Which mechanism allows a computer to handle a slow server by timing out waiting for a response?

• A. Encapsulation
• B. Flow Control
• C. Access Method
• D. Response Timeout

Answer: (D)

Timing out waiting for a response is about using a timer to bound how long a computer waits for a reply from another system. After sending a request to a server, a timeout period starts. If the server doesn’t respond before that period ends, the client aborts the wait, and may retry or report an error, so the system stays responsive rather than hanging indefinitely. This is essential for handling slow or unavailable servers. Encapsulation deals with wrapping data for transport, flow control manages how much data is sent before waiting for a response to prevent congestion, and an access method describes how data is retrieved or stored. None of those mechanisms specifically provide the bounded wait-and-abort behavior that a timeout offers.