Main Function of Congestion Management

B

Congestion management is a network mechanism that manages network congestion by controlling the amount of data that can enter the network to avoid congestion, ensure optimal network performance, and prevent packet loss. The main function of congestion management is to ensure that network traffic flows efficiently, fairly, and with minimum delay, especially during periods of network congestion.

Now, let's look at each of the answer options and see how they relate to the main function of congestion management:

A. Discarding excess traffic: This is not the main function of congestion management, as congestion management aims to prevent packet loss by controlling the flow of data entering the network. Discarding excess traffic should be the last resort when congestion occurs, after all other congestion avoidance mechanisms have failed.

B. Queuing traffic based on priority: This is one of the primary functions of congestion management. Congestion management mechanisms such as Quality of Service (QoS) use priority queuing to ensure that high-priority traffic such as voice and video are given preferential treatment over low-priority traffic.

C. Classifying traffic: This is another primary function of congestion management. By classifying traffic into different categories based on their priority and bandwidth requirements, congestion management mechanisms such as QoS can allocate network resources more efficiently and reduce the likelihood of congestion.

D. Providing long-term storage of buffered data: This is not the main function of congestion management. Congestion management mechanisms typically use short-term buffers to temporarily store data when the network is congested. The data is then released into the network when congestion subsides.

In summary, the main function of congestion management is to manage network congestion by controlling the flow of data entering the network, ensuring optimal network performance, and preventing packet loss. Queuing traffic based on priority and classifying traffic into different categories based on their priority and bandwidth requirements are two of the primary functions of congestion management.