Link aggregation is best defined as:

Link aggregation refers to the process of combining multiple network connections to create a single logical connection. This enhances performance and redundancy, allowing for higher throughput and improved reliability. By aggregating links, you can effectively manage network bandwidth, ensuring that data can be transmitted more efficiently across the network.

Using multiple physical connections between the same devices helps to spread the traffic load, thereby minimizing individual link utilization and maximizing overall speed. In many cases, if one of the connections fails, the remaining connections can continue to carry the traffic, which contributes to network resilience.

This is particularly important in environments with high data transfer requirements, as it can significantly boost the performance of data-intensive applications and ensure that network congestion is minimized. In contrast to other options presented, which might touch on related concepts, the focus on increasing performance through the combined use of multiple network connections best reflects the principle of link aggregation.