9781587059124

The only network professional's guide to planning, implementing, and managing solutions with Cisco's dramatically improved WAAS 4.1 products bull; bull;Everything network professionals need to know to design and deploy scalable, transparent application acceleration, WAN optimization, and branch virtualization solutions with the extensively revamped Cisco WAAS 4.1. bull;Covers technical components, requirements gathering, network integration, configuration, and more. bull;Authoritative information from two of Cisco's top WAAS experts. Deploying Cisco Wide Area Application Services, Second Edition brings together all the information network engineers need to design and deploy scalable, transparent application acceleration, WAN optimization, and branch virtualization solutions using Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) 4.1. This new edition has been thoroughly revised to reflect powerful recent enhancements to the WAAS software: improvements that enable far better performance, simplified workflow, and improved manageability. Zach Seils and Joel Christner -- both Cisco WAAS insiders -- illuminate major changes to the foundational components of WAAS' product architecture. These changes have made the latest version dramatically different from previous versions. They provide a solid foundation upon which WAAS will be based for years to come. Seils and Christner begin by reviewing the underlying technologies that make up the Cisco WAAS solution. From there, they show how to collect the requirements that WAAS solutions require; and walk through network integration, including device placement and interception techniques. Finally, the authors offer start-to-finish coverage of WAAS 4.1 software configuration, including central management, application traffic policies, monitoring and reporting, and virtualization.

Joel Christner, CCIE No. 15311, is a distinguished engineer at StorSimple, Inc. Before StorSimple, Joel was a technical leader in the Application Delivery Business Unit (ADBU) at Cisco Systems, Inc., driving the long-term product strategy, system architecture, and solution architecture for the Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) product and the Cisco broader application delivery solution. Previously, Joel was director of product management for Reconnex Corporation (acquired by McAfee), the industry leader in data loss prevention (DLP) solutions. Prior to joining Reconnex, Joel was the senior manager of technical marketing for ADBU at Cisco Systems, Inc, and a key contributor to the WAAS product line, helping shape the system architecture, craft the product requirements, and enable a global sales team to sell and support the product in a hyper-competitive market.

Joel is co-author of the first edition of this book and also co-author of Application Acceleration and WAN Optimization Fundamentals (Cisco Press) with Ted Grevers, Jr, which outlines architecture and relevance for WAN optimization and application acceleration technologies in today’s dynamic IT organizations.

Zach Seils, CCIE No. 7861, is a technical leader in the Application Delivery Business Unit (ADBU) at Cisco Systems, Inc. Zach is currently focused on developing the architecture and network integration aspects of next-generation WAN optimization and application acceleration platforms. In addition, Zach is frequently engaged with partners and internal Cisco engineers worldwide to advise on the design, implementation, and troubleshooting of Cisco WAAS. Previously, Zach was a technical leader in the Cisco

Advanced Services Data Center Networking Practice, where he served as a subject matter expert in Application Networking Services for the largest Enterprise and Service Provider customers at Cisco. Zach is co-author of the first edition of this book and was also a technical reviewer of Application Acceleration and WAN Optimization Fundamentals (Cisco Press) by Joel Christner and Ted Grevers, Jr.

Nancy Jin is a senior technical marketing engineer in the Application Delivery Business Unit (ADBU) at Cisco Systems, Inc. where she helps develop requirements for product features, drive sales enablement, and manage technical training development for the Cisco WAAS product family. Before Cisco, Nancy held senior systems engineering positions with well-known network and managed service providers, including InterNAP Network Services, Telstra USA, Sigma Networks, and MCI Worldcom.

Foreword xix

Introduction xx

Chapter 1 Introduction to Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) 1

