Netgear XCM8806 Chassis User Manual - Page 361

NETGEAR 8800 User Manual File Server Applications With some dependencies on the network operating system, file serving typically poses the greatest demand on bandwidth, although file server applications are very tolerant of latency, jitter, and some packet loss, depending on the network operating system and the use of TCP or UDP. Traffic Groups A traffic group defines the ingress traffic to which you want to apply some level of QoS. You can use the XCM8800 software to define traffic groups based on the following: • Frame or packet header information such as IP address or MAC address • Class of Service (CoS) 802.1p bits in the frame header • DiffServ information in a packet header • Ingress port number • VLAN ID Traffic groups that are defined based on frame or packet information are usually defined in Access Control Lists (ACLs). The exception to this rule is the CoS and DiffServ information, which you can use to define traffic groups without ACLs. The function of the CoS and DiffServ traffic groups is sometimes referred to as explicit packet marking, and it uses information contained within a frame or packet to explicitly determine a class of service. An advantage of explicit packet marking is that the class of service information can be carried throughout the network infrastructure, without repeating what can be complex traffic group policies at each switch location. Another advantage is that end stations can perform their own packet marking on an application-specific basis. NETGEAR switch products have the capability of observing and manipulating packet marking information with no performance penalty. The CoS and DiffServ capabilities (on supported platforms) are not impacted by the switching or routing configuration of the switch. For example, 802.1p information can be preserved across a routed switch boundary and DiffServ code points can be observed or overwritten across a Layer 2 switch boundary. During QoS configuration, you configure the QoS level first by configuring QoS profiles, traffic queues, and meters, and then you define a traffic group and assign the traffic group to the QoS configuration. The following sections provide additional information on the traffic groups you can define: • ACL-Based Traffic Groups on page 362 • CoS 802.1p-Based Traffic Groups on page 362 • DiffServ-Based Traffic Groups on page 363 • Port-Based Traffic Groups on page 365 • VLAN-Based Traffic Groups on page 365 • Precedence of Traffic Groups on page 365 Chapter 15. QoS | 361