LARTC - Jan 2005 - Good pratice with a Linux Gateway / Traffic Shapping

Hi,
I am the network administrator of my company, I know quite well Windows
networking and a few about Linux and its amazing routing and QOS capabilities.
Right now, we have a bustable T1, which mean that the bill increase with out T1
use.
I have decided to find a way to shape the traffic so I can stay at a raisonable
speed of 256 kb/s (Up/down) on my T1.
I have linux gateway with 2 nics behind a PIX firewall.
Right know, the gateway and the pix are configured in a way so I can have a
network segment inside my internal network.
The Linux version is suse PRO 9.2
My questions are (yes, they are several questions)
> what is the best method to use to shape the traffic on my linux gateway ?
I know that there is several possibilities, like wondershaper script , htb.init
script and even l7-filter but I still confused about the right procedure that I
have to use. 
> most probably, I have to customize my script so it can reflect what I want,
I know also that I have to learn pretty much on those different shaping methods,
but is there some good books/ internet site where I can find some usefull
information about that ? I also looking for some guides that could help me to
begin the project.
> also, is there a way to make the shaping different for particular ips or
protocols ? I know that I can mark some packets but still confused how to make
all the stuff work.
The linux world is so huge that I am pretty lost ... so different method, so
many considerations, patches to apply, stuff like that. I want to learn and
master my network, and working hard is not a problem. The problem is maybe when
a newby starts to enter the linux world, it is quite confusing ... Anyway, I am
ready to work hard on this project and I hope I can count on the linux community
to give me a little help.
I know that those questions are maybe already been asked by other people in the
same situation. So I will try to create a guide as the project will evolve and
make it available on the net for everybody.
I really need some advices here because I know that it is possible.
Any help will be apreciated.
Sorry for my english ...

Romain Pelissier
9900 Cavendish Blvd., suite 200
St-Laurent, QC H4M 2V2
T 514.333.6600 /126  F 514.333.1080
Romain.Pelissier@sqliaison.com
www.sqliaison.com
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Hi!

I am not very experienced, but maybe i can help you.

TechSupport wrote:
> Hi,
> I am the network administrator of my company, I know quite well Windows
networking and a few about Linux and its amazing routing and QOS capabilities.
> Right now, we have a bustable T1, which mean that the bill increase with
out T1 use.
> I have decided to find a way to shape the traffic so I can stay at a
raisonable speed of 256 kb/s (Up/down) on my T1.
> I have linux gateway with 2 nics behind a PIX firewall.
> Right know, the gateway and the pix are configured in a way so I can have a
network segment inside my internal network.
> The Linux version is suse PRO 9.2
> My questions are (yes, they are several questions)
> 
>>what is the best method to use to shape the traffic on my linux gateway
?

I think you should use HTB method.
http://luxik.cdi.cz/~devik/qos/htb/
Limit the incoming and/or outgoing bandwith, maybe make some subclasses 
to have garantied bandwith for web, mail, etc.
You should attach an SFQ qdisc to the most popular classes.

> I know that there is several possibilities, like wondershaper script ,
htb.init script and even l7-filter but I still confused about the right
procedure that I have to use.
> 
>>most probably, I have to customize my script so it can reflect what I
want, I know also that I have to learn pretty much on those different shaping
methods, but is there some good books/ internet site where I can find some
usefull information about that ? I also looking for some guides that could help
me to begin the project.
>>also, is there a way to make the shaping different for particular ips or
protocols ? I know that I can mark some packets but still confused how to make
all the stuff work.
> 
> The linux world is so huge that I am pretty lost ... so different method,
so many considerations, patches to apply, stuff like that. I want to learn and
master my network, and working hard is not a problem. The problem is maybe when
a newby starts to enter the linux world, it is quite confusing ... Anyway, I am
ready to work hard on this project and I hope I can count on the linux community
to give me a little help.
> I know that those questions are maybe already been asked by other people in
the same situation. So I will try to create a guide as the project will evolve
and make it available on the net for everybody.
> I really need some advices here because I know that it is possible.
> Any help will be apreciated.
This site helped me a lot, to understand:
http://www.knowplace.org/shaper/

I didn''t use any prepared scripts but write my own using iptables and
tc
basic commands. If you are a network administrator i recommend this to 
you too, because this is the way to really understand what you do.

-- 
Udv,
   Nandor

Ps. Welcome to the linux community!
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