What is an advantage of the store-and-forward switching method?

The store-and-forward switching method is beneficial because it includes frame error checking. When a switch receives a data frame, it stores the entire frame in its memory before forwarding it. During this process, the switch verifies the integrity of the frame by checking for errors using methods such as CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check). This capability ensures that only correctly received and valid frames are transmitted to the next hop, thus improving overall network reliability and reducing the likelihood of data corruption.

By contrast, the other options do not align with the strengths of the store-and-forward method; for instance, faster processing of frames is often a characteristic associated with cut-through switching, while lower latency is generally a disadvantage of store-and-forward due to the time taken to store and verify the frames before forwarding. Additionally, store-and-forward inherently includes error checking, which makes it a more robust choice in environments where data integrity is critical.