Bandwidth-Intensive Traffic

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Media-Ready Network to Handle

How Cisco IT Built a

Bandwidth-Intensive Traffic

By planning for bandwidth and QoS, Cisco IT is ready for

on the corporate network.

Cisco IT Case Study/Video/Media-Ready Network: This case study de en

network architecture, multicast support, quality of service standards, and bandwidth in i have simplified the deployment of new video technologies such as Cisco TelePr can dra

CHALLENGE

From video down s on an Inte

corporate networks. Cisco has long e,

converged IP network.

load ite to company broadcasts to live meetings, vi sported many varieties of video traffic, along with

In the mid-1990s, Cisco began meetings and executive announcem employees. These live IPTV bro

liforn were streamed across the Cisco

Cisco offices worldwide. Cisco employee training, sending la Cisco

files were stored on content serv employees. Cisco transported on its IP data network, which had a client/server architecture.

“Because we designed a

Media-Ready Network, we do not need to

rearchitect the Cisco WAN when we

deploy high-demand applications

such as TelePresence.”

Craig Huegen, IT Director and Chief Network Architect, Cisco

Cisco also transported most of its intersite voice traffic between private branch exchan by converting the analog voice signal into IP before transport. However, in the late 1 that did not travel between major Cisco sites was sent over the Public Switched Telepho addition, Cisco used digital switched services over the PSTN to support ISDN videocon security camera video within campus LANs across separate, dedicated fiber paths. By 2001, the costs of supporting these separate networks were increasing as traffic volum

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where an IP data connection would be needed between any two or more people in any location. With the previous WAN architecture, all peer-to-peer connections had to travel through San Jose, which increased the delay for voice

Figure 1. US/Canada Cisco WAN in 2001: A Client-Server Architecture Based on SONET with Servers in San Jose and Clients

at Branch Offices.

gle IP network. The eo and unified communications, because voice and video traffic have many of the same characteristics and network requirements: low-latency paths, sufficient bandwidth, multicast support for

deo traffic to avoid delayed or

SOLUTION

igure 2). This peer-to-peer network architecture is similar to that of a small service provider network with a SONET-based ring backbone and access links that connect each Cisco location to the nearest hub site. The backbone architecture follows underlying fiber paths and helps maintain low latency.

The backbone was first built with OC-12 fiber connectivity, which offers four times more bandwidth than the OC-3 circuits previously available in the WAN. Since initial deployment, Cisco has increased the backbone speed to OC-48.

Figure 2. US/Canada Cisco WAN in 2008: Peer-to-Peer Architecture Based on SONET (data endpoints can be added at any and video traffic to unacceptable levels.

San Jose

Raleigh Toronto

`

Cisco network managers needed a new architecture to converge voice, video, and data onto a sin new architecture would also benefit vid

large streaming broadcasts, and quality of service (QoS) protection for all voice and vi dropped packets.

The new WAN architecture in North America, built in 2002, met Cisco IT requirements (F 256 Kbps T-1 ECS ATM IMA DS-3 384 Kbps 512 Kpbs 768 Kpbs T-1 Frame OC-3 Boston

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Cisco location).

DS3 - 45 Mbps OC-3 - 155 Mbps OC-12 - 622 Mbps OC-48 - 2.5 Gbps San Jose Denver Dallas Raleigh_ NYC Toronto Atl ntaa Orlando Los Angeles Chicago DS3 - 45 Mbps OC-3 - 155 Mbps OC-12 - 622 Mbps OC-48 - 2.5 Gbps San Jose Denver Dallas Raleigh_ NYC Toronto Atl ntaa Orlando Los Angeles Chicago

In Cisco’s European and Middle Eastern regions, a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) VPN supports the new peer-to-peer network (Figure 3). This service is supplied by a Tier 1 service provider and runs on the provider’s larger backbone network, taking low-latency paths that are made possible by the service provider’s size and guaranteed by contractual service level agreements (SLAs). Cisco offices connect to the nearest hub sites on the MPLS VPN.

