Following is a brief description of terms and concepts used to describe QoS.

Access control lists (ACLs) classify traffic with the same characteristics. IP traffic is classified using IP standard or IP extended ACLs. The ACL can have multiple access control entries (ACEs), which are commands that match fields against the contents of the packet. It is not possible to match IP fragments against configured IP extended ACLs to enforce QoS, but it is possible to match IP options against configured IP extended ACLs to enforce QoS.

Class of Service (CoS) is a 3-bit value used to classify the priority of Layer-2 frames upon entry into a network. QoS classifies frames by assigning priority-indexed CoS values to them, and gives preference to higher-priority traffic. Layer-2 802.1Q frame headers have a 2-byte Tag Control Information field that carries the CoS value in the three most-significant bits, called the User Priority bits. On interfaces configured as Layer-2 802.1Q trunks, all traffic is in 802.1Q frames, except for traffic in the native VLAN. Other frame types cannot carry Layer-2 CoS values. CoS values range from zero to seven, seven being the highest priority.

Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) is a 6-bit value used to classify the priority of Layer-3 packets upon entry into a network. DSCP values range from 0 to 63, 63 being the highest priority, 0 being best-effort traffic.

Classification distinguishes one kind of traffic from another by examining the fields in the packet. The process generates an internal DSCP for a packet, which identifies all future QoS actions to be taken on the packet. Each packet is classified upon entry into the network. At the ingress, the packet is inspected, and the DSCP is determined based on ACLs or the configuration. The Layer-2 CoS value is then mapped to a DSCP value. The classification is carried in the IP packet header using 6 bits from the deprecated IP TOS field to carry the classification information. Classification can also occur in the Layer-2 frame. Classification is enabled only if QoS is globally enabled on the switch. By default, QoS is globally disabled, thus, no classification occurs. Classification occurs on an ingress physical port, but not at the switch virtual interface level. Classification can be based on QoS ACLs, or class maps and policy maps.

Policing determines whether a packet is in or out of profile by comparing the internal DSCP to the configured policer. Policer limits the bandwidth consumed by a traffic flow with the results given to the marker. The two types of policers:

Policing and policers have the following attributes:

Marking determines how to handle a packet when it is out of profile. It assesses the policer and the configuration data to determine the action required for the packet, and then handles the packet using one of the following methods:

Marking can occur on ingress and egress interfaces.

Queuing maps packets to a CoS queue. Each egress port can accommodate up 8 CoS queues, prioritized as 0 lowest and 7 highest. The tagged packet incoming priority can be mapped to one of the 8 queues obtained from the filtering mechanism result. The untagged packet CoS priority is also obtained from the filtering mechanism result. After the packets are mapped to a CoS queue, they are scheduled.

Bandwidth reservation is the minimum guaranteed bandwidth allocated per queue. Total guaranteed bandwidth of all the queues belonging to a particular port should not exceed the interface Bandwidth. In case if no Bandwidth reservation is done for the queue, minimum guaranteed per each queue will be 1% of the parent node [scheduling node or interface]

Scheduling forwards or conditions packets using one of the following methods:

A class map names and isolates specific traffic from other traffic. The class map defines the criteria used to match against a specific traffic flow to classify it further. The criteria can include:

If there is more than one type of traffic to be classified, another class map can be created under a different name. After a packet is matched against the class-map criteria, it is further classified using a policy map.

A policy map specifies on which traffic class to act. This can be implemented as follows:

Policy maps have the following attributes: