Network traffic refers to the rate of data transmission along with a particular network. When we consider the data transmission that happens along with a network, we can see the need to manage the traffic in data transmission.
For example, when transmitting audio data across a network, if the audio data encounters a delay, the distortion on the receiver end would be high due to its time-sensitive nature. The jitter would also be very high, even though it requires smaller bandwidth to be transmitted.
Also, when transmitting video data through a network, any delay would cause much distortion on the receiver end, and jitter would also cause much distortion on the receiving end. The transmission of audio data also requires a much higher bandwidth for its information, but the information of a file along with a network.
For instance, when downloading a file from the internet, any delay in the information would not cause any distortion on the receiving end, as the transmission of files is not time-sensitive, so jitter would not cause any distortion. Most times, the bandwidth requirement can be moderate for file transmission.
There is a need to control the information of data on the network to overcome distortion by giving preference to data that is much more sensitive to time and less inclination to data that is less sensitive to time. Some of the methods to handle network traffic can be seen below:
When used in network traffic handling, packet scheduling selects packets that are waiting on the transmission queue in the router.
The packet scheduling could be carried out by applying the first in, first out process, where the first packet to arrive in the line is the first packet to be transmitted.
Another way to carry out packet scheduling is through priority checks. The packets are categorized as a higher priority and as a lower priority. This priority is arranged based on the time-sensitivity of the packets, or the version of the internet protocol in use, whether version 4 or version 6. The higher priority queue is processed first then followed by the lower priority queue.
Another way to apply the packet scheduling method is through weighted fair queuing. Here, the high priority queue has a higher weight, while the low priority queue is seen to have a lower weight. The system here would select the packet from both queues in a corresponding weight pattern which is termed fair. This whole process helps to avoid every transmission delay and also sends every packet based on priority.
Traffic shaping explains the process of maintaining a network traffic flow to ensure that the data flow would not exceed the configured traffic flow rate. This system makes some of the data arrive at a higher rate than the configured rate to be held in a buffer, where the packets are kept and delayed, so the traffic flow keeps to the configured time of the network.
Traffic shaping helps control the traffic flow of data in a network. It also monitors how data enters and leaves a network system. Its purpose is to ensure a network keeps its quality status.
This method of traffic handling is applied when some applications need a preference in packet flow rate than the configured rate. This method helps to classify the applications with their needs. It aids in the identification of different applications and their network needs.
The applications are now grouped so that their various conditions will be met as required. Applications can be classified based on the data-link layer or network layer, as the case may be. This method helps balance the transmission of packets across the network to balance the speed and traffic of the network. This flow organization is needed due to the variety of applications connected to a network.