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MPLS VPN Network Edinburgh

GlasgowManchester Bracknell London CHT Amsterdam Stockholm Brussels Paris Madrid Barcelona Milan Zurich Frankfurt Hamburg Munich Barcelona Brussels Glasgow

Ljubljana, Mann Salzbur Italtel, Padova, Rome Munich Panavia Vienna dorf, Istanbul, heim, Moscow, g, Hamburg Tel Aviv Madrid Manchester Casablanca Lyon Nice Rennes Strasbourg Toulouse Gothenburg Helsinki Oslo Dubai Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah Beirut, Cairo, Kuwait

Amsterdam Luxembourg Bedfont Lakes Stockholm Paris Lisbon Frankfurt Rolle, Zurich Milan Monza Dublin Dublin, Galway London SQY London City Edinburgh IDC Reading Green Park ID C Algiers, Lagos P E P P E P P E P PE P P E P P E P Aarhus, Sonderborg Copenhagen Copenhagen Kiss Technology PE P Berlin, Stuttgart P E P P E P P E P P E P Prague Warsaw Budapest P E P Athens, Bratislava, Nicosia, Prague, Zagreb P E P

Almaty, Baku, Kiev, St.Petersburg, Tallin, Vilnius, Warsaw, P E P Belgrade, Bucharest, Budapest, Sarajevo Sofia P E P Algiers P E P Birmingham P E P P E P P E P Livingston Atlantech P E P P E P P E P Dusseldorf P E P Salzburg P E P P E P Bern Karachi

For both the US/Canada and European networks, connectivity to most smaller Cisco offices is typically provided through dual dedicated circuits that terminate on dual gateway routers at the nearest regional hub location. Globally, a high-bandwidth core network interconnects Cisco’s regional hubs in the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East (Figure 4).

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redundancy throughout the etwork. In some instances, VPN connections have been added to the WAN to provide backup in case of cable

rope, the Cisco network initially provided the ulticast support was support of voice and video

en major hub sites, as well as for es using access control lists in

accurately classify traffic more than 240

As real-time, interactive media applications such as voice over IP (VoIP) and IP video conferencing (IPVC) increased, Cisco IT needed to create a more rigorous QoS scheme for traffic classification that would be applied at the network edge. With the addition of TelePresence, with its significantly higher bandwidth requirements, special network treatment was necessary to protect TelePresence traffic and avoid interference with other video traffic. This QoS capability, and its ability to change as new media are added, is vital for creating a media-ready network. QoS mechanisms define traffic identification, policing, queuing, shaping, and congestion avoidance to help deliver voice and video with appropriate performance levels. Understanding the distinctive characteristics of voice and video traffic is critical because both applications are sensitive to packet loss, latency, and jitter (variable latency).

Without proper QoS policies, the perceived quality of voice or video drops whenever other application traffic creates delays for latency-sensitive voice or video content. Voice traffic consists of small packets that, without proper QoS

Amsterdam

Dual routers and dedicated circuits, on physically diverse paths when possible, provide Cisco n

failures.

Defining QoS for a Media-Ready Network

After implementing the new WAN architectures in the Americas and Eu

low-latency paths and sufficient new capacity to support basic video communications. IP m continued, but the new network did not provide the levels of QoS needed for appropriate traffic.

The earlier WAN supported some levels of QoS for PBX-to-PBX voice traffic betwe some backup data. However, this QoS was applied within the affected few network nod network routers. Because of this approach, the QoS mechanisms could not securely and from more than 70,000, IP phones, more than 1200 H.323 video conferencing units, and TelePresence sites deployed within Cisco, as well as streaming and surveillance video traffic.

