This Counter tracks the number of packets discarded on this link because of lost buffers. It's distinct from linkNoBuffers, which counts packets rejected for lack of available buffers, and instead reflects buffers that were allocated but subsequently lost, which admins treat as a sign of a deeper memory-management problem on the device. For example, a nonzero and growing linkLostBuffers count alongside otherwise normal traffic levels might prompt an admin to investigate a memory leak or driver bug on that link's interface.