Configuring QoS Policing

This chapter describes how to configure policing of traffic classes for Cisco Nexus 1000V.

Information About Policing

Policing is the monitoring of data rates for a particular class of traffic. The Cisco Nexus 1000V can also monitor associated burst sizes.

Three conditions, are determined by the policer depending on the data rate parameters supplied: conform (green), exceed (yellow), or violate (red). You can configure only one action for each condition. When the data rate exceeds the user-supplied values, packets are either marked down or dropped.

You can define single-rate or dual-rate policers. Single-rate policers monitor the specified committed information rate (CIR) of traffic. Dual-rate policers monitor both CIR and peak information rate (PIR) of traffic. Figure 4-1shows policing conditions and types.

For more information about policies, see RFC 2697, RFC 2698, and RFC 4115.

Figure 4-1 Policing Conditions and Types

 

The following conditions trigger actions by the policer depending on the defined data rate:

 

Condition
Color
Description
Policer Action
(only one allowed per condition)

Conform

Green

The packet traffic data rate is within the defined boundaries.

The policer either transmits these packets as is, or changes the value in the header (DSCP, precedence, or CoS), and then transmits these packets.

Exceed

Yellow

The packet traffic data rate exceeds the defined boundary.

The policer can drop or mark down these packets.

Violate

Red

The packet traffic data rate violates the defined boundaries.

The policer can drop or mark down these packets.

Prerequisites for Policing

Policing has the following prerequisites:

  • You must be familiar with RFC 2698.
  • You are logged on to the CLI in EXEC mode.

Guidelines and Limitations

Use the following guideline to configure policing:

  • Each module polices independently, which might affect a policer that is applied to traffic distributed across more than one module, such as in the case of a port channel interface.

Configuring Policing

You can configure a single- or dual-rate policer in the Cisco Nexus 1000V.

Configuring 1-Rate and 2-Rate, 2-Color and 3-Color Policing

The type of policer that is created by the Cisco Nexus 1000V is based on a combination of the police command arguments described in Table 4-1 .

Note Specify the identical value for pir and cir to configure 1-rate 3-color policing.

 

Table 4-1 Arguments to the Police Command

Argument
Description

cir

Committed information rate, or desired bandwidth, specified as a bit rate or a percentage of the link rate. Although a value for cir is required, the argument itself is optional. The range of values is from 1 to 80000000000; the range of policing values that are mathematically significant is 8000 to 80 Gbps.

percent

Specifies the rate as a percentage of the interface rate. The range of values is from 1 to 100%.

bc

Indication of how much the cir can be exceeded, either as a bit rate or an amount of time at cir. The default is 200 milliseconds of traffic at the configured rate. The default data rate units are bytes, and the Gigabit per second (gbps) rate is not supported for this parameter.

pir

Peak information rate, which is specified as a PIR bit rate or a percentage of the link rate. There is no default. The range of values is from 1 to 80000000000; the range of policing values that are mathematically significant is from 8000 to 80 Gbps. The range of percentage values is from 1 to 100%.

be

Indication of how much the pir can be exceeded, either as a bit rate or an amount of time at pir. When the bc value is not specified, the default is 200 milliseconds of traffic at the configured rate. The default data rate units are bytes, and the Gigabit per second (gbps) rate is not supported for this parameter.

Note You must specify a value for pir before the device displays this argument.

conform

Single action to take if the traffic data rate is within bounds. The basic actions are transmit or one of the set commands listed in Table 4-4 . The default is transmit.

exceed

Single action to take if the traffic data rate exceeds the specified boundaries. The basic actions are drop or markdown. The default is drop.

violate

Single action to take if the traffic data rate violates the configured rate values. The basic actions are drop or markdown. The default is drop.

Although all the arguments in Table 4-1 are optional, you must specify a value for cir. In this section, cir indicates what is its value but not necessarily the keyword itself. The combination of these arguments and the resulting policer types and actions are shown in Table 4-2 .