Cisco Backbone WAN 2008

Legend Sydne

India

LA San Jose Denver

Dallas Atlanta RT Kanata London Hong Tok Kong yo Shanghai MPLS Network Orlando Sao Paulo OC48 - STM16 - 2.5 Gbps OC12 - STM4 - 622 Mbps OC3 - STM1 - 155 Mbps Bahrain Chicago New York Singapor

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handling, can be lost behind large data packets, causing voice quality problems. Video traffic is even more sensitive ly than the human ear can

the access control lists on g task. There was also a lot of inconsistency in QoS definitions among

differently at site B,” says

ckets are usually small, and risk d this risk, Cisco uses rive at each network hop. ds of TelePresence. By e Cisco network delivers

nal conferencing with

media, such as streaming IPTV ra traffic, and WebEx® and S class as normal IP traffic. Moderate amounts of ffers and the application, so quality remains high without special handling. abl the classes of or th netw 08), covering all voice, video, and

s LQ to pr sending real-time voice traffic from a local WAN interface, Cl eight air Queuing (CBW Q) to provi andwidth guarantee, and Flow- Based Weighted Fair Queuing (FBWFQ) to handle low-priority

Table sses of Serv Define e Cisco Network

to packet loss, because the human eye can detect problems with video much more quick detect problems with audio.

“By 2003, we needed to consolidate QoS across the LAN and WAN, because managing the edge routers was becoming such a bi

different sites, meaning packets could be marked in one way from site A but interpreted Tom Wojciaczyk, a Cisco IT network engineer.

QoS is critical for interactive media such as voice and video conferencing. Voice pa

getting delayed and dropped if they are trapped behind larger data or video packets. To avoi low-latency queuing (LLQ), which puts voice packets at the top of the queue when they ar Cisco IT also uses QoS to protect other video streams from the high bandwidth deman creating one QoS class for TelePresence and another QoS class for all other video, th

appropriate service levels for applications such as room-based IP video conferencing and perso Cisco Unified Video Advantage (Cisco UVA).

All other media described in this case study are considered noninteractive. These and video-on-demand (VoD) downloads, closed-circuit TV (CCTV) surveillance came MeetingPlace® desktop sharing, are handled in the same Qo

latency or jitter are handled by the router bu T

data traffic. Cisco IT

e 1 shows service defined f e Cisco ork (as of mid-20 configure routers with L ioritize

ass-Based W ed F F de a minimum b

, “best-effort” traffic.

1. Cla ice d for th

QoS Class

Description IPP* DSCP** Queuing

Technique

Sample Applications

6 Network control/routing traffic 6 & 7 48-63 CBWFQ

5 bearer traffic 5 IP voice from hardware

phones or Cisco IP Personal Communicator software phones

Voice 46 LLQ

4 High-priority video 4 32-39 CBWFQ TelePresence

3 Signaling/high-priority data 3 24-31 CBWFQ

2 Medium-priority video 2 16-23 CBWFQ

Advantage

IP video, Cisco Unified Video

1 Batch/scavenger traffic 1 8-15 CBWFQ

0 Default/best effort 0 0 FBWFQ Shared desktop,

noninteractive video such as CCTV surveillance cameras, IPTV, VoD downloads

*IPP = IP Precedence (or Type of Service) bits, the leading three bits of the Differentiated Service Code Point (DSCP), which summarize QoS classes. IPP bits are helpful when transporting QoS information across vendor network services, such as MPLS, that have limited service classes.

**DSCP = Differentiated Service Code Point, 6 bits (including the 3 IPP bits) used by Cisco at the trusted edge to mark different data streams and to control packet handling (which affects service quality during congestion) at each

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network hop.

Although QoS parameters determine the priority of different traffic types on the WAN, determine the maximum amount of bandwidth reserved for different traffic types during t congestion. For example, voice traffic might be allowed up to 10 percent of all bandwidth links, while video (a much larger consumer of WAN bandwidth) is allocated

bandwidth allocations imes of serious WAN

on the majority of WAN as much as 55 percent. Table 2 lists the bandwidth policies defined for each circuit type in the Cisco network WAN backbone. For more information on Cisco

r Voice and Video” at

co /web/about/ci work/net rk_syste _for_ip_vo and_video.html.

