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Differentiated Services
Prof. T. Szymanski
2013
Prof. T. Szymanski
Motivation
! Current Internet Protocol (IPv4) provides best-effort service. Congestion can
degrade TCP/IP performance.
! The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) first developed the Integrated
Services model to provide QoS in the internet. In this model, the router
reserves resources for each individual flow. RSVP was the control protocol to
implement the Integrated Services QoS model.
! However, a core network IP-router may support millions of flows. Reserving
resources in the router for each flow is infeasible.
! The IETF then introduced the Differentiated Services Model (DiffServ),
a simple and more scalable QoS protocol.
! The key idea is to aggregate multiple traffic flows into a single aggregated
traffic class, and offer QoS for the entire aggregated traffic class
! DiffServ supports multiple traffic classes, and resources are reserved on
an end-to-end path for each class
Prof. T. Szymanski
Outline
! Motivation for Differentiated Services (DiffServ)
! Traffic Classification and Conditioning
! QoS achieved through 3 Classes of Per Hop Behaviors (PHB) :
! Expedited Forwarding PHB
! Assured Forwarding PHB
! Best-Effort PHB
! Advantages/Disadvantages of DiffServ
! Conclusion
Prof. T. Szymanski
DiffServ (DS) Domains (fig. 10.2, pg. 718)
! A Border DS node is a boundary node that handles traffic as it leaves one DiffServ domain
and enters another.
! An Access DS node is a boundary node that handles traffic as it enters a DiffServ domain.
! Traffic streams may be classified and conditioned when entering or exiting a Border DS node
Prof. T. Szymanski
Definitions: DiffServ Domains
! A DiffServ domain consists of a set of connected nodes (IP-routers) which
can provide the DiffServ service (these nodes can implement the PHBs defined
below at each node).
! Generally made up of one organizations intranet or an ISP network (i.e.,
a network controlled by a single entity).
! A traffic flow is between one IP source address and one IP destination
address.
! An aggregated traffic stream is an aggregation of numerous traffic flows
with identical DS fields i.e., traffic classes.
! Packets receive different service levels by assigning specific values in the
Type of Service (TOS) byte of the IPv4 packet header, which is now
renamed to the DS field.
! Different values in the DS field correspond to different packet-forwarding
treatment at each router, called Per Hop Behaviors (PHB)
! The Differentiated Services CodePoint (DSCP) is the numeric value of the DS
field, which is used to select the PHB.
Prof. T. Szymanski
Definitions: SLA, TCA
! A customer wishing to receive DiffServ must first have a service level
agreement (SLA) with their Internet Service Provider (ISP). A SLA is a
contract between a customer and an ISP that specifies the forwarding
service (i.e., QoS class).
! Static: negotiated on regular basis (e.g., monthly or yearly basis)
! Dynamic: Uses a signaling protocol to negotiate the service on
demand.
! An SLA includes traffic conditioning agreement (TCA)
! Contains rules used to realize the service - what the client must do to
achieve desired service, and what the ISP will do to enforce the limits.
! Specifies detailed service parameters (service level and traffic profile
i.e., all the parameters for a leaky bucket policer - I,T,R,MBS,L)
! Traffic is conditioned (i.e., shaped) at DS border nodes when the traffic
enters or exits a DS domain, but it is not conditioned within a domain
Prof. T. Szymanski
Traffic classification
! A border router in a DiffServ domain uses a classifier software function,
to identify the service class that should be given to traffic entering the
DiffServ domain
! Packet classifiers classify packets in a traffic stream based on the content
of some portion of the packet header. There are two types of classifiers:
! The Behavior Aggregate (BA) classifier selects packets based only
on the DSCP only, which is in TOS byte of the IPv4 header.
! The Multi-Field (MF) classifier classifies packets based on the
combination of one or more header fields (i.e., source IP and
destination IP address, the DS field, the protocol ID, the source port
and destination port numbers, etc). This classifier allows for a finer
ability to identify and classify traffic flows
Prof. T. Szymanski
Traffic Conditioning cont.
! A traffic profile specifies the temporal properties of a traffic stream selected
by a classifier, ie similar to the Leaky Bucket Policer parameters - average
traffic rate, burst traffic rate, maximum burst size, with parameters
I,T,R,MBS,L
! A traffic conditioner is an entity which performs traffic conditioning
functions and which may contain traffic policers (meters), droppers and
shapers (ie token bucket shapers)
Figure: Functional diagram of a packet classifier and a packet conditioner.
Prof. T. Szymanski
Traffic Conditioning
! The meter (or policer) measures the temporal properties of a packet
selected by a classifier to check conformance to a traffic profile specified in
the TCA. The meter passes state information to other elements to trigger a
particular action for each packet which is either conforming or
nonconforming to a traffic profile
! The most common meter is the Leaky Bucket Policer that can be used to
check performance against peak rate, average rate, maximum burst size
and other traffic parameters (ie I,T,R,MBS,L).
! The marker sets the DS field of a packet to a particular byte value called
the Differentiated Services CodePoint (DSCP). It may perform
marking on unmarked packets or re-mark nonconforming traffic to a lower
service level.
Prof. T. Szymanski
Traffic Conditioning
! A traffic-shaper delays some packets to bring the stream into compliance
with a traffic profile. It has a finite-size buffer, and packets may be
discarded if there is not sufficient buffer space to hold the delayed packets.
A Token-Bucket-Traffic-shaper can be used here (already discussed in
4DN4).