Understanding Application Performance Barriers 3

Layer 4 Through Layer 7 4

Latency 7

Bandwidth Inefficiencies 10

Throughput Limitations 11

Network Infrastructure 12

Bandwidth Constraints 12

Network Latency 15

Loss and Congestion 19

Introduction to Cisco WAAS 21

WAN Optimization 23

Data Redundancy Elimination 25

Persistent LZ Compression 30

Transport Flow Optimization 30

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Optimization 31

Application Acceleration 33

Object and Metadata Caching 36

Prepositioning 38

Read-Ahead 39

Write-Behind 40

Multiplexing 41

Other Features 42

Branch Virtualization 45

The WAAS Effect 46

Summary 48

Chapter 2 Cisco WAAS Architecture, Hardware, and Sizing 49

Cisco WAAS Product Architecture 49

Disk Encryption 50

Central Management Subsystem 51

Interface Manager 51

Monitoring Facilities and Alarms 52

Network Interception and Bypass Manager 52

Application Traffic Policy Engine 53

Virtual Blades 55

Hardware Family 55

Router-Integrated Network Modules 56

NME-WAE Model 302 57

NME-WAE Model 502 57

NME-WAE Model 522 58

Appliances 58

WAVE Model 274 59

WAVE Model 474 59

WAE Model 512 60

WAVE Model 574 60

WAE Model 612 60

WAE Model 674 61

WAE Model 7341 61

WAE Model 7371 61

Licensing 61

Performance and Scalability Metrics 62

Device Memory 63

Disk Capacity 64

Number of Optimized TCP Connections 65

WAN Bandwidth and LAN Throughput 70

Number of Peers and Fan-Out 71

Number of Devices Managed 73

Replication Acceleration 74

Virtual Blades 75

Summary 76

Chapter 3 Planning, Discovery, and Analysis 77

Planning Overview 77

Planning Overview Checklist 78

Requirements Collection and Analysis 78

Site Information 80

Site Types 80

User Population 81

Physical Environment 81

Site Information Checklist 82

Network Infrastructure 82

WAN Topology 82

Remote Office Topology 85

Data Center Topology 86

Traffic Flows 87

Network Infrastructure Checklist 89

Application Characteristics 90

Application Requirements Checklist 91

Application Optimizer Requirements 91

CIFS Accelerator 91

Advanced Features 92

File Services Utilization 93

File Services Requirements Checklist 93

MAPI Accelerator 94

MAPI Requirements Checklist 95

HTTP Accelerator 95

HTTP Requirements Checklist 95

NFS Accelerator 96

NFS Requirements Checklist 96

Video Accelerator 96

Video Requirements Checklist 96

SSL Accelerator 97

SSL Requirements Checklist 97

Replication Accelerator 98

Platform Requirements 98

Platform Requirements Checklist 98

Scalability Requirements 99

Scalability Requirements Checklist 99

Availability Requirements 99

Availability Checklist 100

Management Requirements 100

Cisco WAAS Central Manager and XML-API 100

SNMP Trap/Inform Routing 101

SNMP Community Strings 101

Syslog Servers 102

Management Requirements Checklist 103

Security Requirements 103

Security Requirements Checklist 105

Virtualization Requirements 105

Virtualization Requirements Checklist 106

Summary 106

Chapter 4 Network Integration and Interception 107

Interface Connectivity 107

Link Aggregation Using PortChannel 111

PortChannel Configuration 112

Using the Standby Interface Feature 115

Standby Interface Configuration 116

Interception Techniques and Protocols 119

Web Cache Communication Protocol 119

WCCP Overview 120

Service Groups 120

Forwarding and Return Methods 123

Load Distribution 125

Failure Detection 126

Flow Protection 128

Graceful Shutdown 128

Scalability 129

Redirect Lists 129

Service Group Placement 130

WCCP Configuration 131

Hardware-Based Platforms 136

Policy-Based Routing 137

Inline Interception 139

Content Switching 143

Application Control Engine 144

Egress Methods 145

Directed Mode 149

Network Integration Best Practices 150

Summary 152

Chapter 5 Branch Office Network Integration 153

In-Path Deployment 153

Nonredundant Branch Office 154

Redundant Branch Office 158

Serial Inline Clustering 162

Off-Path Deployment 163

Small to Medium-Sized Nonredundant Branch Office 163

Enhanced Network Module (NME-WAE) 170

Two-Arm Deployment 171

Large Nonredundant Branch Office 174

Off-Path Redundant Topology 181

Small to Medium-Sized Redundant Branch Office 181

Large Redundant Branch Office 190

Policy-Based Routing Interception 196

Cisco IOS Firewall Integration 199

Summary 201

Chapter 6 Data Center Network Integration 203

Data Center Placement 203

Deployment Solutions 212

WCCP 212

Server Load Balancing 227

Scaling Transparent Interception 233

WCCP Scalability 233

ACE Scalability 239

Firewall Integration 240

Summary 247

Chapter 7 System and Device Management 249

System and Device Management Overview 250

Initial Setup Wizard 250

CLI 260

CM Overview 261

Centralized Management System Service 266

Device Registration and Groups 269