Table 2. dwidth Allocation Percentages Circuits in the Cisco Global WAN IT deployment of QoS, see the Cisco IT case study “QoS fo

http://www.cis .com scoitat wo ms/qos ice_

Ban for

Traffic Type (%)/Circuit

Type DS3 OC3 OC12 OC48 OC192

Control 1 1 1 1 1 Voice 10 10 10 5 5 High-bandwidth video 30 30 40 30 30 Signaling/high-priority data 2 2 2 2 2 Low-bandwidth video 25 15 12 17 15 Scavenger 1 1 1 1 1 Default 31 41 34 44 46 Total 100 100 100 100 100

WAN Requirements for a Media-Ready N

Although video and voice traffic has grown quickl e traffic types still account for only a small percentage of the total traffic on the Cisco WAN. resence, wi ger bandwidth requirements, represents more than 8 percent of WAN traffic, a portion that is rising as more TelePresence systems are installed in more company sites (Table 3).

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etwork

y, thes TeleP th its lar

Table 3. Sample Monthly Voice and Video Traffic Volumes on the Cisco Global Network

Traffic Type Volume Percent of

Total Traffic

TelePresence 328 TB 8.5%

VoIP 168 TB 4.4%

•

Minimize latency, no matter what transport technology is used (Cisco IT uses SONET and MPLS VPN).

•

Provide the bandwidth needed to carry all offered traffic and allow scalability to meet all future traffic needs.

•

Support multicast for one-way streaming media, such as IPTV and IP telephony “music on hold,” to reduce the

load on the WAN and the originating servers.

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protect latency-sensitive voice and video traffic.

Whether voice or video, a recorded stream or a real-time interaction, each media application also has its own network requirements. Table 4 compares the network requirements of media applications used by Cisco; each application is discussed in more detail following the table.

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Table 4. Comparison of WAN Requirements for Video Applications Used at Cisco

Streaming and Noninteractive Media Interactive Media

Video Surveillance Security Cameras IPTV Video on Demand Cisco WebEx and Cisco MeetingPlace ISDN Video (H.320) IP Telephony IP Video (H.323) Cisco Unified Video Advantage Cisco TelePresence

Business use Real-time a stored sec On stre for o e On man dow for and meetings Voice and video co wi sh customer video ctions Internal and external ction Cisco-to-Cisco video ection Video telephony calls sco

Internal and external virtual meetings nd urity video e-way aming c mmpany etings, training e-to-y nloads training nferencing th desktop aring Cisco-to-conne voice conne s conn s within Ci Type of

ssion Multipoint to ecu nl Point to Mu PT Point to Mu Vo Point to M H.320 to H.323 use to Point to oint Point to Point oint to ipoint Point to Point with either fied ntage or

Point to Point or Point to Multipoint transmi Point, S system o rity y I ltipoint, V Only ltipoint, D Only ultipoint gateways for Point Point d Point or Point to Multip or P Mult ( Cisco Uni Video Adva H.323) Endpoint (June 2008 s ) 2400 cameras, 4 Security Operations Centers to 70,000 PCs 4 studios to 70,000 PCs 70,000 PCs within Cisco 1200 endpoints configured; average 850 active Phones nd configured average 8 active eb s 350+ Cisco TelePresence units at 240+ sites (and growing rapidly) 4 studios 75,000 IP 1200 e points ; 30,000 w 50 camera Bandwidth required per endpoint 1-4 Mbps 28 – 1.5Mbps 1.5Mbps Varies Kbps 0 Kbp 384 Kbps + 20% over 384 Kbps + 20% overhead Cisco TelePresence 3000: average 15 Mbps Cisco TelePresence 1000: average 5 Mbps 1 Kbps 128Kbps – 384 70-8 s head Quality

Service (QoS) of CBWFQ lt Dat YesLow Bandwidth Video CBWFQ – Voic LLQ s – Lo Bandwidth Video CBWFQ w-Bandwidth Video CBWFQ Yes – High-Bandwidth Video CBWFQ Defau a – -Default Data CBWFQ Default Data CBWFQ

N/A Yes e Ye w- Yes – Lo

Multicast No Yes No No No No No No No Underlying network IP LAN and WAN IP LAN and WAN IP LAN and WAN IP LAN and WAN ISDN over PSTN IP LAN and WAN IP LAN and WAN IP LAN and WAN

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ent Considerations for Specific Video Solutions

o technologies have different requirements for amounts of WAN bandwidth, QoS handling, and other

r site. This information can support a wide range of functions. At Cisco it supports building and personnel security, corporate communications, or training.

