Traffic shaping is a strategy to optimize network performance and manage traffic. Information is sent in packets with different priority levels, similar to vehicular traffic. Prioritization can be based on information, sender, or receiver. Traffic shaping can ensure fair access and low latency for certain applications. However, it must be done correctly to avoid causing more problems.
Traffic shaping is a strategy for optimizing performance and managing traffic on a network. Since most networks have a limited amount of bandwidth, an effective strategy is needed to ensure that the network is not overloaded. Computer network traffic can sometimes cause a network to become busy leading to choke points.
To understand traffic modeling, it is first important to understand how information is transported across a network. Information is sent over networks in packets, which are nothing more than formatted blocks of data. These data packets can have different priority levels as they traverse a network in order to optimize performance. This is the heart of the model.
In some ways, it’s not much different than vehicular traffic on a road, which is a form of traffic in the physical world. In general, road traffic is considered to have the same level of priority, regardless of what individual drivers may think. However, some cars, or packets in network terms, are delayed by semaphores so as not to create a bottleneck at certain points. Eventually, these cars will be allowed to proceed. In some cases, an emergency vehicle may be making a call, so all normal vehicles will be delayed as the emergency vehicle is given priority.
In network traffic modeling, packets can be prioritized in several ways. Some may be prioritized based on the information submitted. Others may be prioritized based on the computer sending the information or the computer receiving the information.
Also, if many users are competing for the same bandwidth, traffic shaping can be used to ensure everyone gets equal priority. If a computer uses the network heavily, packets from that computer may be delayed so that others are granted fair and equal access.
Internet service providers can also use traffic shaping as a means of controlling traffic on their networks. There are some internet applications that require low latency for maximum effect. Low latency is another term which means less delays. Packet modeling can help voice applications and online gaming experiences, for example, achieve their maximum effectiveness by lagging some other packets.
While traffic shaping causes some concern among some computer users, the overall goal is to make a network run as smoothly as possible. This may require a good network engineer to set the rules for this to be achieved. Just as with bad vehicle traffic patterns, network traffic management done incorrectly can cause more problems than it intends to solve.
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