In which situation would a technician use the show interfaces command

In which situation would a technician use the show interfaces command?

A. To determine whether remote access is enabled

B. To determine the MAC address of a directly attached network device on a particular interface

C. When packets are being dropped from a particular directly attached host

D. When an end device can reach local devices, but not remote devices

The correct answer and explanation is :

Correct Answer: C. When packets are being dropped from a particular directly attached host

Explanation (300 words):

The show interfaces command is a powerful diagnostic tool used by network technicians and administrators to monitor and troubleshoot individual network interfaces on a router or switch. It provides detailed statistics and status information for each interface, including metrics such as input/output errors, packet drops, bandwidth utilization, and interface status (up/down).

The correct answer is C, “When packets are being dropped from a particular directly attached host.” This is because the show interfaces command reveals whether an interface is experiencing input or output errors, CRC errors, collisions, or any queue drops. All of these indicators can point to issues like cable faults, duplex mismatches, or hardware problems that could cause packets to be dropped.

Here’s what the command helps you see:

• Line status and protocol status: To determine if the interface is physically and logically up.
• Input/output statistics: Total packets, errors, and drops.
• Bandwidth usage: Helps in identifying congestion.
• Error counts: CRC errors, frame errors, runts, giants, etc., which point to transmission problems.

Let’s briefly look at why the other options are incorrect:

• A. To determine whether remote access is enabled – This requires checking configurations (show running-config) rather than interface statistics.
• B. To determine the MAC address of a directly attached network device – This is typically done with the show mac address-table or show arp command.
• D. When an end device can reach local devices but not remote devices – This situation would usually call for checking routing tables (show ip route) or ACLs.

In summary, when troubleshooting packet drops to or from a specific device directly connected to a router or switch, show interfaces is the most suitable command, as it directly reports the health and performance of the network interface in question.