Differentiated services or DiffServ is a computer networking architecture that s

pecifies a simple, scalable and coarse-grained mechanism for classifying and man
aging network traffic and providing quality of service (QoS) on modern IP networ
ks. DiffServ can, for example, be used to provide low-latency to critical networ
k traffic such as voice or streaming media while providing simple best-effort se
rvice to non-critical services such as web traffic or file transfers.
DiffServ uses a 6-bit differentiated services code point (DSCP) in the 8-bit dif
ferentiated services field (DS field) in the IP header for packet classification
purposes. The DSCP field and ECN field replace the outdated IPv4 TOS field.

DiffServ is a coarse-grained, class-based mechanism for traffic management. In c

ontrast, IntServ is a fine-grained, flow-based mechanism. DiffServ relies on a m
echanism to classify and mark packets as belonging to a specific class. DiffServ
-aware routers implement per-hop behaviors (PHBs), which define the packet-forwa
rding properties associated with a class of traffic. Different PHBs may be defin
ed to offer, for example, low-loss or low-latency.

DiffServ operates on the principle of traffic classification, where each data pa

cket is placed into a limited number of traffic classes, rather than differentia
ting network traffic based on the requirements of an individual flow. Each route
r on the network is configured to differentiate traffic based on its class. Each
traffic class can be managed differently, ensuring preferential treatment for h
igher-priority traffic on the network. The premise of Diffserv is that complicat
ed functions such as packet classification and policing can be carried out at th
e edge of the network by edge routers who then mark the packet to receive a part
icular type of per-hop behavior. Core router functionality can then be kept simp
le. No classification and policing is required. Such routers simply apply PHB tr
eatment to packets based on the marking. PHB treatment is achieved by core route
rs using a combination of scheduling policy and queue management policy.
While DiffServ does recommend a standardized set of traffic classes,[2] the Diff
Serv architecture does not incorporate predetermined judgements of what types of
traffic should be given priority treatment. DiffServ simply provides a framewor
k to allow classification and differentiated treatment. The standard traffic cla
sses (discussed below) serve to simplify interoperability between different netw
orks and different vendors' equipment.