Quality of Service (QoS) is a set of techniques used to manage and prioritise network traffic in order to ensure that important traffic gets the bandwidth it needs while less important traffic is limited.
This is particularly important in environments where the network is used for both critical and non-critical applications, such as in a business setting. In this article, we will discuss how to configure QoS on network switches.
The first step in configuring QoS on a network switch is to identify the different types of traffic that will be running on the network. This includes things like voice, video, data, and real-time applications. Once the different types of traffic have been identified, they can be assigned to different priority levels.
Next, it's important to configure the switch to prioritise the different types of traffic. This is typically done by creating traffic classes and assigning them to different priority levels. For example, voice traffic can be assigned a higher priority than data traffic. The switch can then be configured to give priority to the traffic in the higher priority classes, ensuring that they get the bandwidth they need.
Another important aspect of configuring QoS on a network switch is to set up Quality of Service policies. These policies specify how the switch should handle different types of traffic, such as how much bandwidth they should be allocated and how they should be treated in the event of network congestion.
It's also important to configure the switch to shape and police traffic. Shaping is the process of limiting the amount of traffic that a particular class of traffic can generate, and policing is the process of discarding traffic that exceeds the rate limit that has been set.
It's important to monitor the network regularly to ensure that the QoS configuration is working as intended, and make adjustments as necessary. This can be done by using network management tools such as SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) or by monitoring the switch's statistics and counters.
In conclusion, configuring QoS on a network switch is an important task that can help ensure that important traffic gets the bandwidth it needs while less important traffic is limited. This is particularly important in environments where the network is used for both critical and non-critical applications. By identifying the different types of traffic, assigning them to the appropriate VLANS or tags, the network can operate reliably with all data getting where it needs to be on time.