This 350-601 practice question tests your understanding of storage network. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A Fibre Channel switch is experiencing high latency on a specific ISL. The link is operating at 16 Gbps and has high utilization. Which action will most likely reduce latency?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Reduce the buffer credit count.
Why wrong: Reducing buffer credits increases latency.
Enable trunking on the ISL.
Why wrong: Trunking allows multiple VSANs, but doesn't reduce latency.
Disable flow control on the ISL.
Why wrong: Flow control helps prevent drops, not reduce latency.
Add an additional ISL and configure a port channel.
Load balancing reduces latency.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Add an additional ISL and configure a port channel.
Adding an additional ISL and configuring a port channel increases the aggregate bandwidth between the two switches, reducing per-link utilization and thus lowering queuing latency. This directly addresses the root cause—high utilization on a single 16 Gbps link—by distributing traffic across multiple physical links, which also provides load balancing and redundancy.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Reduce the buffer credit count.
Why it's wrong here
Reducing buffer credits increases latency.
Enable trunking on the ISL.
Why it's wrong here
Trunking allows multiple VSANs, but doesn't reduce latency.
Disable flow control on the ISL.
Why it's wrong here
Flow control helps prevent drops, not reduce latency.
Add an additional ISL and configure a port channel.
Why this is correct
Load balancing reduces latency.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Cisco often tests the misconception that trunking or flow control adjustments can solve bandwidth-related latency, when in fact only increasing aggregate bandwidth (via port channels) reduces queuing delay caused by high utilization.
Detailed technical explanation
Fibre Channel uses buffer-to-buffer credits (BB_credits) as a flow control mechanism to prevent frame loss; high utilization on a single ISL causes frames to queue in the transmit buffer, increasing latency. Port channels (also called ISL trunking in Cisco MDS) aggregate multiple physical links into a single logical link using the Cisco-proprietary PortChannel protocol, which distributes frames based on a hash (e.g., source/destination ID) and requires all links to be in the same VSAN. In real-world deployments, oversubscription on a single ISL is a common bottleneck, and adding a port channel is the standard solution to scale bandwidth without replacing optics or switches.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A help-desk technician troubleshoots why a newly connected PC cannot reach shared printers on the same floor. The cable is good, the switch port is active, but the PC is in VLAN 20 and the printers are in VLAN 10. The uplink trunk only allows VLAN 10. A trunk being up does not mean every VLAN crosses it.
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FAQ
Storage Network — This question tests Storage Network — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Add an additional ISL and configure a port channel. — Adding an additional ISL and configuring a port channel increases the aggregate bandwidth between the two switches, reducing per-link utilization and thus lowering queuing latency. This directly addresses the root cause—high utilization on a single 16 Gbps link—by distributing traffic across multiple physical links, which also provides load balancing and redundancy.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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