Analysis of precision of the HTB packet scheduler

Network packet scheduling algorithms are used to provide QoS features. They are usually deployed in routers. Hierarchical token bucket packet scheduler is one of many offered packet scheduling algorithms in Linux kernel which is widely used as a combined firewall/router device. We have built a minimalistic Linux based distribution suited for firewalling and routing with QoS capabilities. In this paper we investigate the accuracy of such QoS router with the HTB packet scheduler when routing between LAN and typical WAN link of 1 Mbit/s. Today´s interactive protocols, like video and audio conferencing, voice over IP and virtual private networking require QoS to ensure that they are handled in a timely manner, reducing the chance of degraded quality