uses the global reach of the Cisco corporate IP WAN (and in some cases the connected where and how Cisco

ring

ecurity at its facilities o recorders within each site ized security operations centers

N and, when needed, send it

s by 90 percent and allowed ecurity investigations over the WAN. Using the IP WAN for transport has eliminated the need to dedicate dark fiber in the campus metropolitan-area network (MAN) to

y applications, which freed scarce fiber resources for other traffic.

ount of LAN and WAN traffic on the data center LAN links n about this deployment, see

om centralized studios to ontent distribution. It was the video server studios, would not be able to support the enormous number (sometimes tens of thousands) of unicast streams necessary to allow all Cisco employees to see the same live event at the same time.

Cisco broadcasts the same IPTV content at varying bit rates (typically 100, 500, and 700 Kbps). These streams are controlled via established "scopes" that help ensure only streams of an appropriate bit rate for a site's WAN bandwidth are delivered to that site. Support for multicast does not require new WAN equipment; instead it is activated within Cisco IOS® software.

As of 2008, Cisco supports 40-50 IPTV events every month, which are multicast across the LAN and WAN to avoid overloading the origin server and WAN links. For more information about this deployment, see the Cisco IT case study “Video for Companywide Broadcasts” at

http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ciscoitatwork/unified_comm/ip_video_for_companywide_broadcasts.html.

Deploym

Different vide network services.

Streaming Media

Streaming media communicates information from one location, one-way, to anothe

Each of these functions

Internet) to bring information to people regardless of location, creating more options for employees work.

Physical Security Monito

The first form of video used in Cisco was CCTV cameras for surveillance and physical s worldwide. The video streams from more than 2600 building security cameras are sent t (in the building or at a data center on the campus LAN). Security personnel at central can access the stored or real-time surveillance video for any location over the Cisco WA in real-time to local police and fire officials.

Accessing security camera information remotely has reduced the number of false alarm Cisco to centralize its security functions and perform global s

securit

Before deploying the CCTV-over-IP solution companywide, Cisco IT estimated the am that the surveillance video streams would generate in order to reduce the traffic’s impact for video storage and the WAN when video streams are retrieved. For more informatio the Cisco IT Case Study CCTV on IP Network at

http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ciscoitatwork/security/cctv_on_ip_network.html.

Cisco IPTV

Cisco began using IPTV in 1997 to broadcast corporate meetings and training events fr employees worldwide. Using IPTV added to the need for more efficient global video c immediately apparent that the local video servers, as well as the WAN links near

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Video on Demand

Employees can view recordings of previously streamed company meetings by downloading large video files across mployees, a solution that has

AN (about 60,000 internally, sent in the same way as any t or QoS. Although these file transfers can be handled without special equipment

ntent in or near local Cisco offices or details about how the Cisco network distributes broadcast and recorded video, see the Cisco IT case

g_system.html.

oratively. Although the WAN e more network capabilities

ncing

pany buildings worldwide. rs that are located in global .

eeting rooms are reserved by

ains in the original H.323 ed when Cisco employees d H.320 gateways, then sent

ivated) as gatekeepers to o zones on the network.

ll WAN connections. Total ercent for transport protocol about 470 Kbps per call. Cisco IT is considering doubling the size of the some of these video streams in

e satisfaction when this service is

Several Cisco TelePresence multipoint switches support multipoint TelePresence conferences from major hub locations on the Cisco WAN. “When placing the TelePresence multipoint switches or MCUs, it is vital to remember the total bandwidth usage, latency within WAN links, and geography,” says Keith Brumbaugh, a member of the technical staff in the Cisco network implementation group. “For example, it may be more effective to place an MCU in a distant location where higher capacity WAN links are available to maintain high video quality.” Cisco IT’s MCU for IP video conferencing is connected to the backbone WAN by a pair of OC-48 (622 Mbps) links, which can support all IP video traffic offered.

