Quality of Service (QoS): Managing Bandwidth More Effectively

Using QoS Types To Configure QoS for Outbound Traffic

Details of QoS IP Type-of-Service

IP packets include a Type of Service (ToS) byte. The ToS byte includes:

A Differentiated Services Codepoint (DSCP): This element is com- prised of the upper six bits of the ToS byte). There are 64 possible codepoints. In the switches covered by this manual, the default qos configuration includes the codepoint having the 802.1p priority setting for Expedited Forwarding, while all others, including the Assured-Forward- ing codepoints, are unused (and listed with No-overridefor a Priority).

Refer to figure 6-10on page 6-33for an illustration of the default DSCP policy table.

Using the qos dscp-mapcommand, you can configure the switch to assign different prioritization policies to IPv4 packets having different code- points. As an alternative, you can configure the switch to assign a new codepoint to an IPv4 packet, along with a corresponding 802.1p priority (0-7). To use this option in the simplest case, you would:

a.Configure a specific DSCP with a specific priority in an edge switch.

b.Configure the switch to mark a specific type of inbound traffic with that DSCP (and thus create a policy for that traffic type).

c.Configure the internal switches in your LAN to honor the policy.

 

(For example, you could configure an edge switch to assign a codepoint

 

of 000001 to all packets received from a specific VLAN, and then handle

 

all traffic with that codepoint at high priority.)

 

For a codepoint listing and the commands for displaying and changing the

 

DSCP Policy table, refer to “Differentiated Services Codepoint (DSCP)

 

Mapping” on page 6-32.

 

 

N o t e s

“Mixing” ToS DSCP policies and 802.1p priorities is not recommended. Refer

 

to the Note on page 6-9.

 

Precedence Bits: This element is a subset of the DSCP and is comprised

 

 

of the upper three bits of the ToS byte. When configured to do so, the

 

switch uses the precedence bits to determine a priority for handling the

 

associated packet. (The switch does not change the setting of the prece-

 

dence bits.) Using the ToS Precedence bits to prioritize IPv4 packets relies

 

on priorities set in upstream devices and applications.

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