Question

Difficulty: MediumQoS Per-Hop Behaviors, Classification, Marking, Queuing, and Traffic Shaping/Policing

A network engineer is evaluating QoS traffic conditioning strategies for a branch connection using a sub-rate Ethernet service where the committed information rate is lower than the physical interface speed. Which two characteristics accurately distinguish traffic policing from traffic shaping in this scenario? (Select two.)

  1. Traffic shaping buffers out-of-profile packets in memory queues to smooth egress traffic spikes.Answer
  2. Traffic policing immediately drops or remarks packets that exceed the configured bandwidth threshold without buffering.Answer
  3. C
    Traffic policing utilizes interface queues to store bursty traffic, preventing packet loss on ingress links.
  4. D
    Traffic shaping discards excess frames as soon as the bandwidth limit is exceeded to prevent queuing delay.

Answer

Traffic shaping buffers out-of-profile packets in memory queues to smooth egress traffic spikes, and traffic policing immediately drops or remarks packets that exceed the configured bandwidth threshold without buffering.
Traffic shaping regulates output rates by queuing non-conforming packets and transmitting them smoothly over time. In contrast, traffic policing enforces rate limits without buffering, immediately dropping or remarking packets that exceed specified burst limits.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze operational behavior of traffic shaping
Shaping buffers excess bursts in queues and smooths the egress flow to match the configured rate, introducing queuing delay rather than immediate drops.
Shapers use queue buffers to manage micro-bursts and smooth out-of-profile traffic.
2
Analyze operational behavior of traffic policing
Policing checks traffic against rate limits and immediately drops or remarks non-conforming packets without using memory buffers.
Policers operate on a bucket mechanism with no queue storage capability.

Key Concept

Traffic Policing vs. Traffic Shaping Mechanics
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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