Traffic Shaping
Traffic shaping is used to control bandwidth of the network to ensure quality of service to business-critical applications. It can be validated at :
- Port group level
- Virtual or distributed virtual switch
This technique uses three parameters to shape the flow of network traffic :
1. Burst size 2. Average bandwidth 3. Peak bandwidth
These are explained as following below.
- Burst Size :
When the workload is greater than average bandwidth it is known as burst. Maximum amount of bytes that are permitted to move in a burst are defined by burst size.Burst Size = Time*Bandwidth
Bandwidth can increase up to peak bandwidth. Available bandwidth and time burst can stay for a specific burst size are inversely proportional to each other. Therefore, greater time burst can stay for a specific burst size, lesser is available bandwidth and vice versa. If a particular burst is greater than the configured burst size, then remaining frames will be lined up for later transmission. The frames will be discarded in case queue is full.
- Average Bandwidth :
It is configured to set permitted bits per second across a port group level or a virtual/distributed virtual switch, over time. The rate of data transfer is permitted over time. - Peak bandwidth :
It decides maximum number of bits per second permitted across a port group level or a virtual/distributed virtual switch without discarding or queuing the frames.Peak Bandwidth > Average Bandwidth
Traffic Shaping : A network traffic management technique.
Example :
Suppose we have Burst Size = 3 Kb, Average bandwidth = 1 Kbps and Peak bandwidth = 4 Kbps.
Then we can say that Burst with rate of data 3 Kbps can remain for 1 second.