What is RSVP? A Guide to Resource Reservation Protocol

What is RSVP?

Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) is a network control protocol designed to reserve resources in a computer network. It is designed to provide an end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) mechanism in IP networks to support applications such as Voice over IP (VoIP), online games, and streaming media. RSVP allows multiple users to share a single available bandwidth in a network. It also provides for the admission control of newly requested connections by checking whether sufficient resources are available to meet the service quality requirements for existing connections.

How Does RSVP Work?

RSVP works by sending messages from the source hosts to the destination host. These messages contain information about the type of traffic that needs to be sent along with the desired QoS parameters. When the messages reach the destination, the receiver sends back a Reservation Confirmation message, which confirms that enough available bandwidth exists to accommodate the desired traffic. Once the reservation is made, RSVP also continuously monitors the network to ensure that the requested resources remain available. If there is a change in the bandwidth availability or QoS parameters, the RSVP protocol will automatically adjust the reservation accordingly.

Benefits of RSVP

RSVP is a valuable tool for providing QoS in IP networks. It helps to ensure that network resources are efficiently shared among all users, while also meeting the demands of the various types of traffic sent over the network. Additionally, RSVP can help to reduce the latency of data transmission and increases the reliability of VoIP and other real-time applications that require high levels of performance. It also provides an easy way to manage and monitor the resources in your network, so you can make sure that everything is running smoothly.