Description: The number of packets aborted during transmission due to excessive collisions: This counter contains the number of packets that, due to excessive collisions, are not transmitted successfully. A station may attempt to transmit up to 16 times before it must abort the attempt. Once the abort occurs, this counter increments.

If you see an increase in deferred transmissions as well as excessive collisions, the network is extremely busy and this segment of the LAN is overcrowded. Reduce the traffic by reorganizing your LAN or adding a NIC to the server. For example, if you have 100 stations on one Ethernet bus, break it into two Ethernet buses by adding a NIC to your server. In this way you can balance the load by putting 50 stations on one bus and 50 on the other. If there are a few isolated stations creating the traffic, try placing them on a separate bus.

Faulty components may be the cause of excessive collisions. Check the following:

Segment too long: Nodes at the far end of the cabling system transmit, unaware that a station at the other end has already gained control of the medium by transmitting the first 64 bytes of a frame.

Failing cable: Packet data traveling through shorted or damaged cabling may become corrupt before reaching the destination station.

Segment not grounded properly: Improper grounding of a segment may allow ground-induced noise to corrupt data flow.

Improper termination: If a cable segment is not properly terminated, allowing the signal to be absorbed upon reaching the end of the segment, a partial signal will bounce back and collide with existing signals.

Noisy cable: Interference or noise produced by motors or other devices can distort the signals and cause CRC/Alignment errors.

Deaf/partially deaf node: A faulty station that cannot hear the activity is considered a deaf node. If you suspect a deaf node, replace the NIC.

Failing repeater, transceiver, or controller: Repeaters, transceivers, and controllers can disrupt the network signal, transmit erroneous signals on the wire, or ignore incoming packets. Perform the following steps:

1. If your NIC is continuously transmitting, it causes erroneous signals, or 'jabber.' Replace a jabbering transmitter to ensure proper network performance.

2. Check your hub or switch. This component may be at fault. Use the diagnostics from the component manufacturer to help you determine if a problem exists.