For more information on multipoint video conferencing within Cisco, see the Cisco IT case study “IP Video Conferencing for Business Continuity” at

http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ciscoitatwork/unified_comm/ip_videoconferencing_for_business_continuity.html

the WAN. Over time, this service was used to record and send training videos to Cisco e almost entirely replaced expensive live training courses and associated travel costs. By 2008, approximately 85,000 video files were downloaded every month across the W 20,000 externally, and 5000 as flash video downloads from blogs). These video files are other large IP file, without multicas

on the network, significant amounts of WAN bandwidth are saved by caching co worldwide. F

study “Enterprise Content Networking System” at

http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ciscoitatwork/data_center/enterprise_content_networkin

Interactive Media

Cisco employees need to communicate in real time to solve problems and work collab can easily carry email and instant messaging, other forms of real-time collaboration requir and bandwidth.

IP (H.323) and ISDN (H.320) Video Confere

Cisco uses more than 1200 H.323 video-conferencing systems that are installed in com This deployment is supported by a distributed environment of gateways and gatekeepe regions, plus a single multipoint control unit (MCU) to support multipoint conferencing MCUs are required to support multipoint video-conferencing sessions. The MCU and m Cisco employees through a Microsoft Outlook calendar application.

When these video-conferencing systems are used between Cisco locations, the traffic rem IP streams. Gateways, which translate H.323 IP video streams to H.320 ISDN, are need connect to external customer locations. These calls are translated by globally installe over the PSTN. Cisco IT uses WAN routers (with the appropriate Cisco IOS feature act support the video-conferencing dial plan and route video calls between different vide H.323 video streams use a default bandwidth setting of 384 Kbps and QoS enabled on a bandwidth required on the WAN for H.323 video connections is 384 Kbps plus about 20 p overhead, or

the future to provide greater video resolution, which will help to improve employe interconnected with Cisco TelePresence.

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Desktop Video Conferencing

Cisco Unified Video Advantage (Cisco UVA) provides video telephony functionality to C phones through a USB camera connected to a PC. With Cisco UVA, users make and rec calls, hearing the audio through a phone while the video stream is displayed

very useful for

isco 7900 Series Unified IP eive point-to-point video on the PC. Employees find Cisco UVA unscheduled video conferencing, because this application does not require reserving a MCU or video

other internal

. Instead, Cisco IT upgraded the Cisco Unified support interaction with IP

4 Kbps, plus about 20 percent extra bandwidth for

0,000 Cis re initially deployed to users in 50 major Cisco offices worldwide, this has not added a and on the Cisco network. For a description of this implementation,

y

nified_comm/cisco_unified_

ystems represents the ideo applications. Although pport voice also served well for res bandwidth upgrades and QoS

ence.

ards, and very sensitive to with the amount of motion in a TelePresence session. When

tween 5 to 15-Mbps g on the number of sites, plasma screens, and pixels per screen. For best performance, Cisco

ore than 150 and the target for packet loss is 0.05

itial tests indicated that local AN circuit bandwidth were required, typically from a DS-3 to an OC-3 circuit or from multiple T1 circuits to a DS-3 or E3 circuit. To deliver the target performance levels for TelePresence sessions, Cisco IT also refined QoS policies to prioritize the bandwidth allocations to TelePresence traffic (Table 2).

Along with the WAN circuit upgrade, most local Cisco offices received Cisco 3845 Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) to handle the expected increase in network traffic of all types. For a discussion of Cisco IT practices for upgrading equipment on the Cisco network, see the Cisco IT case study “Network Infrastructure Program” at

http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ciscoitatwork/network_systems/network_infrastructure_upgrade_program.html. “Because we designed a media-ready network, we don’t need to rearchitect the Cisco WAN when we deploy high-demand applications such as TelePresence,” says Craig Huegen, Cisco IT director and chief network architect. For details about Cisco’s internal TelePresence deployment, see the Cisco IT case study “TelePresence Virtual conference room. They also use these cameras to create low-cost videos for blogs and

communications.

No new network equipment was added to support Cisco UVA

Communications Manager to support the service and updated the H.323 gatekeepers to video-conferencing equipment. Like the H.323 video streams, Cisco UVA calls require 38

transport protocol overhead (about 470 Kbps per call). co UVA cameras we

Although nearly 3

application significant traffic dem

see the Ci co ITs case stud “Cisco Unified Video Advantage” at

http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ciscoitatwork/u video_advantage.html.

