HP-UX IPQoS A.01.00 Administrator's Guide (October 2005)

Introduction
Planning for HP-UX IPQoS Deployment
Chapter 130
As part of this analysis, you must understand the current factors preventing your
organization from achieving its network performance goals. Then you can better
understand how to use HP-UX IPQoS policies to achieve improvements in network
performance.
• Assess your network traffic. Analyze the baseline data on both your overall network as
well as on your HP-UX hosts.
Understand the typical traffic patterns and bottlenecks in the network, including
determining which traffic is most sensitive to congestion. Measure response times for
critical applications, determine the bottlenecks in response time or performance, and look
at the mix of traffic. Gather data over a long enough time period to show the effects of the
cyclical realities of your environment. Prioritize among the various types of traffic in the
network.
• Review your network topology so that you can plan a strategy for using IP QoS-enabled
systems and DS-aware routers. Determine the network resources available for QoS
management. Determine if you have the types of devices (hosts and routers) and the
capacity on the network to carry out the actions required to meet your business goals.
Decide which systems will be IP QoS-enabled and which routers will be DS-aware.
Minimally, you will need at least one IP QoS-enabled system and at least one DS-aware
router. If your local router is not DS-aware, then it will pass marked packets on to the
next hop without evaluating the DSCP marks. For each DS-aware component, you must
plan an IP QoS strategy and map it into policies.
As part of identifying specific resources for IP QoS deployment follow these steps:
1. Determine key connector devices and locate frequently used paths.
2. Know the resources that are the bottlenecks in these paths.
3. Know which adapters (NICs) on these resources you must specifically apply IP QoS
mechanisms to.
4. Isolate parts of the network that cause problems or need to be managed.
HP-UX Host Specific Planning Considerations
After examining network wide considerations, analyze HP-UX host specific considerations to
help you plan your HP-UX IPQoS implementation.
• Review, classify, and prioritize the outbound traffic HP-UX hosts generate. Determine
any groups into which outbound HP-UX host traffic can be divided. Organize these groups
into differentiated classes of service by determining appropriate classification, metering
and marking behaviors that can then be translated to filter and policy specifications.