Specifications

Chapter 9 IOS® Software and Network Management
9-5
Cisco IOS® Software
Quality of Service (QoS)
QoS is the set of techniques to manage network resources. Achieving the required QoS by
managing delay, delay variation (jitter), bandwidth, and packet loss parameters on a network
becomes the secret to a successful end-to-end business solution. QoS is the set of techniques
to manage network resources. IOS does this through following features:
• Differentiated Services—Performs Packet classification based on IP precedence and QoS
group setting and Bandwidth management through various rate limiting features
• Integrated Services—IOS does through RSVP typically perform admission control,
Classification, policing, and scheduling of data packets on a per-flow basis and keeps a
database of information for each flow
• Network-Based Application Recognition—IOS does this in two steps Intelligent
classification engine used with class-based features and Protocol Discovery and analysis
IPv6
IPv6—Internet Protocol version 6—is the next generation of the protocol that runs the
Internet. IPv6 is currently a set of draft standards in the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF). IPv6 is designed to improve upon IPv4's scalability, ease-of-configuration, and
re-introduce the original TCP/IP benefits for global networking. Fundamentally, IPv6
expands network addressing from the current 32-bit address length to 128-bit,
accommodating future growth in IP devices and users. The 128 bits provide approximately
3.4 x 1038 addressable nodes, enough to allocate over a million addresses per person on the
planet.
For More Information
See the Cisco IOS IPv6 Web site: http://www.cisco.com/go/ipv6
IOS Packaging and Licensing
Cisco IOS Software code is continuously refreshed and maintained to adapt to the changing
needs of customers, and the evolution of markets. Software refresh occurs to ensure new
features work with existing ones, make existing features work better together, improve
platform performance, and optimize for device memory. As of Cisco IOS 12.3, customer
needs are better suited with updated framework for feature sets, reduced in number from
forty-four to eight, Refined and simplified as of 12.3, subsequent releases will improve the
release selection experience due to fewer feature sets, and the consistency of feature set
naming and feature inheritance.
The new features set framework is available on Cisco 1700, 2600XM, 2691, and 3700 Series
Routers as of Cisco IOS Software 12.3.
The Principle of Feature Inheritance
Cisco IOS Packaging inherits all of the Cisco IOS Software features and services available
in the packages below it, offering customers a clear migration and upgrade path.
Feature Set Naming Conventions
The new package names emphasize the inheritance characteristics of Cisco IOS Packaging.
They also provide a high-level feature content description of the new packages, which
further simplifies the image selection process. The new packages are introduced as upgrade
and migration opportunities in Cisco IOS Software Release 12.3
1
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1. Cisco 1720, Cisco 2600 non-XM, and the Cisco 3600 Router Series do not support Cisco IOS Packaging in
Release 12.3