IP SLAs

IP SLA stands for Internet Protocol Service Level Agreement.

Cisco IOS IP Service Level Agreements (IP SLAs)

Cisco IOS IP SLAs is a feature included in the Cisco IOS Software that can allow administrators the ability to Analyze IP Service Levels for IP applications and services. IP SLA's uses active traffic-monitoring technology to monitor continuous traffic on the network. This is a reliable method in measuring over head network performance. Cisco Routers provide IP SLA Responders that give accuracy of measured data across a network.

What IP SLAs Does

With IP SLAs, routers and/or switches perform periodic measurements. These include:

The exact number and type of available measurements depends on the IOS version. IP SLAs enable building truly distributed performance collection systems. IP SLAs is very widely used in networks to generate time-based network and services performance data. It is typically used together with SNMP and Netflow which generate volume-based data. IP SLAs is often used to generate data which is needed by service level agreements. Applications such as NetScout's nGenius can generate IP SLA's and track their route through the network to monitor performance.

Types of Automated Operations IP SLAs Supports

* Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) DSP-Based Operation
* Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Connect
* User Datagram Protocol (UDP) Echo (for VoIP Jitter & MOS)
* User Datagram Protocol (UDP) Jitter for VoIP
* User Datagram Protocol (UDP) Jitter
* User Datagram Protocol (UDP) Echo
* User Datagram Protocol (UDP) Path Echo
* DNS Lookups
* DHCP Lease Requests
* FTP Downloads
* HTTP Get
* ICMP Echo (remote ping)
* ICMP Path Echo
* ICMP Path Jitter
* Application Performance Monitor (APM)
* Data-Link Switching (DLSw+) (SNA Tunneling protocol)
* Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Label Switched Path (LSP) Ping

= Related Links =
*Cisco
** Cisco IP Service Level Agreement Configuration and Information (http://www.cisco.com/application/pdf/en/us/guest/products/ps6350/c2001/ccmigration_09186a0080789b77.pdf)
** Cisco IP Service Level Agreements [http://www.cisco.com/go/ipsla]
** Service Assurance Agent (older version and name of same feature)
* Service level agreement

Network Management Solutions and Tools Support

Software solutions and tools to configure, collect, and plot IP SLAs data. IP SLAs is widely supported by tools from different vendors. These include but not limited to:

* [http://www.PacketTrap.com PacketTrap]
* [http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/cscowork/ps1008/prod_release_note09186a008007fb4d.html CiscoWorks Internetwork Performance Monitor]
* [http://www.cisco.com/go/pvm Cisco Performance Visibility Manager]
* [http://www.nimsoft.com Nimsoft]
* NetQoS
* [http://www.flukenetworks.com/fnet/en-us/products/ResponseWatch/Overview.htm Fluke Networks' ResponseWatch] (previously Crannog)
* IBM Tivoli NetView - Netcool Proviso
* [http://www.tti-telecom.com/ TTI Telecom]
* [http://www.infovista.fr/ InfoVista]
* [http://www.watch4net.com/ Watch4Net APG]
* [http://managementsoftware.hp.com/products/ovpi/index.html HP Openview Performance Insight]
* [http://www.wiredcity.com Wired City - IT Monitor Enterprise]
* [http://www.solarwinds.com/ Solar Winds]
* [http://www.netscout.com/ NetScout nGenius]
* [http://www.prolan.ru/solutions/diagnostics/npmanalyst/index.html ProLAN NPM Analyst]