 

Table 4-2 Policer Types and Actions

Police Arguments Present
Policer Type
Policer Action

cir, but not pir, be, or violate

1-rate, 2-color

≤ cir, then conform ; otherwise violate

cir and pir

1-rate, 3-color

≤ cir, then conform ; ≤ pir, then exceed ; otherwise violate

Note You must specify identical values for cir and pir.

cir and pir

2-rate, 3-color

≤ cir, then conform ; ≤ pir, then exceed ; otherwise violate

The policer actions that you can specify are described in Table 4-3 and Table 4-4 .

 

Table 4-3 Policer Actions for Exceed or Violate
Action
Description

drop

Drops the packet. This action is available only when the packet exceeds or violates the parameters.

set dscp dscp table { cir-markdown-map | pir-markdown-map }

Sets the specified fields from a table map and transmits the packet. For more information on the system-defined, or default table maps, see Chapter3, “Configuring QoS Marking Policies” This is available only when the packet exceeds the parameters (use the cir-markdown-map) or violates the parameters (use the pir-markdown-map).

 

Table 4-4 Policer Actions for Conform

Action
Description

transmit

Transmits the packet. This action is available only when the packet conforms to the parameters.

set-prec-transmit

Sets the IP precedence field to a specified value and transmits the packet. This action is available only when the packet conforms to the parameters.

set-dscp-transmit

Sets the DSCP field to a specified value and transmits the packet. This action is available only when the packet conforms to the parameters.

set-cos-transmit

Sets the CoS field to a specified value and transmits the packet. This action is available only when the packet conforms to the parameters.

set-qos-transmit

Sets the QoS group internal label to specified value and transmits the packet. This action can be used only in input policies and is available only when the packet conforms to the parameters.

set-discard-class-transmit

Sets the discard-class internal label to a specified value and transmits the packet. This action can be used only in ingress policies and is available only when the packet conforms to the parameters.

Note The policer can only drop or mark down packets that exceed or violate the specified parameters. See Chapter 3, “Configuring QoS Marking Policies” for information on marking down packets.

The data rates that are used in the police command are described in Table 4-5 .

 

Table 4-5 Data Rates for the police Command

Rate
Description

bps

Bits per second (default)

kbps

1,000 bits per seconds

mbps

1,000,000 bits per second

gbps

1,000,000,000 bits per second

Burst sizes that are used in the police command are described in Table 4-6 .

 

Table 4-6 Burst Sizes for the police Command

Speed
Description

bytes

bytes

kbytes

1,000 bytes

mbytes

1,000,000 bytes

ms

milliseconds

us

microseconds

SUMMARY STEPS

Note You must specify the identical value for pir and cir to configure 1-rate, 3-color policing.

1. config t

2. policy-map [ type qos ] [ match-first ] policy-map-name

3. class [ type qos ] { class_map_name | class-default }

4. police [ cir ] { committed-rate [ data-rate ] | percent cir-link-percent } [ bc committed-burst-rate [ link-speed ]] [ pir ] { peak-rate [ data-rate ] | percent cir-link-percent } [ be peak-burst-rate [ link-speed ]] { conform { transmit | set-prec-transmit | set-dscp-transmit | set-cos-transmit | set-qos-transmit | set-discard-class-transmit } [ exceed { drop | set dscp dscp table { cir-markdown-map }} [ violate { drop | set dscp dscp table { pir-markdown-map }}]}

5. show policy-map [ type qos ] [ policy-map-name ]

6. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

 

Command
Purpose

Step 1

config t

 

Example:

n1000v# config t

n1000v(config)#

Places you into global configuration mode.

Step 2

policy-map [ type qos ] [ match-first ] policy-map-name

 

Example:

n1000v(config)# policy-map policy1

n1000v(config-pmap-qos)#

Places you into policy map QoS configuration mode and creates or accesses the specified policy map.

The class_map_name argument is an alphabetic string that can be up to 40 case-sensitive characters long, including hyphen (-) and underscore (_) characters.

Step 3

class [ type qos ] { class_map_name | class-default }

 

Example:

n1000v(config-pmap-qos)# class class-default

n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)#

Creates a reference to class-map-name and enters policy-map class QoS configuration mode for the specified class map. By default, the class is added to the end of the policy map. Changes are saved in the running configuration.

Use the class-default keyword to select all traffic that is not currently matched by classes in the policy map.

