Deploying Cisco Wide Area Application Services

Implement advanced WAN optimization, application acceleration, and branch virtualization with Cisco WAAS 4.1     This book brings together all the information you need to design and deploy scalable, transparent application acceleration, WAN optimization, and branch virtualization solutions with dramatically improved Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) 4.1 products from Cisco®.   Cisco WAAS insiders Joel Christner, Zach Seils, and Nancy Jin systematically cover new WAAS software enhancements that enable far better performance, simplified workflow, and improved manageability. They introduce powerful new solution components including application-specific acceleration techniques, hardware form factors, and virtualization. They also thoroughly explain recent architectural improvements that provide a solid foundation for future WAAS solutions.   The authors begin by reviewing the underlying technologies that comprise today’s Cisco WAAS solution. Next, drawing on extensive personal experience, they walk through collecting requirements, designing effective solutions, integrating WAAS into existing networks, and configuring WAAS 4.1 software.   This book is replete with real-world implementation examples and case studies– including extensive coverage of network, branch office, and data center integration. One step at a time, you’ll learn how to deploy Cisco WAAS in a scalable, transparent, and seamless fashion: one that addresses both your business and technical challenges. Thoroughly understand WAAS 4.1’s capabilities, and learn how to use and manage it effectively Understand both the Cisco WAAS appliance and router-integrated network module hardware family Quickly deploy WAAS in lab or production pilot environments to quantify its potential benefits Size, design, and deploy Cisco WAAS for maximum performance and value in your enterprise network Compare and select design options for branch office and data center network integration Deploy the WAAS Central Manager and accelerator WAAS devices Implement centralized authentication, authorization, alarm management, monitoring, and reporting Configure WAN optimization with the Application Traffic Policy Manager Configure, verify, and manage application acceleration Leverage WAAS 4.1’s powerful new branch office virtualization capabilities Quickly troubleshoot WAAS problems using Cisco’s own best practices   This book is part of the Networking Technology Series from Cisco Press®, which offers networking professionals valuable information for constructing efficient networks, understanding new technologies, and building successful careers.    

Table of Contents:
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