bandwidth limiting by ports?

[Bubbalouie]

I have older switch hardware, 2948xl's and 3548xl's, so I think I already know the answer to this question but I'm gonna throw it out there to the experts to get a definitive answer and/or recommendation.

I have 9 remote locations that access applications at a central site thru site-to-site vpn's. The remote locations sometimes download files, programs, etc from file shares at the central site and bog down the performance of applications accessed thru the vpn.

I seek a way to limit the bandwidth used for such transfers either on the switches at the remotes or on the ports at the central site that house the file share devices.

I am getting ready to upgrade some switches at the central site for VOIP so I can probably buy a gently used refurbed switch that might have a feature that would do the trick. I just don't know if such a trick exists and what it's called.

 

[routerman]

Its called QoS, you need it to provide bandwidth control for specified applications.

The actual configuration syntax varys depending on model as its done in hardware, but the basic steps are:

Classify the traffic, this can be by source IP, TCP/UDP port, interface port etc. Mark this traffic with a QoS tag, then police it, this defines the bandwidth limits the classified traffic is allowed.

You need to look at the features offered by the switch to see if this is supported.

 

[vipergg]

You are going to very limited if any COS on those old switches . traffic classification was just a glint in the eye of cisco back 1995 when those came around.

 

[Bubbalouie]

so if i get the right switch, i will be able to limit the bandwidth per connection to the switch ports that the file sharing devices?

what would be a good switch for that and the commands to do that with? i'll start looking them up pronto?

 

[VinceWhirlwind]

Actually, I don't think you can create bandwidth policies in QoS on switches - that's something you do on routers.
On switches, (the ones I've used, anyway) QoS policy can only be applied on an interface in the *incoming* direction, which means all you can do is mark it for priorisation.
This could still help you by applying different priorities to different applications, eg, give low priority to traffic coming from file shares and higher priority to traffic for crucial applications.