Overview of Traffic Policing, Traffic Shaping, and Interface-based Rate Limiting
Traffic policing, traffic shaping, and interface-based rate limiting can control the traffic rate to improve network resource utilization and provide better services.
Network congestion may occur when the transmit rate is higher than the receive rate or the interface rate on a downstream device is lower than the interface rate on an upstream device. If rates of traffic sent from users are not limited, continuous burst traffic from many users will worsen network congestion. To deliver better services to users leveraging limited network resources, user traffic rates must be limited.
Traffic policing, traffic shaping, and interface-based rate limiting are mechanisms to monitor and control traffic rates and resource usage.
Traffic Policing
Traffic policing monitors rates of traffic entering a network and discards excess traffic to control incoming traffic rates within a specified range, thereby conserving network resources and protecting user interests.
Traffic Shaping
Traffic shaping adjusts the traffic rates to enable traffic to be transmitted at an even rate, preventing congestion on the downstream device.
Interface-based Rate Limiting
Interface-based rate limiting controls the total rate of all packets sent or received on an interface. This mechanism can simplify configuration when you want to limit the rate of all traffic on an interface regardless of packet types.
