An egress link carries mixed TCP and UDP traffic. WRED is enabled for TCP-sensitive DSCP classes, while UDP-based streaming classes are unshaped. What outcome is expected during congestion?

WRED (Weighted Random Early Detection) is designed to proactively manage congestion by probabilistically dropping packets before a queue becomes full. For TCP, this early dropping signals congestion, prompting TCP senders to reduce their transmission rates, thus preventing global synchronization and improving overall network throughput. UDP-based streaming traffic, being connectionless and not having built-in congestion control mechanisms, does not respond to WRED's early drops by reducing its rate. Therefore, if the queue fills despite WRED's efforts on TCP traffic, UDP packets will be dropped abruptly when the queue overflows. WRED does not protect UDP streaming, convert UDP to TCP-friendly flows, or guarantee equal drop probability for all flows; its primary function is to provide early congestion notification, particularly for TCP.