SAN JOSE, CALIF. (06/29/2000) - Cisco Systems Inc. this week announced it has added a standard protocol to its quality-of-service policy management software that lets users deploy multivendor policy servers in their networks.
Cisco introduced QoS Policy Manager Common Open Policy Service (QPM-COPS), software designed to provide customers with guaranteed QoS for data, voice and video traffic on enterprise networks. QPM-COPS also has a directory interface for aligning QoS policies with user information stored in the directory.
QPM-COPS has predefined service templates that let users define and provision differentiated services across the enterprise network.
Network administrators can provision service levels such as "real-time traffic" or "mission-critical traffic" networkwide and deliver these service levels to selected users or applications, Cisco says.
Through its directory interface, QPM-COPS can share policy information with other directory-enabled applications, Cisco says. Additionally, QPM-COPS can publish information to enterprise directories based on the Directory Enabled Network policy schema in development in the Distributed Management Task Force and Internet Engineering Task Force, the company says.
Module for IOS
QPM-COPS is an add-on module for Cisco's QoS Policy Manager 1.1, a QoS policy administration package.
Users, however, say QPM-COPS has some catching up to do to become current with some of the more recent releases of Cisco's IOS routing software and its QoS features.
"I recently conducted a demo of Cisco's QPM 1.1 in my current network where I have implemented class-based weighted fair queuing [CBWFQ] utilizing IOS Version 12.1.2(t)," says a user at a healthcare system consultancy in Colorado.
"And the funny thing is I need that version to run CBWFQ correctly but the QPM 1.1 has yet to support anything above 12.0.7(t). I don't believe that software is ready for prime time."
QPM 1.1 supports command line interface (CLI)-based QoS features in IOS releases up to 12.1, Cisco says. Support for IOS 12.1.2 CLI-based QoS features will be available in the fourth quarter, says Steve Woo, Cisco's director of marketing.
COPS-based QoS features are available in Cisco devices starting with IOS 12.1.1(t). QPM 1.1 does support IOS releases 12.1.1 and 12.1.2 for COPS QoS features, Cisco says.
QPM 1.1 with QPM-COPS is available now and costs US$9,995.
Cisco: www.cisco.com.