A great deal of the world's business communication and electronic commerce activities rely on Cisco IOS software's intelligent packet forwarding, security, and network management capabilities. In fact, virtually all Internet traffic today passes over equipment from Cisco Systems. These features collectively enable network operators to support a new generation of applications alongside their existing ones. Input from our customers has guided us to develop the features they need for the successful deployment of mission-critical applications. These are the customers for whom Cisco IOS 12.0 will have the greatest impact.
CAR appropriately allocates bandwidth among multiple traffic flows.
When the network is congested, CAR invokes a defined rate policy for low-priority traffic that is exceeding its allocated maximum rate. In addition, each application and traffic type can represent a different value to an organization. When prioritizing traffic, this situation can present a complex management challenge to organizations that want to make sure their most critical traffic continues running at peak performance levels even when networks are congested. Using Cisco IOS Release 12.0, network operators who want to integrate new-world applications with traditional data, voice, and even video traffic onto a single network now have the additional tools necessary to manage performance levels. The CAR function enables network managers to configure Cisco switch routers so they can control the maximum rate for IP traffic sent or received on an interface.