Why is QoS Important for Enterprise Networks?

A communications network forms the backbone of any successful organization. These networks
transport a multitude of applications, including realtime voice, high-quality video and delay-sensitive
data. Networks must provide predictable, measurable, and sometimes guaranteed services by managing
bandwidth, delay, jitter and loss parameters on a network.
QoS technologies refer to the set of tools and techniques to manage network resources and are
considered the key enabling technology for network convergence. The objective of QoS technologies is
to make voice, video and data convergence appear transparent to end users. QoS technologies allow
different types of traffic to contend inequitably for network resources. Voice, video, and critical data
applications may be granted priority or preferential services from network devices so that the quality of
these strategic applications does not degrade to the point of being unusable. Therefore, QoS is a critical,
intrinsic element for successful network convergence.
QoS tools are not only useful in protecting desirable traffic, but also in providing deferential services to
undesirable traffic such as the exponential propagation of worms. You can use QoS to monitor flows and
provide first and second order reactions to abnormal flows indicative of such attacks, as will be discussed
in additional detail later in this document.