The quality of service (QoS) event manager - automated implementation of QoS policies

The DoD needs reliable networks to support real-time, mission-critical applications and newer technologies such as IP-based voice and video. Network performance is sometimes reduced to unacceptable levels due to events such as congestion, equipment failure and information-warfare attacks. A popular solution to these problems is to increase available bandwidth within local area networks and across the wide area network. For the DoD, this option is often unavailable, especially for in-theater forces. It has been demonstrated that quality of service (QoS) policies, created with currently available commercial products, can improve the performance of IP-based networks by orders of magnitude. However, different QoS policies are needed to address specific scenarios such as a particular operational mission, a denial-of-service attack or bandwidth saturation. The network administrator must implement the appropriate QoS policy on an as-needed basis. This paper describes a prototype QoS event manager that automates the process of QoS policy implementation. Based on inputs from network monitoring devices, routers and humans, the QoS event manager selects an appropriate QoS policy and deploys it across the network. We discuss the QoS event manager design and consider issues regarding automated prioritization, tracking and deconfliction of QoS policies.