These types of reproducible problems are considered inconsistent. Inconsistent problems generally involve several protocols or several layers of an architecture. The different error messages result from the ways different applications encounter the problem in the protocols and the architectural layers. An intermittent problem appears occasionally and displays the same error message or symptoms in the same circumstances. You can occasionally reproduce intermittent errors.
Intermittent errors can occur when threshold values for various parameters are reached.
1.2.3 Transient Problems Transient problems occur only occasionally, and can rarely be reproduced. Because you cannot reliably reproduce transient problems, they are by far the most difficult errors to isolate and fix. As with intermittent problems, transient problems can result when threshold values for various parameters are reached. Because transient errors tend to occur at peak usage times, historical performance data is helpful in determining the cause of the problem. Use this information as a guide when you need to identify problems in a specific DECnet-Plus layer.