Administrator Guide

Differentiated Services 1445
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Differentiated Services
Dell Networking N2000, N3000, and N4000 Series Switches
This chapter describes how to configure the Differentiated Services
(DiffServ) feature. DiffServ enables traffic to be classified into streams and
given certain QoS treatment in accordance with defined per-hop behaviors.
The Diffserv feature is not supported on the Dell Networking N1500 Series
switches.
The topics covered in this chapter include:
• DiffServ Overview
• Default DiffServ Values
• Configuring DiffServ (Web)
• Configuring DiffServ (CLI)
• DiffServ Configuration Examples
DiffServ Overview
Standard IP-based networks are designed to provide “best effort” data delivery
service. Best effort service implies that the network delivers the data in a
timely fashion, although there is no guarantee that it will. During times of
congestion, packets may be delayed, sent sporadically, or dropped. For typical
Internet applications, such as email and file transfer, a slight degradation in
service is acceptable and in many cases unnoticeable. Conversely, any
degradation of service has undesirable effects on applications with strict
timing requirements, such as voice or multimedia.
NOTE: Diffserv is not available on the Dell Networking N1500 Series switches.