Achieving QoS in a Hybrid Cloud Implementation

Strategies for protecting real-time traffic in a hybrid cloud environment

Terry Slattery

February 18, 2019

1 Min Read
Achieving QoS in a Hybrid Cloud Implementation

Quality of service, or QoS, is important when mixing real-time and bulk traffic. Add big data applications and the challenge grows. Let’s look at strategies that we can use to protect real-time traffic in a hybrid cloud environment where end-to-end QoS may not be possible.

I define a hybrid cloud as a combination of an enterprise on-premises cloud system and a remote, vendor-provided cloud system. The on-premises systems typically support either infrastructure or platform delivered in the as-a-service model, while the vendor systems could provide a variety of services (infrastructure, platform, data center, or software). In a hybrid cloud, applications might have components located on premises or externally. An application that has real-time communications requirements between sites should be prioritized over non-real-time traffic.

You may also have a software service, such as VoIP, that has real-time components. Somehow, you must connect your voice endpoints within the enterprise to the voice control system service. Call control services typically have less critical timing constraints than real-time streams going to conference calling services located in a cloud provider’s infrastructure.

No QoS over the Internet

QoS is normally used to prioritize different types of traffic, relative to each other. The process involves classifying traffic by marking packets with either a class-of-service (CoS) or Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) identifier. Once packets are marked, the network uses the embedded CoS/DSCP identifier to perform rate limiting and prioritization for forwarding. Time-sensitive packets get transmitted before less-time-sensitive packets. A QoS design typically has four, eight, or 12 different classes.

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About the Author

Terry Slattery

Principal Architect, NetCraftsmenTerry Slattery is a principal architect at NetCraftsmen, an advanced network consulting firm that specializes in high-profile and challenging network consulting jobs. Terry is currently working on network management, SDN, business strategy consulting, and interesting legal cases. He is the founder of Netcordia, inventor of NetMRI, has been a successful technology innovator in networking during the past 20 years, and is co-inventor on two patents. He has a long history of network consulting and design work, including some of the first Cisco consulting and training. As a consultant to Cisco, he led the development of the current Cisco IOS command line interface. Prior to Netcordia, Terry founded Chesapeake Computer Consultants, which became a Cisco premier training and consulting partner. At Chesapeake, he co-invented and patented the v-LAB system to provide hands-on access to real hardware for the hands-on component of internetwork training classes.Terry co-authored the successful McGraw-Hill text "Advanced IP Routing in Cisco Networks," is the second CCIE (1026) awarded, and is a regular speaker at Enterprise Connect and Interop.

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