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Differentiated Services

A scalable QoS architecture that marks packets with priority levels to determine how they should be treated by routers.

AbbreviationDiffServ
Categorynetwork

Overview

DiffServ is the most common QoS model used on the internet and in modern enterprise networks. It works by using the DSCP (Differentiated Services Code Point) field in the IP header.

How it Works

  1. Classification: Edge routers identify traffic (e.g., voice vs. web).
  2. Marking: The router sets a DSCP value in the packet header.
  3. Per-Hop Behavior (PHB): Every router along the path looks at the DSCP value and applies a specific queuing or dropping policy.

Related Terms

Integrated Services