LDP/LDP/howto/docbook/Traffic-Control-HOWTO/intro.xml

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   The article was authored by Martin A. Brown <martin@linux-ip.net>
   for the linux community, and has been released under the GNU Free
   Documentation License (GFDL) through The Linux Documentation
   Project (TLDP).

   This was initially authored while Martin A. Brown worked for
   SecurePipe, Inc. (acquired by TrustWave in 2006, which itself
   was acquired by Singapore Telecom in 2015).
     
   This HOWTO is likely available at the following address:

     http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Traffic-Control-HOWTO/
     
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<section id="intro">

  <title>Introduction to Linux Traffic Control</title>
  <para>
    Linux offers a very rich set of tools for managing and manipulating the
    transmission of packets.  The larger Linux community is very familiar with
    the tools available under Linux for packet mangling and firewalling
    (netfilter, and before that, ipchains) as well as hundreds of network
    services which can run on the operating system.  Few inside the community
    and fewer outside the Linux community are aware of the tremendous power of
    the traffic control subsystem which has grown and matured under kernels
    2.2 and 2.4.
  </para>
  <para>
    This HOWTO purports to introduce the
    <link linkend="overview">concepts of traffic control</link>,
    <link linkend="elements">the traditional elements (in general)</link>,
    <link linkend="components">the components of the Linux traffic control
    implementation</link> and provide some
    <link linkend="rules">guidelines</link>
    <!-- and <link linkend="examples">examples</link> -->.
    This HOWTO represents the collection, amalgamation and synthesis of the
    &url-lartc-howto;, documentation from individual projects and importantly
    the &url-lartc-mailinglist; over a period of study.
  </para>
  <para>
    The impatient soul, who simply wishes to experiment right now, is
    recommended to the &url-tcng-htb-howto; and &url-lartc-howto; for
    immediate satisfaction.
  </para>
  <para>
  </para>
  <section id="i-assumptions">
    <title>Target audience and assumptions about the reader</title>
    <para>
      The target audience for this HOWTO is the network administrator or savvy
      home user who desires an introduction to the field of traffic control
      and an overview of the tools available under Linux for implementing
      traffic control.
    </para>
    <para>
      I assume that the reader is comfortable with UNIX concepts and the
      command line and has a basic knowledge of IP networking.  Users who wish
      to implement traffic control may require the ability to patch, compile
      and install a kernel or software package
      <footnote>
        <para>
          See <xref linkend="software"/> for more details on the use or
          installation of a particular traffic control mechanism, kernel or
          command line utility.
        </para>
      </footnote>.  For users with newer kernels
      (2.4.20+, see also
      <xref linkend="s-kernel"/>), however, the ability to install and use
      software may be all that is required.
    </para>
    <para>
      Broadly speaking, this HOWTO was written with a sophisticated user in
      mind, perhaps one who has already had experience with traffic control
      under Linux.  I assume that the reader may have
      no prior traffic control experience.
    </para>
  </section>

  <section id="i-conventions">
    <title>Conventions</title>
    <para>
      This text was written in
      <ulink url="http://www.docbook.org/">DocBook</ulink>
      (<ulink url="http://www.docbook.org/xml/4.2/index.html">version 4.2</ulink>)
      with
      <ulink url="http://vim.sourceforge.net/"><command>vim</command></ulink>.
      All formatting has been applied by
      <ulink url="http://xmlsoft.org/XSLT/">xsltproc</ulink> based on
      <ulink url="http://docbook.sourceforge.net/projects/xsl/">DocBook
      XSL</ulink> and
      <ulink url="http://www.tldp.org/LDP/LDP-Author-Guide/usingldpxsl.html">LDP
      XSL</ulink> stylesheets.  Typeface formatting and display conventions
      are similar to most printed and electronically distributed technical
      documentation.
    </para>
  </section>

  <section id="i-recommendation">
    <title>Recommended approach</title>
    <para>
      I strongly recommend to the eager reader making a first foray into the
      discipline of traffic control, to become only casually familiar with the
      &link-tc; command line utility, before concentrating on &link-tcng;.  The
      &tcng; software package defines an entire language for describing
      traffic control structures.
      At first, this language may seem daunting, but mastery of these basics
      will quickly provide the user with a much wider ability to employ (and
      deploy) traffic control configurations than the direct use of &tc;
      would afford.
    </para>
    <para>
      Where possible, I'll try to prefer describing the behaviour of
      the Linux traffic control system in an abstract manner, although in
      many cases I'll need to supply the syntax of one or the other common
      systems for defining these structures.  I may not supply examples in
      both the &tcng; language and the &tc; command line, so the wise user
      will have some familiarity with both.
    </para>
    <para>
    </para>
  </section>

  <section id="i-missing">
    <title>Missing content, corrections and feedback</title>
    <para>
      There is content yet missing from this HOWTO.  In particular, the
      following items will be added at some point to this documentation.
    </para>
    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          A section of examples.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          A section detailing the classifiers.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          A section discussing the techniques for measuring traffic.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          A section covering meters.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          More details on &tcng;.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Descriptions of newer qdiscs, specifically, Controlled Delay
          (codel), Fair Queue Controlled Delay (fq_codel), Proportional
          Integrated controller Enhanced (pie), Stochastic Fair Blue (sfb),
          Heavy Hitter Filter (hhf), Choke (choke).
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>
    <para>
      I welcome suggestions, corrections and feedback at &email;.  All errors
      and omissions are strictly my fault.  Although I have made every effort
      to verify the factual correctness of the content presented herein, I
      cannot accept any responsibility for actions taken under the influence
      of this documentation.
    </para>
    <para>
    </para>
  </section>

</section>

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