Xedia vs Packeteer Comparsion

Tue Nov 3 17:09:40 UTC 1998

> Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 08:54:04 -0500 (EST)
> From: "Jonathan A. Zdziarski" <jonz at netrail.net>
> Subject: Re: Xedia vs Packeteer Comparsion
> 	[...]
> I was told that the xedia boxes only shape outgoing bandwidth, not
> incoming.  ...
> 	[...]

This may be only a matter of what you call "outgoing" bandwidth.

Any IP device only has control over how outgoing bandwidth is allocated
(where "outgoing" is from the perspective of the device its self, _not_
in the sense of data "outgoing" from a local ISP to a national
service provider).

An IP device can only control how outgoing bandwidth is allocated by
managing its outbound queues, for example deciding which packet to
transmit next and which packet to drop next.  The device has no
control (in the absence of some sort of QoS request or QoS support
from the [e.g., ATM] network) over how incoming bandwidth is allocated;
all the device can do is receive the next packet that is sent to it
on the line.

-tjs