PRODUCT LIST

Routing and Switching

● o 5 gr

Cisco TelePresence

Cisco’s internal deployment of Cisco TelePresence s largest demand for WAN bandwidth among all v the rearchitecture of the Cisco network to su previous video traffic, TelePresence requi refinements to deliver a high-quality user experi Video transmission is bursty, even by data stand Cisc 384 Inte ated Services Router

TelePresence

● Cisco TelePresence 3000 and TelePresence 1000 endpoints

Content Networking ● Cisco ACNS

Streaming On-Demand/Live ● Cisco Digital Media System

● Cisco IPTV

Interactive Desktop Video ● Cisco Unified MeetingPlace

● Cisco Unified Video Advantage

● Cisco WebEx

dropped packets. Packet sizes and rates vary the video image, a factor that is amplified in transmitting, Cisco TelePresence requires be bandwidth into each meeting room, dependin

Video Surveillance

● Cisco Video Surveillance Manager

● Cisco Video Surveillance IP Camera

TelePresence requires one-way latency end to end of no m ms. Jitter cannot exceed 10 ms,

percent.

Cisco chose to implement 1080p (ultra high-definition) resolution in all sites, and the in circuit bandwidth of 8–10 Mbps would be necessary. In some locations, upgrades to W

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Meetings” at http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ciscoitatwork/telepresence/telepresence_virtual_meetings.html.

low-latency paths between sites with bandwidth sufficient for a variety of latency-ing one-way video for IPTV a.

ncluding simplicity, scalability, and the

sports all voice, video, and luding IP video

such as Cisco MeetingPlace and Cisco WebEx, and nge in the overall th QoS standards.

to serve growing traffic demands. The Cisco network has been able to accommodate growing volumes

the network make it easier for Cisco network the unique impact and behavior of video traffic. By using standard QoS policy, capacity planning

twork with new QoS policies be automated.

will make it easier to support atures.

nnel have gained several key

twor ur fiber paths to calculate

nt for helpin evels of video traffic,” says

ating s at local offices is also important

e network can a Huegen adds, “If you are using an MP

e service provider is offering adequate

g an end-to-end QoS and simpler to troubleshoot and manage. “Defining QoS end to end for voice traffic really set us up well for adding video traffic to the network. Proper classification means the traffic marking is preserved end-to-end and routers at different sites handle packets in the same manner. The standards also allow us to automate QoS configuration changes through our network management system,” says Wojciaczyk.

Be proactive about WAN capacity management. As the popularity of TelePresence and other video traffic

continues to increase, Cisco’s network managers will regularly monitor bandwidth utilization and available capacity at all sites. “Because of the long lead times for provisioning circuits, especially in the WAN backbone, you need to be proactive about predicting demand and increasing WAN capacity before it is fully needed,” says Jon Woolwine, a

RESULTS

The current Cisco network supports

sensitive voice and video applications. The network also offers multicast to support stream and robust QoS for supporting interactive medi

Cisco has realized many benefits from its evolution to a media-ready network, i ability to adapt to new traffic types and network technologies.

Easier deployment of new video technologies. The single, converged IP network tran data traffic. This architecture simplified Cisco’s deployment of new video technologies, inc conferencing, CCTV for physical security, collaboration tools

Cisco Unified Video Advantage. Additionally, deploying Cisco TelePresence did not require a cha network architecture, because Cisco had created a peer-to-peer and scalable WAN wi

Scalability

of video traffic through simple adjustments of QoS and bandwidth where needed. Simpler bandwidth management. Standard QoS classifications across

managers to see

based on NetFlow data, and QoS classification maps, updating all routers in the Cisco ne can

Network positioned for the future. The simplicity and flexibility of the Cisco network future video applications without significant changes in the basic network topology and fe

LESSONS LEARNED

From many years of experience in supporting networked video services, Cisco IT perso lessons.

A low-latenc , peer-to-peer ne latency has been importa Brumbaugh. He notes that evalu

y

h

k design is essential. “Knowing the mileage of o g our network architecture accommodate growing l

the buffer capacity in the routers and switche

dequately handle the bursty nature of video traffic.