Step 4

police [ cir ] { committed-rate [ data-rate ] | percent cir-link-percent } [ bc committed- burst-rate [ link-speed ]][ pir ] { peak-rate [ data-rate ] | percent cir-link-percent } [ be peak-burst-rate [ link-speed ]] [ conform { transmit | set-prec-transmit | set-dscp-transmit | set-cos-transmit | set-qos-transmit | set-discard-class-transmit } [ exceed { drop | set dscp dscp table { cir-markdown-map }} [ violate { drop | set dscp dscp table { pir-markdown-map }}]}

 

Example:

n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# police cir 256000 conform transmit violate set dscp dscp table pir-markdown-map

n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)#

Polices cir in bits or as a percentage of the link rate. The conform action is taken if the data rate is ≤ cir. If be and pir are not specified, all other traffic takes the violate action. If be or violate are specified, then the exceed action is taken if the data rate ≤ pir ; otherwise the violate action is taken. The actions are described in Table 4-3 and Table 4-4 . The data rates and link speeds are described in Table 4-5 and Table 4-6 .

Note You must specify identical values for cir and pir.

Step 5

show policy-map [ type qos ] [ policy-map-name ]

 

Example:

n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# show policy-map

(Optional) Displays information about all configured policy maps or a selected policy map of type QoS.

Step 6

copy running-config startup-config

 

Example:

n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# copy running-config startup-config

(Optional) Saves the running configuration persistently through reboots and restarts by copying it to the startup configuration.

EXAMPLES

This example shows how to configure a 1-rate, 2-color policer that transmits if the data rate is within 200 milliseconds of traffic at 256000 bps and marks DSCP to the values that are configured in the table map if the data rate is violated:

n1000v# config t
n1000v(config)# policy-map policy1
n1000v(config-pmap-qos)# class class-default
n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# police cir 256000 conform transmit violate set dscp dscp table pir-markdown-map
n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# show policy-map
 
 
Type qos policy-maps
====================
 
policy-map type qos policy1
class class1
set dscp af31
class class2
set dscp af13
class class-default
set dscp af22
police cir 256000 bps bc 200 ms conform transmit violate set dscp dscp tab
le pir-markdown-map
n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# copy running-config startup-config
 
 

This example shows how to configure a 1-rate, 3-color policer that transmits if the data rate is within 200 milliseconds of traffic at 256000 bps, and marks DSCP to the values that are configured in the table map if the data rate is violated:

n1000v# config t
n1000v(config)# policy-map policy1
n1000v(config-pmap-qos)# class class-default
n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# police cir 256000 pir 256000 conform transmit exceed
set dscp dscp table cir-markdown-map violate drop
n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# show policy-map
 
 
Type qos policy-maps
====================
 
policy-map type qos policy1
class class1
set dscp af31
class class2
set dscp af13
class class-default
set dscp af22
police cir 256000 bps bc 200 ms pir 256000 bps be 200 ms conform transmit
exceed set dscp dscp table cir-markdown-map violate drop
n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# copy running-config startup-config
 

Configuring Ingress and Egress Policing

You can apply the policing instructions in a QoS policy map to ingress or egress packets by attaching that QoS policy map to an interface or port profile. To select ingress or egress, you specify either the input or output keyword in the service-policy command. For an example of how to use the service-policy command, see the Creating Ingress and Egress Policies.

Configuring Markdown Policing

Markdown policing is the setting of a QoS field in a packet when traffic exceeds or violates the policed data rates. You can configure markdown policing by using the set commands for that are described in Table 4-3 and Table 4-4 .

SUMMARY STEPS

1. config t

2. policy-map [ type qos ] [ match-first ] policy-map-name

3. class [ type qos ] { class_map_name | class-default }

4. police [ cir ] { committed-rate [ data-rate ] | percent cir-link-percent } [ bc committed-burst-rate [ link-speed ]] [ pir ] { peak-rate [ data-rate ] | percent cir-link-percent } [ be peak-burst-rate [ link-speed ]] { conform action [ exceed { drop | set dscp dscp table cir-markdown-map } [ violate { drop | set dscp dscp table pir-markdown-map }]]}}

5. show policy-map [ type qos ] [ policy-map-name ]

6. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

 

Command
Purpose

Step 1

config t

 

Example:

n1000v# config t

n1000v(config)#

Places you into global configuration mode.

