Traffic Shaping – What is it and how does it work?

When you’ve worked in networking for a while, you’ll come to realize an unspoken truth. There’s never enough bandwidth to go around. A lot of professional network design is really a matter of figuring out how to split your resources to minimize problems. When it comes to rationing bandwidth, you have a few different philosophies, but one of your most dynamic and responsive tools is traffic shaping. It can help the most important functions on your network flow smoothly without increasing your bandwidth or hardware capabilities at all.

What is Traffic Shaping?

Traffic shaping (also known as packet shaping) is a bandwidth management technique that delays the flow of certain types of network packets in order to ensure network performance for higher-priority applications.

It essentially limits the amount of bandwidth that can be consumed by certain types of applications. It is primarily used to ensure a high quality of service for business-related network traffic.

The most common type of traffic shaping is application-based traffic shaping. Fingerprinting tools are first used to identify the application associated with a data packet. Based on this, specific traffic shaping policies are applied. For example, you might want to use application-based traffic-shaping to throttle peer-to-peer file sharing, while giving maximum bandwidth to a business-critical application such as Voice-over-IP (VoIP), which is especially sensitive to latency.

Many application protocols use encryption to circumvent application-based traffic shaping. To prevent applications from bypassing traffic shaping policies, route-based traffic shaping can be used. Route-based traffic shaping applies packet regulation policies based on the source and intended destination of the previous address of a packet.

How does Traffic Shaping work?

Traffic shaping starts with categorizing the different kinds of traffic that flow through a network. Organizations that maintain online shops, for example, may want to prioritize transaction traffic over that concerned with administrative tasks. That way, their customers will never have to wait to be served, dampening their experience.

The traffic coming from systems and applications other than the online shop, however, doesn’t get dropped or discarded. It is simply delayed. Once the network has been decongested, the traffic that has been postponed gets processed.

After categorization, the next step is to manage the network bandwidth using an application delivery controller, which applies specific traffic shaping criteria to the incoming and outgoing data.

Why is it important?​

Traffic shaping is a crucial component of any network firewall and essential for cyber security. Although bandwidth prioritizing is necessary due to restricted network resources, it ensures a greater quality of service for data and business applications.

Because there is a limited amount of bandwidth available on every network, traffic shaping through bandwidth management is a crucial technique for ensuring the smooth operation of crucial applications and the timely delivery of time-sensitive data.

Application-based traffic shaping, for example, can be used by businesses that rely heavily on online sales to give that data priority both going to and coming from the application. Conversely, those who frequently require speedy responses from the C-suite can use route-based traffic shaping to order messages going to and coming from the executives’ inboxes according to their IP addresses.

A strong and adaptable method of protecting against bandwidth-hogging distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) assaults and ensuring quality of service is traffic shaping. It controls abusive users, safeguards networks and applications against traffic peaks, and stops network attacks from depleting network resources.

When network uplinks are clogged with data leaving an interface, traffic shaping is crucial. Without it, networks may discard or wait for any extra traffic that cannot exit an interface, which may result in delays for all packets or subpar performance for mission-critical applications.

Network administrators can designate which apps are less crucial by using traffic shaping, which generates knowledge about which packets will be dropped or delayed first. In general, traffic shaping is a crucial method of traffic control that guarantees excellent network performance.

Benefits of Traffic Shaping

• Improved user experience. It ensures users have a consistent and reliable experience when accessing network resources.
• Better network performance. It helps prioritize critical traffic and can prevent congestion and delays on the network.
• Efficient bandwidth use. By controlling traffic flow, traffic shaping can help prevent bandwidth waste, allowing the network to operate more efficiently.
• Improved security. It blocks or limits the bandwidth of specific types of traffic, which can improve network security and help prevent security threats.

What are the challenges and limitations of Traffic Shaping?​

The requirement for precise network information and the potential for network security breaches are among the drawbacks of traffic shaping. Other drawbacks of traffic shaping are as follows:

• Difficulty: Implementation can be difficult due to technical difficulties, especially in large networks with a variety of traffic patterns. It necessitates a thorough knowledge of network protocols and data flow patterns.
• Infrastructure Cost: Traffic shaping calls for very sophisticated hardware and software. Particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, these solutions, such as premium routers and sophisticated network management software, may be rather pricey.
• Possibility of Inequitable Bandwidth Distribution: Traffic shaping results in an uneven distribution of bandwidth if improperly handled. While other users or apps might be left without the resources they require, some may obtain more bandwidth than is necessary.

Conclusion

Traffic shaping is an essential strategy for publishers to optimize performance and revenue. It allows publishers to manage network traffic, ensuring that high-priority ads load quickly without overwhelming server resources.

By prioritizing critical data and controlling bandwidth allocation, publishers enhance user experience through faster page loads and more relevant content, leading to increased engagement and longer site visits. Traffic shaping also boosts profitability by focusing on high-value ad placements and minimizing costs associated with low-impact traffic.

Thus, adopting traffic-shaping techniques is crucial for publishers aiming to maximize efficiency, user satisfaction, and revenue.