What mechanism is used to control traffic in a switched network?

Flow control is the correct mechanism used to manage the rate of data transmission between two devices in a switched network. This method ensures that a sender does not overwhelm a receiver by sending data too quickly, which could lead to packet loss and decreased network performance.

In a switched network, flow control helps to synchronize the data transmission and reception rates, allowing devices to communicate efficiently without dropping packets. This is especially important in environments where network congestion can occur or when devices have varying processing speeds. Flow control can utilize protocols such as TCP's windowing mechanism, which dynamically adjusts the size of the data packets being sent based on the receiver's capability to process the incoming data.

Load balancing is a technique used to distribute network traffic across multiple servers or links to optimize resource use and minimize response time but does not directly control the rate of data flow between devices. Packet filtering refers to the process of controlling network access by monitoring outgoing and incoming packets, typically used for security rather than traffic management. Traffic shaping is a method that regulates network data transfer to ensure a specific level of performance, often implemented to prioritize certain types of traffic, but it operates differently than flow control, which focuses specifically on managing the sending rate to prevent overflow and packet loss.