topic Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS) in Application Networking

ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

ciscomoderator — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:51:35 GMT

Welcome to the Cisco Networking Professionals Ask the Expert conversation. This is an opportunity to get an update for how to deploy and troubleshoot Cisco WAAS v4.1.1 with Cisco expert Robert Pethick. Robert is a consulting systems engineer in the channels data center - east organization. His primary responsibilities are the training and enablement of Cisco partners for the application network service product portfolio. Prior to joining the data center - east team, he was a systems engineer a large enterprise financial customer in New York, NY, supporting routing and switching network design and deployment projects. Robert has been Cisco for nearly 4 years. Prior to joining Cisco he owned his own business centered on network and application performance. With nearly 20 years of networking experience, he holds a degree in electrical engineering from the University of New Haven and is currently pursuing CCIE R&S certification.

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Robert might not be able to answer each question due to the volume expected during this event. Our moderators will post many of the unanswered questions in other discussion forums shortly after the event. This event lasts through December 24, 2008. Visit this forum often to view responses to your questions and the questions of other community members.

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

bbaley — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:02:13 GMT

How do I upgrade from 4.0 to 4.1?

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

ropethic — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:45:25 GMT

It depends on what version of 4.0 you are running.

I personally upgraded my lab and ran into problems. I tried upgrading from 4.0.7 to 4.1.1b unsuccesfully. This is due to the disk structure between the two version.

I upgraded to 4.0.15 and just to be safe to 4.0.19 then to 4.1.1b. Worked fine.

Upgrade is completed by using the WAAS recovery CD on each WAE or by specifying a location on teh WAAS Central manager and upgrading WAEs via device group or individually.

The important thing to keep in mind is to upgade the central manager first. This is opposite of the recommendation when upgrading 4.0 versions

Please go to the following link for upgrade procecedures:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/app_ntwk_services/waas/waas/v411/configuration/guide/maint.html#wp1100839

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

b-beavers — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:08:00 GMT

WAAS managment. Beside the new 4.1 CM enhancements and NetQos integration are there any other management or reporting tools that help with showing the performance and optimization benefits of WAAS? Do you have a dashboard or reporting format that you like to use to deliver status of WAAS with?

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

ropethic — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:38:28 GMT

Cisco WAAS 4.1 CM provides enhanced reporting capabilities over previous versions.

There are predefined reports toinclude connection and peer device reporting, tcp connections, application response and more.

To view some of thre graphical reporting features please see the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/app_ntwk_services/waas/waas/v411/configuration/guide/monitor.html

During proof of concepts and any demo of WAAS, the application traffic volume and application reduction graphs show immediate benefits to customers that are easy to decipher.

I also will ask customers to check utilization of the links before and after waas deployment if BW is the concern. If app performance is the goal then the appliaction optimizer detailed reports are very useful in showing response time improvement

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

jkeeffe — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:08:02 GMT

I have a WAE-7341-K9 I plan on connecting between our two 6509 Distribution Layer routers. (See diagram) I was advised to configure the 7341 to connect to the two 6506s at layer two, and to have both 7341 interfaces in a different subnet. And finally to apply these two commands to the 7341:

wccp tcp-promiscuous router-list-num 1 l2-redirect l2-return mask-assign

egress-method nefotiated-return intercept-method wccp

I'm a little confused about the advise to have the 7341 connect to the 6506s at layer 2, yet have both 7341 interfaces in a different subnet. Does this just mean to have an SVI configured on each 6506 and assign the port to that vlan, as opposed to configuring the 6506 ports as L3 router ports? I have a sample IP config in the diagram.

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

jkeeffe — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:10:44 GMT

Here is the diagram.

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

ropethic — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:24:11 GMT

WCCP by default will bind to one interface on the WAE. If your goal is to ensure all traffic is redirected from both distribution switches, then typically either two WAEs are deployed for each switch, or redirected to one WAE on either switch based on redirect applied to all interfaces.

That said, will your design work. You can check by creating a wccp router-list to include both vlan interfaces in your design. They appear to be on different subnets based on the /30 as well. Different subnets are not a requirement.

Also what are you tryign to accomplish? make sure traffic is redirected from both swicthes? redundancy?

I will try and setup a 512 appliance in my lab later in the week to test as well.

I am attaching a WAAS DC design guide for your reference.

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

jorjes1984 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:17:18 GMT

Hello

I wanna ask you what is the best recommended way to minimize the "OTHER TRAFFIC" that shows in the reports?

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

beth-martin — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:10:28 GMT

Should I use inline or WCCP redirection?

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

ropethic — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:58:58 GMT

if you go to manage devices and select a WAE, Under monitoring there is a connection subheading.

Scroll through your connections and identify the client destination TCP port number for the connections that are not part of the default application policy.

You will need to configure a new policy and classifier for the other traffic identified in the connection list.

