What is a key performance benefit of cut-through switching compared with store-and-forward switching?

• A. performs frame error checking
• B. buffers frames until the entire frame is received
• C. has a lower latency appropriate for high-performance computing applications
• D. increases bandwidth by eliminating invalid frames entirely

Answer: (C)

Cut-through switching reduces forwarding delay by sending a frame toward its destination as soon as the switch has read enough of the header to determine the destination. This minimizes the time a frame spends being processed inside the switch, giving you lower latency than waiting for the entire frame to arrive and be CRC-checked, as in store-and-forward. That lower latency is particularly valuable for high-performance computing applications where fast data movement matters. Error checking and buffering until the full frame arrives are aspects of store-and-forward, not cut-through, and cut-through does not inherently eliminate invalid frames—sometimes they’re forwarded before an error is detected.