Design and Monitor Your Network to Deliver Optimal Quality of Service Steve Kelley Director, Solutions Specialists NetSolve, Inc.

3 Step Approach Maximize performance in a converged network through: –Audit –Optimization –Proactive monitoring and management

Step 1 – Audit QoS is primarily an infrastructure issue Prior to converging voice & video with the data network, an audit will: –determine network status –bandwidth requirements –check for and modify device configurations to accommodate and prioritize for converged traffic

3 Ways to Audit a Network - #1 Simulated usage audit tool –simplest –runs simulated voice or video transmissions and reports on how well network performed –can indicate the presence of problems –does not check configuration of individual network devices

3 Ways to Audit a Network - #2 Automated configuration check –offers speed and is more thorough than a simulated usage tool –application that pulls the configuration of each network device and checks it to ensure that it is set up properly to handle converged traffic –can miss important details that lead to QoS issues

3 Ways to Audit a Network - #3 Personal review –slowest method but most thorough –an individual reviews the configuration of each network device manually –As a result of audit, engineer can make necessary configuration changes

Step 2 – Optimization Based on results of audit, may entail: –upgrading hardware –reconfiguring devices –adding bandwidth to the network

Optimization – Upgrading Hardware Some older hardware devices do not support QoS queuing. Therefore, these devices will need to be replaced with newer models that support QoS.

Optimization – Reconfiguring Devices Need to anticipate future growth If call admission control isn’t configured correctly, adding callers to a network that is already configured to handle the maximum amount of voice or video traffic can lead to QoS degradation for all end-users

Optimization – Adding Bandwidth Most businesses will have to make an investment in bandwidth –standard T1 offers 1536Mbps of available throughput –G711 codec requires approx. 80Mbps throughput per IPT call –You can manage approx. 19 IPT calls on a single T1 lines.

Step 3 – Proactive Monitoring and Management Without monitoring, a business is reactive – by the time you know there’s an issue, users are already experiencing delay or drop

Monitoring for QoS Install an agent simulating voice or video traffic that records any loss, delay or jitter –simplest to install –difficult to isolate where the QoS issues are occurring –difficulty is multiplied by the number of devices between the two connection points

Monitoring for QoS Monitor each device individually –more thorough approach –enables the rapid isolation of problems –allows you to monitor for potential problems –difficulty is trying to isolate issues that occur in the carrier cloud

Steve Kelley Director, Solutions Specialists NetSolve, Incorporated