Considerations from the Service Management Research Group (SMRG) on Quality of Service (QoS) in the IP Network

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 QoS-capable network envisioned by some for the future. We examine some of the areas of impact that QoS is likely to have on management and look at some questions that remain to be addressed.