What is the purpose of having redundant links in a switched network?

Redundant links in a switched network primarily serve to enhance reliability and prevent downtime. By providing alternative pathways for data to travel, redundant links ensure that if one link goes down due to hardware failure, maintenance, or any other issue, network traffic can still flow through the remaining active links. This high availability is crucial for maintaining continuous service, particularly in environments where uptime is critical.

Moreover, having redundancy in the network design minimizes the risk of a single point of failure, thus enabling users to maintain connectivity and access to resources without interruption. This is especially important in enterprise environments where downtime can lead to significant operational disruptions and financial losses. Redundant links also contribute to overall network stability and performance by balancing traffic loads across multiple paths.

In contrast, while managing network traffic can be a benefit of using redundant links, it is not their primary purpose; the primary focus is reliability. Similarly, increasing the speed of data transmission can depend on various factors, not solely on the existence of redundant links. Lastly, reducing costs is not inherently a goal of incorporating redundancy, as implementing such a design usually requires additional infrastructure investment.