HP UX IPQos Software 29

Introduction

Planning for HP-UX IPQoS Deployment

Before you begin using HP-UX IPQoS, you must plan your implementation. The following sections discuss a high-level planning overview, general planning considerations including network-wide considerations, and HP-UX host specific planning considerations.

Overview

You need to begin by understanding the current traffic on your network. As part of your network traffic analysis, determine where the traffic bottlenecks are, when they happen, and what are the largest contributors. There is a general rule that assumes you will identify the “knee of the curve”. In other words, there is often an inflection point where the steepness of the curve changes significantly. Before the knee, incremental traffic leads to incremental delays, whereas after the knee of the curve, incremental traffic leads to significant increased delays.

Once you have identified where the worst bottlenecks are, define policies and filters that give priority to essential traffic, and limit the rest. The more detail you gather, the more specifically you can define the filters and policies.

In general, use a common sense approach to managing your network traffic. Analyze your network thoroughly before making changes. Start with a simple filter and policy, so that analysis can be done easily. Take measurements and determine if you are getting intended results without unintended consequences. If so, you can continue to expand the filters and policies to achieve your traffic management goals.

NOTE	A detailed network-wide QoS planning strategy discussion is beyond the scope
	of this guide.

General Planning Considerations

Implementing HP-UX IPQoS as part of your overall QoS strategy is an iterative process. As part of your preparation and to determine how HP-UX IPQoS fits into your larger QoS (DS-aware) network, you must take several planning steps, including the following:

•Analyze your organization’s needs and goals. Break them down into manageable sizes. Prioritize them. Define the results needed to happen to meet specific goals.

Chapter 1