Assessment Brief

Complete the following tasks in the form of a report. Your answers should include formal references, diagrams where appropriate and a detailed bibliography.

Learning Outcomes Assessed 1 Compare and contrast Quality of Service methods and their requirements. 2 Investigate traffic engineering and service differentiation into the internet 6 Critically analyze the Multi-Protocol Label Switching technology and its QoS capabilities.

 

TASK 1 – QUEUEING & SHAPING (40% WEIGHTING) [LO1]

QoS parameters are determined by an associated SLA. To ensure that the traffic being routed by the ingress router doesn’t break the terms of the SLA, packets need to be classified and managed to ensure they exit the router in a controlled manner (Performance Tuned). There are a number of methods that can be used to accomplish this with the main methods being:  • Packet Classification • Queuing • Shaping • Admission Control (active and passive) With regard to the Performance Tuning methods listed above, discuss how these are implemented within a network to ensure that QoS as determined by an SLA, can be met.

 

TASK 2 – QOS DELIVERY (35% WEIGHTING) [LO2]

When traffic exits the ingress router, there are a number of architectures that can be implemented to ensure that the QoS compliant delivery of Voice, Video or Data packets.

For delivery of packets between ingress and egress edge router interfaces three important technologies can be implemented to ensure that QoS are met these are:  • Integrated Services • Differentiated Services • RSVP Evaluate these methods, their operation and requirements for achieving QoS, and discuss how these technologies can be used in conjunction with each other to ensure QoS delivery

 

TASK 3 – MPLS (25% WEIGHTING) [LO3]

To ensure QoS can be achieved at ISP level, label switching technologies are implemented. However due to the behaviour of various protocols used by ISPs (IPv4, IPv6, Ethernet, PPP, OSPF etc.), MPLS was introduced to alleviate issues such as latency and jitter amongst others and improve packet delivery.

Evaluate the benefits of label-switching in MPLS and consider the characteristics of the technology and how it allows QoS in modern network technologies.

Word count approx. 2,400. References should be in the B&FC Harvard format and diagrams, tables and supplementary information supplied in appendices. Failure to do so will result in a loss of validity and reliability in your work which in turn will result in a loss of marks. Please aim to be concise, selecting key points, comparing, contrasting and evaluating where appropriate.  Please refer to grading descriptors for more information on how this will be marked.