Traffic Storm Control

A traffic storm is generated when messages are broadcast on a network and each message prompts a receiving node to respond by broadcasting its own messages on the network. This, in turn, prompts further responses, creating a snowball effect. The LAN is suddenly flooded with packets, creating unnecessary traffic that leads to poor network performance or even a complete loss of network service. Storm control enables the switch to monitor traffic levels and to drop broadcast, multicast, and unknown unicast packets when a specified traffic level-called the storm control level-is exceeded, thus preventing packets from proliferating and degrading the LAN