Cisco - Ping Labz (Page 3)

QoS in Modern Networks: SD-WAN, Cloud, and Application-Aware Steering

QoS in 2026 is application-aware steering at the SD-WAN edge plus local queueing per tunnel. Why DSCP stops being honored at administrative boundaries, and how SD-WAN path conditioning compensates.

7 min read Apr 25, 2026

QoS public

Voice and Video QoS on Cisco IOS XE

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Voice and video are the use cases QoS exists for. Latency and jitter budgets, DSCP markings, IP phone trust, LLQ configuration, codec bandwidth math, and wireless voice via WMM.

6 min read Apr 25, 2026

QoS public

QoS Queueing, Policing, and Shaping Compared

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LLQ, CBWFQ, policing, and shaping each do something different. The three primitives, when to use which, hierarchical shaping for sub-rate WAN handoffs, and the production patterns.

7 min read Apr 25, 2026

QoS public

QoS Classification, Marking, and Trust Boundaries

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Classification and marking at the trust boundary are the foundation of every QoS deployment. The patterns (untrusted access ports, conditional trust for IP phones, explicit MQC marking) and the discipline that makes them work.

7 min read Apr 25, 2026

QoS public

Cisco MQC (Modular QoS CLI): The Operator's Walkthrough

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The Cisco MQC three-construct model (class-map, policy-map, service-policy) covers every QoS feature on IOS, IOS XE, and IOS XR. The grammar, common actions, hierarchical policies, and verification.

6 min read Apr 25, 2026

QoS public

DSCP and IP Precedence Explained Byte by Byte

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DSCP is the 6-bit Layer 3 marking that drives modern QoS. The byte format, the standardized PHBs (CS, AF, EF), Cisco's DSCP-to-CoS-to-MPLS-EXP mapping, and trust boundary discipline.

6 min read Apr 25, 2026

SD-WAN public

Cisco vManage / SD-WAN Manager: The Operator's Walkthrough

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Cisco vManage (now SD-WAN Manager) is the management plane of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN. Templates, policies, dashboards, the REST API, HA model, and the operational realities at scale.

5 min read Apr 25, 2026

SD-WAN public

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Architecture: vManage, vSmart, vBond, WAN Edge

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The four-component Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN (formerly Viptela) architecture: vManage, vSmart, vBond, and WAN Edge. OMP routing protocol, cEdge vs vEdge, fabric bring-up walkthrough.

6 min read Apr 25, 2026

SD-WAN public

SD-WAN vs MPLS: When Each Wins in 2026

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SD-WAN and MPLS are not pure substitutes. The technical differences, cost story without the marketing spin, when MPLS still wins, and the hybrid pattern most enterprises end up with.

6 min read Apr 25, 2026

BGP public

MP-BGP: Multiprotocol BGP Address Families Explained

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MP-BGP (RFC 4760) is what lets a single BGP session carry IPv6, VPNv4, EVPN, and more. The AFI/SAFI model, route distinguishers, and how modern data center fabrics use MP-BGP for everything.

6 min read Apr 25, 2026

STP public

STP vs RSTP: Convergence, Port Roles, and When to Switch

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Classic 802.1D STP vs 802.1w RSTP. The convergence differences (30s vs sub-second), the port state and role changes, and the one-command Cisco migration from PVST+ to Rapid PVST+.

5 min read Apr 25, 2026

BGP public

BGP Neighbor States: The 6-State FSM and How to Diagnose It

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BGP's finite state machine has six states: Idle, Connect, Active, OpenSent, OpenConfirm, Established. What each means, why Active is a problem state, and the diagnostic that maps each stuck state to a real cause.

6 min read Apr 25, 2026