Deploying Cisco Wide Area Application Services

Deploying Cisco Wide Area Application Services

by Zach Seils - CCIE No. 7861, Joel Christner - CCIE No. 15311
Released May 2008
Publisher(s): Cisco Press
ISBN: 9781587057526

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Book description

Design and deploy Cisco WAN optimization and application acceleration solutions for the enterprise WAN

Today, IT organizations are increasingly squeezed by competing demands. They must support more distributed users who demand greater availability and performance. They must protect their digital assets with far more robust security. And they must do it all while gaining far greater control over cost. Distributing IT resources increases management, hardware, and software overhead, but centralizing IT can worsen application performance. There is a solution to this quandary: Cisco application acceleration and WAN optimization technologies that permit IT to safely centralize distributed IT resources, meeting user performance expectations without replacing existing network infrastructure.

Deploying Cisco Wide Area Application Services is the first comprehensive guide to designing and deploying solutions with these Cisco technologies. Zach Seils and Joel Christner show how to deploy Cisco WAAS in a scalable, transparent, and seamless fashion that responds to both your business and technical challenges. Writing for network design and implementation engineers and other networking professionals, they cover the entire planning and configuration process. Drawing on their extensive experience implementing WAAS in the enterprise, they also offer real-world implementation examples and case studies–including full chapters on network, branch office, and data center integration.

Zach Seils, CCIE No. 7861, is a technical leader in the Cisco Advanced Services Data Center Networking Practice, where he specializes in designing, deploying, and troubleshooting application acceleration solutions for the largest Cisco enterprise and service provider customers.

Joel Christner, CCIE No. 15311, is director of product management for Reconnex Corporation, the industry leader in data loss prevention (DLP) solutions. Prior to Reconnex, Joel was senior manager of technical marketing for the Application Delivery Business Unit (ADBU) at Cisco, where he helped drive the product and technical strategy for Cisco Wide Area Application Services. Christner is coauthor of Application Acceleration and WAN Optimization Fundamentals.

  • Centrally provision applications to employees in any location without compromising performance

  • Reduce costs by centralizing servers, storage, and applications by leveraging optimization capabilities that integrate cleanly with your existing infrastructure

  • Thoroughly understand Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) and Wide Area Application Engine (WAE) and the business benefits provided by them

    • - -       Perform effective WAAS planning, discovery, and analysis

    - -         Use WAAS and interception mechanisms such as WCCP or inline to transparently optimize flows traversing your network for end users accessing centrally deployed and centrally  managed applications, files, and other information

    - -         Integrate application acceleration and optimization into data centers, branch offices, and other environments

    - -         Learn how to use the Cisco WAAS Central Manager, WAE device GUI, and command-line interface to configure, manage, and troubleshoot

