datacenter QOS help :*(

[dowxp]

I have a huge problem.

What I want to do: have a few machines each with a different task-

1) web
2) ftp
3) xdcc

currently this is all connected to a 2950 on a 100m uplink.

what i want to do:

1) set it up ala ddwrt port based QOS style:

2) have port 1 > 2 > 3

3) sounds simple but I cannot find a cheap solution to do this. consumer grade routers are not suitable due to slow cpu\lack of ram.

i've read that the 2950 can do QOS, but is it based on packets and not port? how does it know what packet is what? dow is confused 🙁


what are my possible solutions?

 

[jlazzaro]

is your 2950 running a standard or enhanced image?

if its the former, each port on the switch gets a default priority value...untagged frames are assigned this value, tagged frames uses the tag value. it queues frames at the egress port into only one of four priority queues. you can then configure the scheduling as either strict priotiy or weighted round robin.

if your running the enhanced image, you will have full blown QoS functionality. Port trusts, marking, shaping / policing, etc, etc. Traffic is defined via ACLs, grouped in a class map, shaped with a policy map, and finally applied to an interface.

if you want total control over your traffic to provide gauranteed bandwidth, go with the enhanced. QoS is a huge topic...read up on it at the cisco site: QoS

to address your summary, CCNA doesnt even touch QoS...thats CCNP territory 😉

 

[dowxp]

agh~ can i buy some of your time to get my network setup correctly? 🙂

 

[jlazzaro]

id rather teach you to fish 😛

basic QoS shoulnt be too difficult, especially in a senario such as yours. Check out this TechRepublic article...it even has a QoS template that you could take advantage of.

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-1035-6136216.html

this Cisco article should have all the commands you need:

Cisco 2950 Configuration Guide

 

[dowxp]

pah .. ok. i'm fairly certain my IOS is out of date. i tried downloading it off cisco but i am only guest access. how does one normally get access to IOS downloads?

 

[dphantom]

Originally posted by: dowxp
pah .. ok. i'm fairly certain my IOS is out of date. i tried downloading it off cisco but i am only guest access. how does one normally get access to IOS downloads?

Generally via a Smartnet contract with Cisco. They can be purchased via a Cisco reseller. Some older IOS are available for free download in case the IOS you are currently running is even older than the free out of date ones on Cisco's site. No guarantee that one is available that is compatible with your's tho.

 

[cmetz]

dowxp, the 2950s QoS implementation is okay but not great (it's not *correctly* implemented, e.g. WRED...). Just keep that in mind when doing this. You will not get exactly the performance levels you expect, only roughly.

You basically have to have the EMI image to do anything useful with QoS. The standard image is so crippled as to not be very useful. If you have the EMI image, see if you can follow Cisco's examples and get something going.

If you don't have the EMI image, you might be better off buying a whole new switch or some outboard device to do the QoS rather than buying the license upgrade.

 

[Cooky]

I'd recommend against buying SmartNet.
The type of image depends on your hardware, not the IOS you download. This means even if you purchase SmartNet today, your hardware may not support the enhanced image.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Cooky
I'd recommend against buying SmartNet.
The type of image depends on your hardware, not the IOS you download. This means even if you purchase SmartNet today, your hardware may not support the enhanced image.

Hate to correct you...

Most access layer (don't need a ton of features) cisco switches have a standard image and an enhanced image these days. The software/features are platform specific.

What this means is there are two lines of software for each platform. The "got goodies" and the "crippled" version. The SMI software is pretty crippled, but acceptible as an access layer switch.

Keep in mind that Cisco is NOT a hardware company, it is a software company.

 

[Cooky]

The software/features are platform specific.

Actually this is exactly what I meant...WS-C2950T-24 only supports the enhanced image, while WS-C2950T-48 only supports the standard image.
Therefore, if you have a 2950T-48, you can't run enhanced image even if you buy support and download latest IOS for 2950.