RFC 3387 (rfc3387) - Page 1 of 19
Considerations from the Service Management Research Group (SMRG) on Quality of Service (QoS) in the IP Network
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group M. Eder
Request for Comments: 3387 H. Chaskar
Category: Informational Nokia
S. Nag
September 2002
Considerations from the Service Management Research Group (SMRG)
on Quality of Service (QoS) in the IP Network
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does
not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this
memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
The guiding principles in the design of IP network management were
simplicity and no centralized control. The best effort service
paradigm was a result of the original management principles and the
other way around. New methods to distinguish the service given to
one set of packets or flows relative to another are well underway.
However, as IP networks evolve the management approach of the past
may not apply to the Quality of Service (QoS)-capable network
envisioned by some for the future. This document examines some of
the areas of impact that QoS is likely to have on management and look
at some questions that remain to be addressed.
1. Introduction
Simplicity above all else was one of the guiding principles in the
design of IP networks. However, as IP networks evolve, the concept
of service in IP is also evolving, and the strategies of the past may
not apply to the full-service QoS-capable network envisioned by some
for the future. Within the IP community, their exists a good deal of
impetus for the argument that if the promise of IP is to be
fulfilled, networks will need to offer an increasing variety of
services. The definition of these new services in IP has resulted in
a need for reassessment of the current control mechanism utilized by
IP networks. Efforts to provide mechanisms to distinguish the
service given to one set of packets or flows relative to another are
well underway, yet many of the support functions necessary to exploit
these mechanisms are limited in scope and a complete framework is
Eder, et. al. Informational
