QOS over an MPLS

[Dan Loring]

When configuring QOS over an MPLS do we need to have our provider add any commands to there routing, or is it just our edge routers, and they just pass them through regardless?  Is there a good article that some one can point me to regarding QOS over MPLS?

Thanks,

[Edison Ortiz · Accepted solution]

You need to work with your provider if you are planning to use QoS in a MPLS Backbone.

While you can configure QoS at your locations, if the provider runs into congestion,

those packets will be dropped regardless of your QoS tags.

Your provider will guide you on the type of service they offer and how much it will cost for each class.

For instance, they tend to charge premium for priority queuing class depending upon how much PQ you need.

You don't need to do much at your end other than configuring your flows according to the provider's policies.

Regards,

Edison

[Dan Loring]

Thanks again Edison,

I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

[Joseph W. Doherty]

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Posting

Much depends on what all you mean by over MPLS.

Assuming you're using MPLS as a L2 or L3 cloud, you generally need to provide your own QoS as you send traffic into that cloud (much like frame-relay or ATM clouds).  Additionally, if your MPLS cloud supports multipoint, and you take advanage of that, you'll often need QoS support from you MPLS cloud vendor.  Most MPLS cloud vendors can provide optional QoS, often at additional cost.

However, if you run a logical hub-and-spoke topology across a MPLS cloud, you don't always need QoS support from your vendor (again much like frame-relay or ATM).

If the foregoing is what you have in mind, an article is probably inadequate to explain.  One of Cisco's Design Guides would be a good start, e.g. http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/solutions/Enterprise/WAN_and_MAN/QoS_SRND/QoS-SRND-Book.html.  But to really understand what's involved you may need a book, such as:  http://www.ciscopress.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=1587051761, (I don't believe I've read this one, but Cisco Press books generally are good to excellent.)