QoS
The QoS (quality of service) app is used to shape or prioritize network traffic.
Installation
If your system does not have this app available, you can install it via the Marketplace.
Menu
You can find this feature in the menu system at the following location:
Best Practices
Before getting started with the QoS configuration, it is important to know about best practices. There are two ways to approach bandwidth management:
- Limit low priority traffic in an effort to improve speeds for high priority traffic
- Reserve bandwidth for high priority traffic which will shuffle low priority traffic aside
It is impossible to predetermine what types of traffic will be low priority, but typically quite easy to identify important traffic (VoIP being an obvious one). Therefore, reserving bandwidth for high priority traffic is the best way to proceed with QoS management. You can always add rules for low priority traffic as well, but it is often not necessary.
Configuration
External Interface Upload/Download Settings
The upstream and downstream rates for your external (Internet) interfaces must be specified in order to optimize the underlying QoS engine. If you set these values below your actual upload/download rates, then you will find your bandwidth capped by these lower values.
We recommend the SpeedTest.net online tool for measuring actual bandwidth. Please perform these tests when network traffic is low (off hours) and without a web proxy running.
Bandwidth Reservation by Priority Class
This configuration setting is for changing the various QoS priority classes. Unless instructed by ClearCenter support, the default settings should be left as is.
Bandwidth Limiting by Priority Class
This configuration setting is for changing the various bandwidth classes. Unless instructed by ClearCenter support, the default settings should be left as is.
Examples
The following examples provide some cookbook configuration recipes for QoS. If a configuration option is not covered in the example, just use the existing default values (typically just a blank entry).
Prioritize by Port - VoIP
Many VoIP systems use ports 5060 and 5061 (SIP) for communications. To prioritize both inbound and outbound calls, four QoS rules are required:
Upstream Priority
- Nickname: VoIP_Upstream
- Priority: 1 (Highest)
- Protocol: TCP
- Destination Port: 5060
Add a similar rule but for port 5061.
Downstream Priority
- Nickname: VoIP_Downstream
- Priority: 1 (Highest)
- Protocol: TCP
- Destination Port: 5060
Add a similar rule but for port 5061.
Prioritize by Remote IP - VoIP/SIP Provider
If you have a remote IP that requires QoS, for example a SIP provider for a VoIP system, you can prioritize traffic to that IP. Since VoIP required QoS in both upstream and downstream connections, you need to add two QoS rules. In the example below, 1.2.3.4 is the IP address of the SIP server.
Upstream Priority
- Nickname: SIP_Upstream
- Priority: 1 (Highest)
- Destination Address: 1.2.3.4
Downstream Priority
- Nickname: SIP_Downstream
- Priority: 1 (Highest)
- Source Address: 1.2.3.4
Tips and Tricks
Web Proxy Gotchas
Having a web proxy configured either on a ClearOS gateway or some other local proxy server complicates matters. As soon as a web request is made via the proxy, the source IP address for the request is lost. In other words, configuring bandwidth rules using an IP address on your local network will not have an effect for any traffic going through the proxy. See the examples for ways to limit bandwidth to your proxy server.
Port Ranges and Custom Rules
If you need to add port ranges or more complex network matching, you can contact ClearCARE support. The support team will be able to provide custom configuration rules for the QoS engine.