Overview of File Services Features
This section provides an overview of the WAAS file services features and contains the following topics:
WAAS version 4.1.1 supports two mutually exclusive WAFS modes:
-
Transparent CIFS accelerator mode—This mode was introduced in WAAS version 4.1.1. The new transparent mode requires no core, edge, or connectivity configuration. It relies on automatic discovery and transparently accelerates CIFS traffic with no configuration needed. Disconnected mode is not supported. We recommend this mode for ease of use.
-
Legacy mode—This mode, present in all WAAS versions, requires that you configure a Core cluster, Edge file services, and connections between the Core and Edge devices. Use this mode if you need to interoperate with WAAS 4.0.x devices or if disconnected mode operation is essential.
This mode also includes the ability to automatically discover file servers, but there are some limitations. For more information, see the “Automatic Discovery with Legacy Mode” section.
If you enable the transparent CIFS accelerator on a WAE device or group, the system disables any existing Core or Edge configurations and the Core and Edge configuration windows; additionally, the device cannot belong to a Core cluster. In the CIFS accelerator mode, the WAE device acts as an Edge and a Core simultaneously, depending on the direction of each request. There is no need for a manual setting.
Note WAFS acceleration operates only if the peer WAEs at each end of the connection use the same WAFS mode (transparent CIFS accelerator or legacy).
Automatic Discovery
The automatic discovery feature allows you to enable WAFS without having to register individual file servers in the WAAS Central Manager. With the automatic discovery feature, WAAS will attempt to automatically discover and connect to a new file server when a transparent mode CIFS request is received.
Automatic Discovery with Legacy Mode
The legacy mode of operation also includes the ability to automatically discover file servers, with some limitations. The automatic discovery feature operates by default for CIFS requests to unregistered file servers when you are using legacy mode.
If there are multiple paths to the file server, WAAS chooses the path with the lowest latency. If the latency between the core WAE and the discovered server is more than 25 milliseconds, the server is considered to be too far away, and the connection will not be optimized. Additionally, if the latency between the edge WAE and the server is less than 2 milliseconds, the server is considered to be local, and the connection will not be optimized.
Note If you are using the WAFS legacy mode, and relying on automatic discovery instead of registering file servers, the following WAFS features are not available: prepositioning, dynamic shares, and disconnected mode. Additionally, if the file server requires a digital signature, WAFS cannot cache its data.
As new file servers are added to the policy engine dynamic map by this mode of automatic discovery, you can see them by using the
show policy-engine application dynamic
EXEC command. A file server remains in the dynamic map for three minutes after the last connection to it is closed.
Prepositioning
The prepositioning feature allows system administrators to proactively “push” frequently used files from the central storage into the cache of selected Edge WAEs. This operation provides users with faster first-time file access, and makes more efficient use of available bandwidth. You create preposition directives from the WAAS Central Manager GUI.
When an end user attempts to open a file that is not found in the Edge WAE cache, the Edge WAE retrieves it across the WAN from the file server where it is stored. Prepositioning is a feature that allows administrators to push large, frequently accessed files from file servers to selected Edge WAE caches according to a predefined schedule. Through the proper use of prepositioning, administrators can allow users to benefit from cache-level performance even during first-time access of these files. Prepositioning improves WAN bandwidth utilization by transferring heavy content when the network is otherwise idle (for example, at night), which frees up bandwidth for other applications during the day.
The WAAS Central Manager GUI allows administrators to create multiple, overlapping preposition policies (each with its own schedule), a list of target Edge WAEs, and defined time and size constraints.
Note Prepositioning includes the ability to configure multiple roots. See the “Creating a New Preposition Directive” section.
Data Coherency
WAAS software ensures data integrity across the system by using two interrelated features –
coherency
, which manages the freshness of the data, and
concurrency
, which controls the access to the data by multiple clients.
Maintaining multiple copies of data files in multiple locations increases the likelihood that one or more of these copies will be changed, causing it to lose consistency or coherency with the others. Coherency semantics are used to provide guarantees of freshness (whether the copy is up-to-date or not) and the propagation of updates to and from the origin file server.
The WAAS software applies the following coherency semantics to its built-in coherency policies:
-
Strict CIFS behavior for intra-site—Users of the same cache are always guaranteed standard, strict CIFS coherency semantics.
-
Cache validation on CIFS open—In CIFS, the File Open operation is passed through to the file server. For coherency purposes, WAAS software validates the freshness of the file on every file open, and invalidates the cached file if a new version exists on the file server.
WAAS software validates data by comparing the time stamp of a file in the cache to the time stamp of the file on the file server. If the time stamps are identical, the cached copy on the Edge WAE is considered valid and the user is permitted to open the file from the Edge WAE cache.
If the time stamps are different, the Edge WAE removes the file from its cache and requests a fresh copy from the file server.
-
Proactive cache updating—WAAS software supports the use of change notifications in CIFS environments as a way to keep cached data on the Edge WAEs up-to-date.
When a client makes a change to a directory or file, the Edge WAE sends a change notification to the file server. The file server then sends to all the Edge WAEs a change notification that includes a list of the modified directories and files. Upon receiving the change notification, each Edge WAE checks its cache and invalidates the directories and files listed in the notification, and then updates its cache with the latest versions.
