What does load balancing prevent in mission-critical operations?

Load balancing is a technique used in distributed computing to ensure that workload is distributed evenly across multiple servers or resources. This process plays a crucial role in mission-critical operations by preventing overload on a single system.

When a single system handles too much traffic or too many requests, it can become overwhelmed, leading to degraded performance or even system failure. Such interruptions can be catastrophic for mission-critical applications that require high availability and reliability. By distributing the load across several systems, load balancing ensures that no single server is tasked with more than it can handle, thus maintaining optimal performance.

While the other options touch on various aspects of resource management, they do not directly address the primary aim of load balancing as effectively as preventing overload does. For instance, while underutilization of network resources can be a concern, effective load balancing typically aims to optimize resource use rather than letting certain systems remain idle. Redundant data storage and increased software licensing costs are also separate issues that pertain to data management and financial practices rather than the core function of a load balancer.