LS network or other service-provider managed link, it is important to make sure that when the committed rate is lower than the physical rate of the circuit, th

for determining w ether th

traffic policing in order to verify that data is not lost during video traffic bursts.” Define end-to-end QoS. Creatin

architecture makes the network more stable

“Defining QoS end to end for voice

traffic really set us up well for

adding video traffic to the network.”

Tom Wojciaczyk, Cisco IT Network Engineer

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Cisco IT architect. “Adequate capacity across the network is essential to delivering the video quality levels that users

AN circuits for each local office. the desired level of diversity

apacity circuit for the p link is in use. eo services during occasional

ered by the same regulations ons may prompt network er equipment, as well as how ideo calls are routed across the corporate and public networks.

n can be implemented selectively. Although it may seem important to encrypt all video transmissions, cause this overhead would to use encryption only in

the company’s network. To for TelePresence traffic to

t TelePresence sessions

nd other cameras and displays anticipated use of Cisco TelePresence 500 systems in employee offices and homes

r expected growth in video traffic on the network and new video technologies. For d IPTV. Digital-s are being teDigital-sted in pilot onference, and Cisco Unified Video Advantage e video sessions.

e, and managing these new media services will

ugh network modules that allow for deep-packet inspection of media streams.

• Improved admission control, upgrading from simple mechanisms to protect voice-from-voice and video-from-video traffic to more complex policy preemption mechanisms to help ensure that end-to-end resources are available before permitting new video or other media sessions on the network.

Cisco IT is also considering plans to:

• Secure video streams by leveraging network virtualization, which will restrict access to some video streams through Virtual Routing/Forwarding (VRF) technology within the LAN and WAN.

• Design for nonstop communications by using the Performance Routing (PfR) feature in Cisco ISR routers and Stateful Switchover (SSO) support in the Cisco ASR 1000 aggregation services routers.

expect.”

Consider link redundancy and diversity. Cisco typically deploys fully redundant W However, in some locations this redundancy may be too expensive or may not provide because of limited path availability. Instead, it may be more cost-effective to use a lower-c

backup link and accept a lower level of network performance or service availability when that backu This design is appropriate for locations where it is acceptable to lose high-bandwidth vid

circuit outages.

Plan for differences in local regulatory issues. In some countries, video calls are cov as voice calls, and are not allowed to be transported on the corporate WAN. These regulati managers to make different choices about the location for installing gateways and oth voice and v

Encryptio

doing so adds a significant bandwidth overhead of up to 25 percent in the packet size. Be be very costly to support on all WAN circuits, Cisco IT has configured video applications selected locations.

NEXT STEPS

Cisco IT staff anticipate continued growth of video traffic, especially for TelePresence, on meet this demand, Cisco IT plans to increase the amount of network bandwidth allocated as much as 50 percent of available capacity on some circuits. This change will:

•

Support more TelePresence codecs and displays in large offices

•

Support more multipoin

•

Allow interconnection of TelePresence with H.323 video-conferencing systems a

•

Prepare for the

Cisco IT staff will continue to plan fo

example, Cisco IT is investigating support for higher-definition video for video conferencing, VoDs, an media signage is being deployed in many company locations, and enterprise TV service

projects. Cisco IT is working to integrate TelePresence, IP video c endpoints for collaborativ

Integrating these different video media will greatly increase their us require new tools, including:

(15)

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information about designing a media-ready network, see

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/ns813/implementation.html

For additional Cisco IT case studies on a variety of business solutions, visit Cisco on Cisco: Inside Cisco IT

www.cisco.com/go/ciscoit

ucts. Many factors may have buted to the results and benefits described; Cisco does not guarantee comparable results elsewhere.

HER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Some jurisdictions do not allow disclaimer of express or implied warranties, therefore this disclaimer may not apply to you.

NOTE

This publication describes how Cisco has benefited from the deployment of its own prod contri

CISCO PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EIT

Bandwidth-Intensive Traffic

Media-Ready Network to Handle

more video traffic

How Cisco IT Built a