time, it can lead to congestion, similar to a traffic jam on a highway, resulting in slower network speeds.
2. Packet loss: This occurs when some of the data packets do not reach their destination, often due to congestion, faulty hardware, or network errors, requiring the sending device to resend those packets, hence reducing the effective network throughput.
3. Network latency: The delay in the transmission of data over the network can affect throughput significantly, especially in applications requiring real-time data transfer, such as voice over IP or online gaming.

Factors such as hardware failure and software configuration could also influence throughput but were not selected in this instance. It's also noteworthy that these issues can contribute to the net neutrality debate, where service providers may prioritize traffic, which could inherently affect network performance for certain users or services.