Content Overview Customer networks
exist to service application requirements and end users
efficiently. The tremendous growth of the Internet and
corporate intranets, the wide variety of new bandwidth-hungry
applications, and convergence of data, voice, and video traffic
over consolidated IP infrastructures has had a major impact on
the ability of networks to provide predictable, measurable, and
guaranteed services to these applications. Providing required
quality of service (QoS) by properly managing network delays,
bandwidth requirements, and packet loss parameters, and still
maintaining simplicity, scalability, and manageability of the
network, is fundamental to running an infrastructure that
serves business end-to-end applications. Cisco IOS software
offers a portfolio of QoS features that enables customer
networks to address voice, video, and data application
requirements. Cisco AutoQoS dramatically simplifies QoS
deployment by automating Cisco IOS QoS features for voice
traffic in a consistent fashion and leveraging the advanced
functionality and intelligence of Cisco IOS Software. Cisco
AutoQoS provides the user with a simple, intelligent
command-line interface (CLI) for enabling campus LAN and WAN
QoS for Voice over IP (VoIP) on Cisco switches and routers. The
network administrator does not need to possess extensive
knowledge of the underlying network technology (PPP, Frame
Relay, ATM, ATM to Frame Relay internetworking), required QoS
service policies, or link efficiency mechanisms needed to
ensure voice quality and reduce latency, jitter, and packet
drops. Web Links Cisco AutoQoS Customer
Presentation
http://www.cisco.com/application/vnd.ms-powerpoi
nt/
en/us/guest/tech/tk759/c1482/ccmigration_09186a00
80133fd7.ppt Cisco AutoQoS White Paper
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk543/tk759/
technologies_white_paper09186a00801348bc.shtml Configuring
QoS
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/
ps5528/products_configuration_guide_chapter09186
a00802113d0.html
Content 5.1 Introducing
Cisco AutoQoS 5.1.1 Cisco AutoQoS Major
enterprise QoS challenges include those pictured in Figure
: - Voice quality for IP telephony applications
- Guaranteed bandwidth for mission-critical
applications
- Simpler QoS deployments (reducing
operator errors)
- Inexpensive QoS deployments
(reducing costs)
- Fast QoS deployments (reducing
deployment time)
Cisco AutoQoS automates the
deployment of QoS policies in a general business environment,
particularly for midsize companies and branch offices of larger
companies. As summarized in Figure , Cisco AutoQoS offers
several benefits including the following: - Cisco
AutoQoS incorporates value-added intelligence in Cisco IOS
software and Cisco Catalyst operating system software to
provision and manage QoS deployments.
- Cisco AutoQoS
protects business-critical data applications in the enterprise
to maximize their availability.
- Cisco AutoQoS
provides QoS provisioning for individual routers and switches,
simplifying QoS deployment.
- Customers can implement
the QoS features required for voice, video, and data traffic
without an in-depth knowledge of the underlying technologies
(PPP, Frame Relay, ATM, service policies, and link efficiency
mechanisms, such as link fragmentation and interleaving
[LFI]).
- Cisco AutoQoS simplifies QoS implementation
and speeds up the provisioning of QoS technology over a Cisco
network. It reduces the potential for human error and lowers
training costs.
- Cisco AutoQoS creates class maps and
policy maps based on Cisco experience and best-practices
methodology. AutoQoS, in creating the QoS configuration,
follows industry standards, such as the differentiated services
(DiffServ) model, to achieve an interoperable
environment.
- Customers can also use existing Cisco
IOS commands to modify the configurations automatically
generated by the Cisco AutoQoS, as needed to meet specific
requirements.
Automating the Key Elements of QoS
Deployment
Figure is a depiction of how Cisco AutoQoS
addresses the five key elements of QoS deployment. The
following describes these five elements in detail: -
Application classification: Cisco AutoQoS uses
intelligent classification on routers, utilizing Network-based
Application Recognition (NBAR) to provide deep and stateful
packet inspection. Cisco AutoQoS uses Cisco Discovery Protocol
(CDP) for device recognition, helping ensure that the device
attached to the LAN is really a Cisco IP phone.
-
Policy generation: Cisco AutoQoS evaluates the network
environment and generates an initial policy. It automatically
determines WAN settings for fragmentation, compression,
encapsulation, and Frame Relay-ATM interworking, eliminating
the need to understand QoS theory and design practices in
various scenarios. Customers can meet additional or special
requirements by modifying the initial policy.
-
Configuration: With one command, Cisco AutoQoS
configures the interface to prioritize critical traffic while
still offering the flexibility to adjust QoS settings for
unique network requirements. Cisco AutoQoS not only
automatically detects Cisco IP phones and enables QoS settings
for the port of the phone, it will also disable those QoS
settings to prevent malicious activity when you move or
relocate a Cisco IP phone.
- Monitoring and
reporting: Cisco AutoQoS provides visibility into the
classes of service deployed using system logging and Simple
Network Management Protocol (SNMP) traps, with notification of
abnormal events (for example, VoIP packet drops). Cisco QoS
Policy Manager (QPM) is the QoS monitoring platform, which uses
the Cisco intelligent IP network to provide visibility into
network operations. You can measure traffic throughput for top
applications and service classes. You can also troubleshoot
problems with real-time and historical QoS feedback. AutoQoS
displays traffic and QoS statistics as line or bar charts, in
bits or packets per second, per interface or policy. Cisco QPM
enables you to view graphs before and after QoS deployment,
tied to traffic filters and policies, as well as results from
QoS policy actions.
- Consistency: Cisco AutoQoS
policies work together across Cisco devices, helping ensure
consistent end-to-end QoS. Cisco QPM enables users to view the
following:
- Statistics matching policies and specific
filters, including NBAR application filters
- Traffic
rate before any QoS policy actions, traffic transmitted after
QoS policy actions, and traffic dropped (rather than
transmitted) because of QoS policy drop actions
- QoS
action statistics: weighted random early detection (WRED),
policing, traffic shaping, and queuing