A situation where two devices on an Ethernet network transmit data simultaneously, resulting in data loss is called:

• A. Collision
• B. Interference
• C. Broadcast Storm
• D. Collision Domain

Answer: (A)

In Ethernet networks that share a single communication path, two devices can start transmitting at the same moment, causing their signals to collide on the wire. This collision corrupts the frames, so neither transmission is received correctly. Devices and the network use CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection) to manage access: listen before sending, transmit when the channel is free, and if a collision is detected, stop, wait a random backoff, and try again. That's why this scenario is described as a collision.

Interference is external noise disrupting signals and isn’t specifically about two devices transmitting simultaneously. A broadcast storm is an overwhelming flood of broadcast frames that cripples a network, not the act of two devices colliding. A collision domain refers to the network segment where collisions can occur, not the event of a collision itself. In modern switched Ethernet, collisions are largely avoided, since each link is a separate collision domain and operates in full duplex.