What is a benefit of the 802.3ad standard?

The 802.3ad standard, also known as Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), is primarily designed to allow multiple physical network links to be bundled together into a single logical link. This aggregation of links provides a significant benefit in terms of increased bandwidth. By combining multiple Ethernet links into one, the overall throughput can be enhanced, allowing for more data to be transmitted simultaneously, thereby improving network performance and efficiency.

This capability is particularly beneficial in environments where high availability and redundancy are critical. The aggregation not only increases bandwidth but also provides failover capabilities; if one link in the bundle fails, the traffic can be automatically redirected to the remaining active links, ensuring uninterrupted service.

The other options do not directly align with the primary features and advantages offered by the 802.3ad standard. For instance, loop detection, while a critical aspect of network design for redundancy and avoiding broadcast storms, is not a specific benefit that 802.3ad addresses. Security features are more associated with protocols focused on authentication and encryption rather than link aggregation themselves. Strict queuing is a method for managing packet transmission but is not a feature inherent to the 802.3ad standard either.