The increase in network traffic in recent years has intensified the competition for network resources. New applications, multimedia applications in particular, place high demands on networks and can have a negative impact on mission-critical applications, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Traffic bottlenecks and delays can frustrate end users and put network administrators in reaction mode.

Quality of Service (QoS) is an industry-wide group of standards and mechanisms that support preferential treatment for certain traffic flows. Microsoft Windows Server 2003 provides QoS mechanisms for prioritizing traffic as it is generated by an application. The application can be written to apply QoS parameters to the traffic, or traffic management tools can be used to apply the QoS parameters.

In this subject

• What Is QoS?
  
• How QoS Works
  
• QoS Tools and Settings