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

ropethic — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 02:14:08 GMT

Depends on a number of factors.

Inline is the simpliest deployment method requiring no router configuration, IOS requirements, or harware restrictions (other than 10M half duplex). The inline adapter is equipped with a 2 x 2 port GE group, allowing for connectiosn to single or redundant routed paths. It also has a mechanical fail to wire should the WAE be powered off and such. Some organizations are not comfortable with a WAE inline at the core site seeding all the WAN/MAN connections.

WCCP is the recommended solution for the core location due to its scalabilty, fault detection of client ans servers in a group and load balancing capabilities. However minumum platform and IOS revisions need to be adhered to.

The recommendation is to go inline at the branch and wccp for core DC and larger regional offices.

Where possible, you can also utilize the WAE-NME for Intergrated service routers (ISR) 28 and 3800. The NME uses WCCP between module and router.

Other considerations would be who manages the routers. Some orgs have carrier managed services and cant configure their routers so inline is the least resistant choice for the core location as well.

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

ropethic — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 02:15:17 GMT

Thx

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

Lungelo Ngqumetyana — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 06:37:41 GMT

I have a small question which concerns me though. Why do you get so many WAFS connection showing under Optimized connections and on the router the WAN link is running at 80% due to over utilization. What causes this?

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

ropethic — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:58:16 GMT

Really not enough information to ascertain exactly what is happening.

Check to see if you ae getting many unoptimized connections that may be rasing utilization. Also check to see if the WAE is placed directly behind WAN entry making sure some other client vlans are not accessing the WAN physically bypassing wae. There could be a number of reasons this is occurring. You will need to dig a bit deeper.

Also, I believe if a circuit is running a 70-80% utilizaion without experiencing any queue delay or dropped packets, then wan is being used pretty efficiently.

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

benjamin2009 — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:23:02 GMT

Dear Rob Pethick

I have been testing 2610 and 2611 routers (The only connection is through console port and ethernet to the TFTP server). The routers recognize all the Ethernet and WAN interfaces. The ethernet LED is OK but the WAN cards LED are off as there are unconnected.I have configured the interfaces of these WAN cards(A BRI port and SERIAL port) with IP address, when i use the command Show interface i can see all the interfaces are UP and line protocol is UP. Is this enough to testify that the WAN cards are GOOD or is there any other technical way to test these modules. Does it need to connect all these WAN cards and PING them or is there a command which will be enough to prove that the WAN cards are all GOOD and not FAULTY. Excuse me as this question might not concern your current topic please i need your help.

Best Regards

Alamein Amour

email: amouralamein@yahoo.com

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

benjamin2009 — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:24:42 GMT

Dear Sir

Best Regards

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

ropethic — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 12:35:46 GMT

Yes,

You can perform a loopback diagnostic test ont he serial interfaces, looping transmit to receive on the T1 controller

loopback (T1 controller)

To set the loopback method for testing the T1 interface, enter the loopback controller configuration command. Use the no form of this command to restore the default value.

loopback {diagnostic | local {payload | line} | remote {iboc | esf {payload | line}}

no loopback

Syntax Description

diagnostic

Loops the outgoing transmit signal back to the receive signal

line

Places the interface into external loopback mode at the line.

local

Places the interface into local loopback mode.

payload

Places the interface into external loopback mode at the payload level.

remote

Keeps the local end of the connection in remote loopback mode.

iboc

Sends an in-band bit-oriented code to the far-end to cause it to go into line loopback.

esf

Specifies extended super frame as the T1 or E1 frame type.

Usage Guidelines

You can use a loopback test on lines to detect and distinguish equipment malfunctions caused either by line and Channel Service Unit/Digital Service Unit (CSU/DSU) or by the interface. If correct data transmission is not possible when an interface is in loopback mode, the interface is the source of the problem.

Example

The following example shows how to set the diagnostic loopback method on controller T1 0/0:

Router(config)# controller t1 0/0

loopback diagnostic

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

DARYLE DIANIS — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:37:39 GMT

I have an OC-3 link between 2 7204's and also have WAE-7341-K9 on each end. How should I configure the Acceleration TCP Settings to maximize throughput? Should I follow the formula calculating BDP?

thanks,

Re: ASK THE EXPERT - WIDE AREA APPLICATION SERVICES (WAAS)

benjamin2009 — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:52:54 GMT

Hello Rob Pethick

Thanks for the reply and advice. i will let you know the results as soon as i get back home from travel.

I am working at the company where i do some testing of the suspected faulty routers and switches but unfortunately sometimes there are no serial cables or other specific cables to connect these routers and switches configure the interfaces and ports and later ping between them.I was always looking for an alternative way to diagnose these interfaces and ports.If i can use loopback diagnostic to all types of routers and switches then it will be very very helpful.

and it will save me time.

Best Regards

Alamein Amour