|
Bandwidth
Shaping
See more on these topics> Application Visibility>
Web Filtering> Filter Avoidance>
Granular Reporting>
Network Security>
Converged
Internet traffic is a great thing because it allows application traffic, Web
traffic, mission critical and non-mission critical traffic, and voice, video,
social media, messaging, and streaming content all from one great big
pipe. The problem typically is that all
the content needs to get out of your network connection at the same time. The converged Internet traffic needs to get
in shape.
Lots
of solutions exist to do shaping. The
vast majority of them ask IT managers to treat the Internet connection like a
stack of blocks of different thicknesses, like this:
Each
category of traffic is given a floor and a ceiling, in other words a maximum
amount and a minimum amount of data throughput the traffic is entitled to
use. For example, voice may be allocated
up to 5 Mbps but should never drop below 1 Mbps. Stacking the blocks of
earmarks together gives the total available bandwidth. The shaping algorithm then works by class. The shaping maintains a high degree of availability and is
easy to understand. We think it's all wrong.
Here's
where the old model breaks down. Network
traffic is not static. It varies
dramatically by time of day and day of week.
Sometimes there is a tremendous amount of application and voice traffic
but no video conferencing. Other times,
video is all there is on the network.
Chances are your traffic is going to look more like this:
To
make things more efficient, we got rid of the "floor" idea. Instead, Cymphonix Network Composer asks
three basic questions: 
- Who is it making the request?
- What is the request?
- What time is it?
The
first question is important because, unlike other solutions, Network Composer
prioritizes traffic by user, group, LAN segment, or location. For example, if one department needs access
to YouTube, you can manage the amount and the approved list.
The second question is more straightforward. Is the request a video conferencing
application or voice? Is it Web
browsing? If so, what site? Is it
peer-to-peer? Is the request for traffic
going through a suspicious port with a suspicious payload?
The third question potentially affects the assigned prioritization. Streaming media might be more okay for folks working at off-peak times. Voice and video traffic might need priority in the mornings and late evenings.
Network
Composer takes the information received from each question and will reparse the
packets, assigning each a priority in the queue. This method eliminates the need for a fixed
floor since Network Composer can determine in real-time the appropriate
priority of each bit of traffic. In
effect, it creates a "dynamic" floor that makes your Internet connection
efficient and fast.
See more>
|