    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

    1. Copyright
      1. Dedications
    2. About the Authors
    3. Acknowledgments
    4. Icons Used in This Book
      1. Command Syntax Conventions
    5. Foreword
    6. Introduction
      1. Goals and Methods
      2. Who Should Read This Book?
      3. How This Book Is Organized
    7. 1. Introduction to Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS)
      1. Understanding Application Performance Barriers
        1. Layer 4 Through Layer 7
          1. Latency
          2. Bandwidth Inefficiencies
        2. Network Infrastructure
          1. Bandwidth Constraints
          2. Network Latency
          3. Loss and Congestion
      2. Introduction to Cisco WAAS
        1. WAN Optimization
          1. Data Redundancy Elimination
            1. Hierarchical Chunking and Pattern Matching
            2. Message Validation
          2. Persistent LZ Compression
          3. Transport Flow Optimization
        2. Application Acceleration
          1. Object and Metadata Caching
          2. Prepositioning
          3. Read-Ahead
          4. Write-Behind
          5. Multiplexing
        3. Other Features
      3. Summary
    8. 2. Cisco Wide Area Application Engine (WAE) Family
      1. Cisco WAE Product Architecture
        1. Disk Encryption
        2. Central Management Subsystem
        3. Interface Manager
        4. Reporting Facilities
        5. Network Interception and Bypass Manager
        6. Application Traffic Policy Engine
      2. Hardware Family
        1. Router-Integrated Network Modules
          1. NME-WAE Model 302
          2. NME-WAE Model 502
          3. NME-WAE Model 522
        2. Appliances
          1. WAE Model 512
          2. WAE Model 612
          3. WAE Model 7326
          4. WAE Model 7341
          5. WAE Model 7371
      3. Licensing
      4. Performance and Scalability Metrics
        1. Device Memory
        2. Disk Capacity
        3. Number of Optimized TCP Connections
        4. WAN Bandwidth and LAN Throughput
        5. Number of Peers and Fan-Out
        6. Number of Devices Managed
      5. Summary
    9. 3. Planning, Discovery, and Analysis
      1. Planning Overview
        1. Planning Overview Checklist
      2. Requirements Collection and Analysis
      3. Site Information
        1. Site Types
        2. User Population
        3. Physical Environment
        4. Site Information Checklist
      4. Network Infrastructure
        1. WAN Topology
        2. Remote Office Topology
        3. Data Center Topology
        4. Traffic Flows
        5. Network Infrastructure Checklist
      5. Application Characteristics
        1. Application Requirements Checklist
      6. File Services Requirements
        1. Advanced Features
        2. File Services Utilization
        3. File Services Requirements Checklist
      7. Platform Requirements
        1. Platform Requirements Checklist
      8. Scalability Requirements
        1. Scalability Requirements Checklist
      9. Availability Requirements
        1. Availability Checklist
      10. Management Requirements
        1. SNMP Trap/Inform Routing
        2. SNMP Community Strings
        3. Syslog Servers
        4. Management Requirements Checklist
      11. Security Requirements
        1. Security Requirements Checklist
      12. Summary
    10. 4. Network Integration and Interception
      1. Interface Connectivity
        1. Link Aggregation Using EtherChannel
          1. EtherChannel Configuration
        2. Using the Standby Interface Feature
          1. Standby Interface Configuration
      2. Interception Techniques and Protocols
        1. Web Cache Communication Protocol
          1. WCCP Overview
          2. Service Groups
          3. Forwarding and Return Methods
          4. Load Distribution
          5. Failure Detection
          6. Flow Protection
          7. Graceful Shutdown
          8. Scalability
          9. Redirect Lists
          10. Service Group Placement
          11. WCCP Configuration
          12. Hardware-Based Platforms
        2. Policy-Based Routing
        3. Inline Interception
        4. Content Switching
          1. Application Control Engine
      3. Egress Methods for Intercepted Connections
      4. Network Integration Best Practices
      5. Summary
    11. 5. Branch Office Network Integration
      1. In-Path Deployment
        1. Nonredundant Branch Office
        2. Redundant Branch Office
        3. Serial Clustering
      2. Off-Path Deployment
        1. Small to Medium-Sized Nonredundant Branch Office
          1. Enhanced Network Module (NME-WAE)
          2. Two-Arm Deployment
        2. Large Nonredundant Branch Office
        3. Off-Path Redundant Topology
          1. Small to Medium-Sized Redundant Branch Office
          2. Large Redundant Branch Office
        4. Policy-Based Routing Interception
        5. Cisco IOS Firewall Integration
      3. Summary
    12. 6. Data Center Network Integration
      1. Data Center Placement
      2. Deployment Solutions
        1. WCCP
        2. Content Switching
      3. Scaling Transparent Interception
        1. WCCP Scalability
        2. Application Control Engine Scalability
      4. Firewall Integration
      5. Summary
    13. 7. System and Device Management
      1. System and Device Management Overview
        1. Initial Setup Script and Device Setup
        2. Command-Line Interface
        3. Central Manager Overview
        4. Centralized Management System Service
      2. Device Registration and Groups
        1. Device Activation
        2. Device Groups
      3. Provisioned Management
        1. Role-Based Access Control
        2. Integration with Centralized Authentication
      4. Device Configuration, Monitoring, and Management
        1. Device Homepage
        2. Status and Health Monitoring
        3. Software Upgrade and Downgrade
      5. Reporting and Logging
      6. Backup and Restore of Central Manager
      7. Summary
    14. 8. Configuring WAN Optimization
      1. Cisco WAAS WAN Optimization Capabilities
        1. Transport Flow Optimization
        2. Data Redundancy Elimination
        3. Persistent LZ Compression
        4. Automatic Discovery
        5. Enabling and Disabling Features
        6. TFO Blacklist Operation
        7. Tuning TFO Buffers
      2. Application Traffic Policy
        1. Application Groups
        2. Traffic Classifiers
        3. Policy Maps
        4. Negotiating Policies
        5. EndPoint Mapper Classification
      3. Reporting
        1. Automatic Discovery Statistics
        2. Connection Statistics and Details
        3. WAN Optimization Statistics
      4. Summary
    15. 9. Configuring Application Acceleration
      1. Application Acceleration Overview
        1. Core Services
        2. Edge Services
        3. Connectivity Directives
        4. Interaction with WAN Optimization
      2. Configuring CIFS Acceleration
        1. Configuring Core Services
          1. Creating a WAFS Core Cluster
          2. Enabling Core Services
        2. Configuring Edge Services
        3. Configuring Connectivity Directives
        4. Examining CIFS Acceleration Traffic Policies
        5. Verifying CIFS Acceleration
      3. CIFS Preposition
        1. CIFS Preposition Architecture
        2. Configuring CIFS Preposition
        3. Examining Preposition Statistics
      4. Disconnected Mode of Operation
        1. Domain Integration
          1. Configuring System Time
          2. Defining Domain-Related Parameters
          3. Joining an Active Directory Domain
        2. Configuring Disconnected Mode of Operation
      5. Summary
    16. 10. Case Studies
      1. Common Requirements
      2. Existing WAN Topology
      3. Remote Site Profile A
        1. Profile A Site Requirements
        2. Site Network Topology
        3. WAE Placement and Interception
        4. WAE Configuration Details
        5. WAN Router Configuration Details
        6. LAN Switch Configuration Details
      4. Remote Site Profile B
        1. Profile B Site Requirements
        2. Site Network Topology
        3. WAE Placement and Interception
        4. WAE Configuration Details
        5. WAN Router Configuration Details
      5. Remote Site Profile C
        1. Profile C Site Requirements
        2. Site Network Topology
        3. WAE Placement and Interception
        4. WAE Configuration Details
        5. WAN Router 1 Configuration Details
        6. WAN Router 2 Configuration Details
      6. Data Center Profile
        1. Data Center Site Requirements
        2. Site Network Topology
        3. WAE Placement and Interception
        4. WAE Configuration Details
        5. Data Center Switch 1 Configuration Details
        6. Data Center Switch 2 Configuration Details
      7. Application Traffic Policy
      8. Summary

    Product information

    • Title: Deploying Cisco Wide Area Application Services
    • Author(s): Zach Seils - CCIE No. 7861, Joel Christner - CCIE No. 15311
    • Release date: May 2008
    • Publisher(s): Cisco Press
    • ISBN: 9781587057526