'Best Efforts' is a Quality of Service marking: usually Priority 1. It doesn't mean do your best at all costs, it just means do your best with the available resources. If a packet is received by a router that's acting on QoS markings that have a priority that's higher (eg Voice @ Priority 5) that should go through first.
To use a car analogy; If you pay a premium (or buy a smart card or whatever) you can use special lanes or toll barriers to get onto the freeway faster. If you don't, you're lumped in with everyone else and have to make your best effort to get through the toll barrier.
Disclaimer: This is fuzzy and half remembered from a CCNP course I did a couple of years ago. IANANE.
Slashdot Mirror
'Best Efforts' is a Quality of Service marking: usually Priority 1. It doesn't mean do your best at all costs, it just means do your best with the available resources. If a packet is received by a router that's acting on QoS markings that have a priority that's higher (eg Voice @ Priority 5) that should go through first. To use a car analogy; If you pay a premium (or buy a smart card or whatever) you can use special lanes or toll barriers to get onto the freeway faster. If you don't, you're lumped in with everyone else and have to make your best effort to get through the toll barrier. Disclaimer: This is fuzzy and half remembered from a CCNP course I did a couple of years ago. IANANE.