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{ "lLangCode": "en", "lName": "English", "lCountryCode": "us", "transcode": "en_US" }
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ECN Packets per Queue

date_range 12-Nov-24

Overview

Explicit congestion notification (ECN) enables two endpoint devices on TCP/IP-based networks to send end-to-end congestion notifications to each other. Without ECN, devices respond to network congestion by dropping TCP/IP packets. The dropped packets signal the occurrence of network congestion. In contrast, ECN marks packets to signal network congestion without dropping the packets. ECN reduces packet loss by making the sending device decrease the transmission rate until the congestion clears.

Packets may be delayed as the device decreases the transmission rate until congestion clears. To account for how many packets are delayed, you can use the show interfaces queue command to view the amount of ECN congestion experienced (CE) traffic in the queue.

Benefits

  • Identify the packets that have experienced congestion.

  • Helps in identifying if traffic is going to reach the queue buffer limits.

  • Enables quick troubleshooting of network congestion points.

Configuration

  1. Configure ECN.

    ECN is disabled by default. For how to configure ECN, see Example: Configuring ECN.

  2. Enable ECN on both endpoints and on all of the intermediate devices between the endpoints.

    ECN must be enabled this way for ECN to work properly. Any device in the transmission path that does not support ECN breaks the end-to-end ECN functionality.

  3. Use the show interfaces queue command to view the amount of traffic that has experienced congestion.

    The ECN-CE packets field shows the number of packets that have experienced congestion, while the ECN-CE bytes field shows the number of total bytes in those packets.

    The per-queue ECN counters ECN-CE packets and ECN-CE bytes only count packets that experienced congestion on the local switch.

    For example:

    content_copy zoom_out_map
    show interfaces queue et-0/0/5 forwarding-class network-control1
        
    Physical interface: et-0/0/5, up, Physical link is Up
      Interface index: 1262, SNMP ifIndex: 974
    Forwarding classes: 12 supported, 9 in use
    Egress queues: 12 supported, 9 in use
    Queue: 3, Forwarding classes: network-control1
      Queued:
        Packets              :              15239998                856158 pps
        Bytes                :            2225039708             999992904 bps
      Transmitted:
        Packets              :              15239998                856158 pps
        Bytes                :            2225039708             999992904 bps
        Tail-dropped packets :                     0                     0 pps
        Tail-dropped bytes   :                     0                     0 bps
        RED-dropped packets  :                     0                     0 pps
        RED-dropped bytes    :                     0                     0 bps
        ECN-CE packets       :               8577686                482043 pps
        ECN-CE bytes         :            1252342156              70378315 bps
    

Platform Support

See Feature Explorer for platform and release support.

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