! The dropper discards traffic the violates its traffic profile. It can be
implemented as a special case of a token bucket shaper by setting the
shaper buffer size to a small value, ie zero.
Prof. T. Szymanski
Location of classifiers / conditioners
! The SLA between the DS domains should specify which DS domain has
responsibility for mapping traffic streams to DiffServ traffic streams and
conditioning them in conformance with the appropriate traffic conditioning
agreement.
! A DS Border node must assume that the incoming traffic may not conform to
the TCA and must be prepared to enforce the TCA in accordance with local
policy
! Typically, when traffic first enters a DS domain, it is conditioned (ie with a
token bucket or WFQ traffic conditioners) and is not conditioned again
within the domain
! There cannot be any significant congestion within that domain since all traffic
is conditioned on entry only
Prof. T. Szymanski
DiffServ (DS) Domains
! A Border DS node will classify and condition traffic upon entry to a DiffServ domain
Prof. T. Szymanski
Best-Effort PHB
! The Best-Effort PHB (BE PHB) is defined as the default PHB.
! When no other agreements are in place, it is assumed that
packets belong to this behavior
! There is no guarantee on the loss, jitter or throughput of a
traffic stream
! The network delivers as many of these packets as possible and
as soon as possible in the <first come, first serve> basis
! The Best-effort traffic has the least priority.
Prof. T. Szymanski
Assured Forwarding PHB
! Assured forwarding PHB delivers the aggregate traffic from a
particular customer with high assurance (ie high probability) as long as
the aggregate traffic does not exceed the traffic profile
! 3 classes of AF PHB:
! Gold service is the top class 1
! Silver service is the mid-class 2
! Bronze service is the bottom class 3
! Within each class, packets are also assigned one out of 3 possible
drop-precedence values. If there is congestion, the drop
precedence determines the relative importance of the packet within one
AF class
! Effectively, there are 9 sub-classes of service in the AF PHB: 3
classes times 3 drop precedence values
Prof. T. Szymanski
Recall: Random Early Detection
! Random Early Detection (RED) is a buffer management technique,
which drops packets randomly when the average queue length
exceeds a given minimum threshold
! The dropped packet notifies the corresponding TCP/IP source that
congestion is imminent and the source will reduce its transmission
rate (the TCP/IP source enters the Congestion Avoidance phase)
! The probability of dropping a packet increases in proportion to the
average queue size
Prof. T. Szymanski
RED with IN/OUT (ignore in 2009)
! To implement the drop-precedence values in the AF PHB class, the RED
algorithm must be extended
! In the algorithm RED with IN/OUT (RIO), packets are classified into
2 classes, inside (IN) or outside (OUT), depending on whether they
conform to some profile (determined by policing the traffic)
! 2 average queue lengths are maintained for these 2 classes, and the
packets are dropped according to a RED algorithm for each average
queue length. OUT packets are dropped more aggressively than IN
packets.
! RIO can be used to provide more than 2 different levels of packet drop
precedence, to implement the drop precedence in the AF PHB
Prof. T. Szymanski
Expedited Forwarding PHB
The Expedited Forwarding PHB (EF PHB) provides:
! Low loss
! Low latency
! Low jitter (ie low delay variation)
! End-to-end service with assured bandwidth
! The service obtained is equivalent to a virtual leased line.
Also called Premium service
! The packets are placed in a queue that must be short and
served quickly, so that EF traffic will maintain significantly lower
levels of latency, packet loss and jitter.
! The queue is most likely serviced using WFQ.
Prof. T. Szymanski
Bandwidth Broker
! A Bandwidth-Broker solves the problems of allocating and
controlling BW so that objectives of a DS Domain are met
! One approach is to have users individually decide which service to
use, and neogitate this with a central authority
! Each domain will need a software agent called the bandwidth
broker, to manage its resources
! The broker will track current allocation of BW to different services
and manage new requests for services
! Broker sets up packet classifiers and meters in the DS Border
routers - it controls how the traffic is conditioned at the borders
! It maintains a policy Database that specifies users rights
! It maintains bilateral agreements with other brokers in other DS
domains
Prof. T. Szymanski
Issues with DiffServ
! End-to-end delay bounds are generally not guaranteed
! A flow may pass through several DS domains and several non-DS
domains which use best-effort delivery, which compromises the QoS
! Even within a DS domain, traffic classifiers and conditioners only police
and condition the traffic streams at the DS border nodes upon entry
to the DS domain; once inside the DS domain, traffic policing and
conditioning do not occur at each IP-router
! The traffic senders and receivers generally use UDP or TCP/IP flow
control protocols; TCP/IP is inherently bursty, with the basic 3-phase
TCP/IP congestion control algorithm (slow-start, congestion avoidance,
and time-out)
Prof. T. Szymanski
Summary
! DiffServ solves the scalability problem of RSVP, by aggregating
multiple traffic flows into a single traffic class stream, and providing
QoS to the traffic class stream
! DiffServ supports 3 basic traffic classes, (Expedited Forwarding
PHB, Assured Forwarding PHB, Best-Effort PHB)
! Within the Assured Forwarding class, DiffServ supports 3 subclasses
of service (Gold, Silver, Bronze); each subclass has 3 drop
precedence values, for a total of 9 subclasses of service
! Advantages:
! Easy to deploy, TOS (Type of Service) byte already exists in the
IPv4 Header
! Complexity is only added to DS Border routers
! Disadvantages:
! No quantitatively hard performance guarantees