Device Activation 270

Device Groups 271

Provisioned Management 273

Role-Based Access Control 274

Integration with Centralized Authentication 278

Windows Authentication 280

TACACS+ Authentication 286

RADIUS Authentication 288

Device Configuration, Monitoring, and Management 289

Alarms, Monitoring, and Reporting 290

Managing Alarms 290

Monitoring Charts 291

Managing Reports 295

SNMP, Syslog, and System Logs 296

Upgrading and Downgrading Software 302

Backup and Restore of CM Database 305

Programmatic Interfaces and the XML-API 308

Vendors Supporting the XML-API 309

Data Accessible via the XML-API 310

Simple Method of Accessing XML-API Data 313

Summary 317

Chapter 8 Configuring WAN Optimization 319

Cisco WAAS WAN Optimization Capabilities 319

Transport Flow Optimization 320

Data Redundancy Elimination 322

Persistent LZ Compression 324

Automatic Discovery 324

Directed Mode 327

Configuring WAN Optimization 329

Configuring Licenses 329

Enabling and Disabling Features 331

TFO Blacklist Operation 333

Directed Mode 338

Adaptive and Static TCP Buffering 339

Replication Acceleration 345

Application Traffic Policy 347

Application Groups 348

Traffic Classifiers 352

Policy Maps 358

Negotiating Policies 365

EndPoint Mapper Classification 366

Monitoring and Reporting 370

Automatic Discovery Statistics 370

Connection Statistics and Details 373

WAN Optimization Statistics 380

Network Profiling 380

Understanding WAAS Performance Improvement 386

Understanding Device and System Performance and Scalability Metrics

388

Executive Reports 393

Integration with Third-Party Visibility Systems 393

WAN Optimization Monitoring with XML-API 394

Application Response Time Monitoring 394

Summary 399

Chapter 9 Configuring Application Acceleration 401

Application Acceleration Overview 401

CIFS Acceleration 403

Windows Print Acceleration 407

NFS Acceleration 408

MAPI Acceleration 409

HTTP Acceleration 411

SSL Acceleration 412

Video Acceleration 414

Enabling Acceleration Features 415

Additional Video Settings 423

Configuring SSL Acceleration 425

Configuring Disk Encryption 426

Managing the Secure Store 430

Configuring SSL Accelerated Services 432

Using the CM GUI to Configure SSL 433

Using the CLI to Configure SSL 438

Configuring Preposition 447

Acceleration Monitoring and Reporting 453

Acceleration Monitoring Using Device CLI 453

Acceleration Monitoring Using CM GUI 460

Acceleration Monitoring with XML-API 463

CIFSStats 463

SSLStats 466

VideoStats 467

HttpStats 467

MapiStats 468

NfsStats 470

Summary 471

Chapter 10 Branch Office Virtualization 473

Branch Office Virtualization Overview 473

Overview of Virtual Blades 475

Management of Virtual Blades 476

Virtual Blade Hardware Emulation 476

Virtualization Capable WAAS Platforms 477

Creating Virtual Blades 478

Guest OS Boot Image 482

Configuring Virtual Blade Resources 484

Virtual Blade Interface Bridging Considerations 489

Starting Virtual Blades 493

Virtual Blade Console Access 495

Stopping Virtual Blades 496

Changing Virtual Blade Boot Sequence 497

Managing Virtual Blades 500

Backup and Restore of Virtual Blades 501

Monitoring and Troubleshooting Virtual Blades 503

Monitoring Virtual Blades 503

Alarms and Error Messages 505

Troubleshooting Common Issues with Virtual Blades 506

Failure to Boot 506

Blue Screen of Death 507

Hang Conditions 508

Summary 509

Chapter 11 Case Studies 511

Common Requirements 511

Existing WAN Topology 511

Remote Site Profile A 512

Profile A Site Requirements 513

Site Network Topology 513

WAE Placement and Interception 513

WAE Configuration Details 513

WAN Router Configuration Details 516

LAN Switch Configuration Details 517

Remote Site Profile B 519

Profile B Site Requirements 519

Site Network Topology 520

WAE Placement and Interception 520

WAE Configuration Details 520

WAN Router Configuration Details 522

Remote Site Profile C 524

Profile C Site Requirements 524

Site Network Topology 525

WAE Placement and Interception 525

WAE Configuration Details 526

WAN Router 1 Configuration Details 528

WAN Router 2 Configuration Details 530

Data Center Profile 532

Data Center Site Requirements 533

Site Network Topology 533

WAE Placement and Interception 533

WAE Configuration Details 534

Data Center Switch 1 Configuration Details 537

Data Center Switch 2 Configuration Details 540

Application Traffic Policy 544

Summary 545

Appendix A WAAS Quickstart Guide 547

Appendix B Troubleshooting Guide 569

Appendix C 4.0/4.1 CLI Mapping 595

Index 599

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Deploying Cisco Wide Area Application Services

Deploying Cisco Wide Area Application Services

1587059126

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials