[c-nsp] Queue drops, real performance monitoring and other..

[Clinton Work]

Drew, I think it depends upon a number of factors to determine if its 
normal or not:  
- Which queue (EF?) are the input/output drops occurring in?
- What type of data are you carrying?   Bursty Internet, Voice, Video, ...
- Is the interface core facing or customer facing (with policing/shaping)?
- What type of device are you using (small switch, IOS router, Cisco 
7600, ...) ?

I would not expect to see drops on Cisco 7600 interfaces carrying Voice 
traffic in an EF queue.  

Drew Weaver wrote:
>                 Howdy,
>
> I am a little confused about queue drops and how to know when they're a problem vs. when they are not a problem. (that sounds silly).
>
> Everything I have read indicates that some number of IQD/OQD is normal in the 'show interface summary' command, but how do you know if it is a performance problem or not?
>
> Does anyone know of any good tools/software (commercial/free) that monitor performance metrics inside Cisco switches to ensure they are operating correctly?
>
> We'd really like a way to track the performance our users are getting and if there is any quality degradation in services such as Voice, etc.
>