What is a key characteristic of exception traffic?

A key characteristic of exception traffic is that it requires some form of special handling. Exception traffic refers to those packets or data flows that deviate from standard processing criteria due to their specific needs or situations, often related to issues such as network anomalies or security concerns.

In practice, routers and switches are designed to efficiently handle predictable, regular traffic based on predetermined rules. However, when networks encounter unusual patterns or potential threats, the handling of this exception traffic becomes crucial to maintaining network integrity and performance. This might involve prioritizing the traffic, applying different processing rules, or initiating security protocols to ensure the exception traffic is managed effectively rather than being treated like normal data.

This specialized approach to handling exceptions ultimately helps in safeguarding the network and ensuring that critical issues don't lead to broader operational problems.