1710812023, 0718 Why do we need QoS on LAN Switches Search Q © Why do we need QoS on LAN Switches Quality of Service (QoS) on our LAN switches is often misunderstood. Now and then, people ask me why we need it since we have more than enough bandwidth. If we don’t have enough bandwidth it's easier to add bandwidth than on our WAN links. If you use any real-time applications like Voice over IP on your networks then you should think about implementing QoS on your switches. Let me show you what could go wrong with our switches. Here's an example Traffic Load 400Mbps Buffer Full eae eo —-@ Ly ‘Above, you see a computer connected to a switch with a gigabit interface. Between SW1 and SW2, there's, also a gigabit interface. Between SW2 and the server, there's only a FastEthernet link. In the picture above, the computer is sending 400 Mbps of traffic toward the server. Of course, the FastEthernet link only has a bandwidth of 100 Mbps, so traffic will be dropped. Another example of traffic drops on our switches is something that might occur on Monday morning when alll your users are logging in at the same time. Let me show you a picture: hnps:etworklessons.com/qually-ot-senvicelwhy-do-we-neod-qu ly-oF-service-qos-on-ourlan-switchos wa1710812023, 0718 Why do we need QoS on LAN Switches 4 Buffer Full Traffic Load 70 Mbps a_aeaearerrr 4: S-— 20/0 r 1 i? Traffic Load 70 Mbps. Trafficload 70 Mbps, 36--- QS | In the example above, we have 3 computers connected to SW1, SW2, and SW3. These switches are connected to SW4. It's Monday morning, and all users are connecting to the server to log in. The traffic rate for each computer is about 70 Mbps. 3x 70 Mbps = an aggregated traffic rate of 210 Mbps which is more than the Fa0/0 interface of SW4 can handle. Asa result, the buffer will be full, and traffic is dropped. Is this, a big problem that our traffic is dropped? 0/0&j—— i If this is a pure data network, it wouldn't be much of a problem because most traffic is TCP based. We can do retransmissions, and besides that things are a bit slower it will work. If we use real-time applications like voice over IP or a video conference stream, we want to avoid this as it will directly impact the quality of our voice conversation or video stream, In the Voice over IP world, we use a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) to convert analog audio to digital and vice versa. These DSPs can rebuild about 30ms of audio without noticing it. Normally we will use about 20ms of audio in a single packet, which means that only a single packet can be dropped, or our voice quality will be degraded, Its impossible to fix these problems just by adding more bandwidth. By adding more bandwidth, you can reduce how often congestion happens, but you can't prevent it completely. Many data applications will try to consume as much bandwidth as possible, so if the aggregated traffic rate exceeds one of your uplink ports, you will see congestion. By configuring QoS, we can tell our switches what traffic to prioritize in case of congestion. When © congestion occurs, the switch will keep forwarding voice over IP traffic (up to a certain level that we configure) while our data traffic will be dropped. hnps:etworklessons.com/qually-ot-senvicelwhy-do-we-neod-qu ly-oF-service-qos-on-ourlan-switchos 2a1710812023, 0718 Why do we need QoS on LAN Switches a C Previous Lesson Next Lesson CBWFQ on Sub-Interfaces QoS Trust Boundary Forum Replies & one HiRene, Could you please do a short demo? | have 133560 and 23550, i have configured QoS (similar to the first topology) but i think itis not working well Br, Istvan Pe Hi Ison, What would you like to see? We can do classification, marking, queuing, shaping and policing on the switches @ Rene (revere HiRene, Do we have qos of service on LAN switches only?. Why not on a WAN and Router as well? If we can have the same on Router, ist the same procedure as well as well, Thanks, peter QR Fovematenaar HiPeter, hnps:networklessons.com/qually-ot-servicelwhy-do-wo-need-qualiy-of-servce-qos-or-ourlan-switches a41710812023, 0718 Why do we need QoS on LAN Switches Rene adavert03 HiRene/andrew Can you help me in understanding AutoQoS concept please? Thanks $2 7 more replies! Ask a question or join the discussion by visiting our Community Forum, Disclaimer Privacy Policy Support About © 2013 - 2023 NetworkLessons.com 52189 hnps:networklessons.com/qually-ot-servicelwhy-do-wo-need-qualiy-of-servce-qos-or-ourlan-switches 4