HP FlexNetwork NJ5000, User Manual

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Configuring QoS
Grayed-out options on Web configuration pages cannot be configured.
Overview
Quality of Service (QoS) reflects the ability of a network to meet customer needs. In an internet, QoS
evaluates the ability of the network to forward packets of different services.
The evaluation can be based on different criteria because the network might provide various
services. Generally, QoS performance is measured with respect to bandwidth, delay, jitter, and
packet loss ratio during packet forwarding process.
Networks without QoS guarantee
On traditional IP networks without QoS guarantee, devices treat all packets equally and handle them
using the first in first out (FIFO) policy. All packets share the resources of the network and devices.
How many resources the packets can obtain completely depends on the time they arrive. This
service is called "best-effort." It delivers packets to their destinations as possibly as it can, without
any guarantee for delay, jitter, packet loss ratio, and so on.
This service policy is only suitable for applications insensitive to bandwidth and delay, such as Word
Wide Web (WWW) and email.
QoS requirements of new applications
The Internet has been growing along with the fast development of networking technologies.
Besides traditional applications such as WWW, email and FTP, network users are experiencing new
services, such as tele-education, telemedicine, video telephone, videoconference and
Video-on-Demand (VoD). Enterprise users expect to connect their regional branches together with
VPN technologies to carry out operational applications, for instance, to access the database of the
company or to monitor remote devices through Telnet.
These new applications all have special requirements for bandwidth, delay, and jitter. For example,
videoconference and VoD require high bandwidth, low delay and jitter. As for mission-critical
applications, such as transactions and Telnet, they might not require high bandwidth but do require
low delay and preferential service during congestion.
The emerging applications demand higher service performance of IP networks. Better network
services during packets forwarding are required, such as providing dedicated bandwidth, reducing
packet loss ratio, managing and avoiding congestion, and regulating network traffic. To meet these
requirements, networks must provide more improved services.
Congestion: causes, impacts, and countermeasures
Network congestion is a major factor contributed to service quality degrading on a traditional network.
Congestion is a situation where the forwarding rate decreases due to insufficient resources, resulting
in extra delay.
Causes
Congestion easily occurs in complex packet switching circumstances in the Internet. Figure 436
shows two common cases: