Book excerpt: Develop cost-effective, long-term solutions to your network traffic control problems. Even if you can find the money to do it, overengineering your network will not solve your traffic flow problems. As the authors of this groundbreaking guide clearly demonstrate, the best long-term solution to network congestion and bottlenecks can be found in a set of Quality of Service (QoS) architectures, policies, and technologies known as differentiated Classes of Service (CoS). Quality of Service is a valuable working resource for technical managers charged with solving the problem of how to handle the exploding volume of traffic on their companies' networks. The authors explore the roots of the current network traffic control crisis and they provide a realistic assessment of the gamut of standard, new, and emerging QoS/CoS technologies. They consider all crucial, design, cost, and support issues surrounding quality of service deployment for all types of networks, including intranets and multimedia networks. And they provide managers with a rational framework for finding the most cost-effective QoS/CoS solutions to their organizations' long-term networking goals. Key technical issues covered include: * Queuing disciplines, traffic shaping, and admission control techniques * Quality and differentiation hooks found in TCP/IP * Getting the most out of Frame Relay and ATM technologies * QoS/CoS techniques for dial-up services * Integrated Services Architecture and RSVP. Visit this book's companion website at www.wiley.com/compbooks/ferguson