Bandwidth allocation sizing

Originally appeared in January 2015

When trying to calculate bandwidth allocation for a particular protocol, you would need to understand what the size of the actual payload/data is, then calculate what the bottom layer headers would add as overhead. Also, you would need to know what a particular data/payload would measure on Data Links (Layer 2), e.g. Ethernet, Ethernet 801.1Q (VLAN), HDLC, PPP, Frame Relay, Fiber

The typical example is a G.729 voice packet. Just the payload of the packet is 8 kbits, then we add the overheads of the lower layers:

Overhead Byes/sec	Total
G729	20	20
Layer 5	RTP	12	32
Layer 4	UDP	8	40
Layer 3	IP	20	60
Layer 2	Ethernet	38	98

Some links I came across:
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/linux-and-open-source/use-wireshark-to-inspect-packets-on-your-network/
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk652/tk698/technologies_tech_note09186a0080094ae2.shtml
http://sd.wareonearth.com/~phil/net/overhead/
http://aconaway.com/2011/01/10/network-protocol-overhead/

http://networkengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/2793/bandwidth-calculation-for-protocol-over-different-data-physical-links
http://networkengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/2789/wireshark-protocol-hierarchy-explanation