Step 2

policy-map [ type qos ] [ match-first ] policy-map-name

 

Example:

n1000v(config)# policy-map policy1

n1000v(config-pmap-qos)#

Creates or accesses the policy-map named policy-map-name, and then enters policy-map mode. The policy-map name can contain alphabetic, hyphen, or underscore characters, is case sensitive, and can be up to 40 characters.

Step 3

class [ type qos ] { class_map_name | class-default }

 

Example:

n1000v(config-pmap-qos)# class class-default

n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)#

Creates a reference to class-map-name and enters policy-map class QoS configuration mode for the specified class map. By default, the class is added to the end of the policy map. Changes are saved in the running configuration.

Use the class-default keyword to select all traffic that is not currently matched by classes in the policy map.

Step 4

police [ cir ] { committed-rate [ data-rate ] | percent cir-link-percent } [ bc committed-burst-rate [ link-speed ]] [ pir ] { peak-rate [ data-rate ] | percent cir-link-percent } [ be peak-burst-rate [ link-speed ]] { conform action [ exceed { drop | set dscp dscp table cir-markdown-map } [ violate { drop | set dscp dscp table pir-markdown-map }]]}}

 

Example:

n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# police cir 256000 be 300 ms conform transmit exceed set dscp dscp table cir-markdown-map violate drop

Polices cir in bits or as a percentage of the link rate. The conform action is taken if the data rate is ≤ cir. If be and pir are not specified, all other traffic takes the violate action. If be or violate are specified, then the exceed action is taken if the data rate ≤ pir, and the violate action is taken otherwise. The actions are described in Table 4-3 and Table 4-4 . The data rates and link speeds are described in Table 4-5 and Table 4-6 .

Step 5

show policy-map [ type qos ] [ policy-map-name ]

 

Example:

n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# show policy-map

(Optional) Displays information about the policy map configuration.

Step 6

copy running-config startup-config

 

Example:

n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# copy running-config startup-config

(Optional) Saves the running configuration persistently through reboots and restarts by copying it to the startup configuration.

EXAMPLES

This example shows a 1-rate, 3-color policer that transmits if the data rate is within 300 milliseconds of traffic at 256000 bps; marks down DSCP using the system-defined table map if the data rate is within 300 milliseconds of traffic at 256000 bps; and drops packets otherwise:

n1000v# config t

n1000v(config)# policy-map policy1

n1000v(config-pmap-qos)# class class-default

n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# police cir 256000 bps bc 300 ms pir 256000 conform transmit exceed set dscp dscp table cir-markdown-map violate drop

n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# show policy-map policy1

 

 

Type qos policy-maps

====================

 

policy-map type qos policy1

class class-default

police cir 256000 bps bc 300 ms pir 256000 bps be 300 ms conform transmit

exceed set dscp dscp table cir-markdown-map violate drop

n1000v(config-pmap-c-qos)# copy running-config startup-config

 

 
 

Verifying the Policing Configuration

To verify the policing configuration, perform the following task:

 

 

Command
Description

show policy-map

Displays information about policy maps and policing.

Configuration Example for QoS Policing

The following example shows how to configure a 1-rate, 2-color policer:

config t
policy-map policy1
class one_rate_2_color_policer
police cir 256000 conform transmit violate drop
 
 

The following example shows how to configure a 1-rate, 2-color policer with DSCP mark down:

config t
policy-map policy2
class one_rate_2_color_policer_with_dscp_markdown
police cir 256000 conform set-dscp-transmit af11 violate set dscp dscp table pir-markdown-map
 
 

The following example shows how to configure a 1-rate, 3-color policer:

config t
policy-map policy3
class one_rate_3_color_policer
police cir 256000 pir 256000 conform transmit exceed set dscp dscp table cir-markdown-map violate drop
 

Feature History for QoS Policing

This section provides the QoS policing release history.

 

Feature Name
Releases
Feature Information

QoS Policing

4.0

This feature was introduced.