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QBone FAQ

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What is the QBone?
Why has the QBone adopted the differentiated services approach to QoS?
What is the QBone architecture?
What does "QBone" stand for?
When can I get on the QBone?

What is the QBone?

Launched in October 1998, the QBone is an Internet2 initiative to build a testbed for new IP quality of service (QoS) technologies. New advanced network applications like remote instrument control, scientific collaboratories, and virtual classrooms will give our universities the tools that they need to fulfill their teaching and research missions in the coming century ­ but only if the demands that these new applications place on the network can be met. The QBone testbed will initially implement the differentiated services (DiffServ) approach to QoS that is now taking shape within the IETF. DiffServ has great potential to overcome some of the complexities of earlier IP QoS architectures, but requires a great deal of implementation experience, engineering, and study before it will mature to offer production-quality QoS.
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Why has the QBone adopted the differentiated services approach to QoS?

After a thorough attempt to understand the applications and networking requirements for Internet2 QoS, the Internet2 QoS Working Group recommended in May 1998 that member institutions pursue testbed deployment of the evolving differentiated services (DiffServ) approach to QoS. The DiffServ architecture addresses three main requirements identified by the QoS Working Group. First, DiffServ is a flexible framework under which a variety of services may be implemented to meet the diverse requirements of advanced applications. Second, DiffServ has a highly scalable design, pushing most state and forwarding complexity to the network edge. Third and finally, by emphasizing cloud-by-cloud (rather than hop-by-hop) QoS, and by standardizing per-hop forwarding behaviors (rather than particular services or queuing disciplines), DiffServ has a highly interoperable design. This makes it possible to provide end-to-end QoS assurances across separately engineered and administered networks, using equipment from many different vendors ­ something which is essential to the large-scale adoption of QoS technologies.
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What is the QBone architecture?

For the reasons given above, we have made the IETF differentiated services architecture central to the QBone architecture. In addition, as part of its role as a testbed for the initial deployment of DiffServ, the QBone will from the beginning of its operations provide a measurement infrastructure for DiffServ's performance. Over the coming year, QBone participants will also be working to deploy prototype bandwidth brokers, agents which will automate the configuration of edge devices. This configuration task will be performed manually in the first months of the QBone's operation, but must be automated as large-scale deployment and use of the QBone infrastructure becomes practicable.
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What does "QBone" stand for?

The name "QBone" is not an abbreviation for anything! In particular, since the QBone is not a backbone network or an overlay network, "QBone" does not stand for "QoS Backbone". However, "QBone" is meant to suggest a QoS testbed in the spirit of the MBone (an IP native multicast testbed) and the 6Bone (an IPv6 testbed).
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When can I get on the QBone?

The QBone is an experimental testbed network, not a production network. Participation in the QBone is open to all research and education networks in the Internet2 community. Such participation is contingent on two things: the ability to implement the QBone architecture, and active interdomain testing of QBone services. The initial rollouts of interdomain QBone services are planned for this summer and fall.
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