For example, if a user edits an existing Word document and saves the changes to the Edge WAE cache, the Edge WAE sends a change notification to the file server so it knows that the file has been modified. The Edge WAE then sends the changed sections to the file server, and the file server proactively sends change notifications to the other Edge WAEs in the network. These Edge WAEs then update their cache so the file is consistent across all access points.
This process also applies when you rename a directory, add a new subdirectory, rename a file, or create a new file in a cached directory.
-
Flush on CIFS close—In CIFS, the File Close operation forces all write buffers to be flushed to the file server, and the Close request is only granted after all updates have been propagated to the file server. From a coherency standpoint, the combination of validate on file open and flush on file close ensures that well-behaved applications, such as Microsoft Office, operate in session semantics. The Open, Lock, Edit, Unlock, and Close commands are guaranteed to work correctly on the WAAS network.
-
Age-based validation on directories (CIFS)—Directories are associated with a preconfigured age. When the age expires, the Edge WAE cache revalidates the directory.
When a user first attempts to view the contents of a directory, the Edge WAE enables the file server to perform the authorization check using the directory’s access control list (ACL), which contains the user and group permissions. The Edge WAE monitors which directories the user has accessed and whether the file server permitted that access. If the user tries to access the same directory again during a short period of time (aging period), the Edge WAE does not contact the file server and instead uses the cached permissions to determine if the user should be provided access. After the aging period expires, the Edge WAE contacts the file server to refresh the cached permission of the user.
This authorization process prevents users from accessing directories and files in the cache that they do not have permission to access on the file server.
Data Concurrency
Concurrency control is important when multiple users access the same cached data to read, or write, or both. Concurrency control synchronizes this access by establishing and removing file system locks. This file-locking feature ensures data integrity and provides the following benefits:
-
Enables a client to aggressively cache file data so it does not have to rely on retrieving data from the remote file server.
-
Provides a performance boost in many applications running on existing CIFS client implementations.
-
Preserves data integrity because only one user at a time can make changes to a section of a file.
WAAS software supports the CIFS oplocks feature, which allows a user to lock a file so the user can safely read and write data to its local cache instead of using network bandwidth to perform these functions over the WAN on the file server. By using oplocks, a user can proactively cache read-ahead data because it knows that no other user is accessing the file so there is no chance the cached data can become stale. The user can also write data to its local cache and does not need to update the file server until it closes the file or until another user requests to open the same file.
Oplocks only applies to files. The file server does not grant oplock requests on directories and named pipes.
File-Locking Process
When a user opens a file, it sends a lock request to the file server. The Edge WAE intercepts and forwards all lock requests from the user to the file server as well as all responses from the file server to the user. If no other user has a lock on the file, the file server grants an exclusive lock request so that the user can safely cache the file.
If a second user requests to open the same file, the following actions occur:
1. The file server revokes the exclusive file lock obtained by the first user.
2. The first user performs the following actions:
– Flushes any file changes stored in its cache to the file server. This action ensures that the second user opening the file receives the latest information from the file server.
– Deletes any of its read-ahead buffers for the file because that data is no longer guaranteed to remain up-to-date now that a second user will open the file.
3. The file server allows the second user to open the file.
Microsoft Interoperability
The WAAS file services feature interoperates with these Microsoft CIFS features:
Windows Shadow Copy for Shared Folders
WAAS file services support the Shadow Copy for Shared Folders feature that is part of the Windows Server 2003/2008 operating system. This feature uses the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service to create snapshots of file systems so that users can easily view previous versions of folders and files.
In a WAAS environment, users view shadow copies in the same way they would in a native Windows environment by right-clicking a folder or file from the Edge WAE cache and choosing
Properties
>
Previous Version
.
For more information about Shadow Copy for Shared Folders, including the limitations of the feature, refer to your Microsoft Windows Server 2003/2008 documentation.
Users can perform the same tasks when accessing a shadow copy folder on the Edge WAE as they can in the native environment on the file server. These tasks include the following:
-
Browsing the shadow copy folder
-
Copying or restoring the contents of the shadow copy folder
-
Viewing and copying files in the shadow copy folder
The Shadow Copy for Shared Folders feature does not support the following tasks:
-
Renaming or deleting a shadow copy directory
-
Renaming, creating, or deleting files in a shadow copy directory
Supported Servers and Clients
WAAS supports Shadow Copy for Shared Folders on the following file servers:
-
Windows 2008
-
Windows 2003 (with and without SP1)
-
NetApp Data OPTap versions 6.5.2, 6.5.4 and 7.0
-
EMC Celerra versions 5.3 and 5.4
WAAS supports Shadow Copy for Shared Folders for the following clients:
-
Windows Vista
-
Windows XP Professional
-
Windows 2000 (with SP3 or later)
-
Windows 2003
Note Windows 2000 and Windows XP (without SP2) clients require the Previous Versions Client to be installed to support Shadow Copy for Shared Folders.
Configuring File Services
WAAS version 4.1.1 supports two mutually exclusive WAFS modes that are configured in different ways:
-
Transparent CIFS accelerator mode—This mode requires no core, edge, or connectivity configuration. It relies on automatic discovery and transparently accelerates CIFS traffic with no configuration needed. We recommend this mode for ease of use.
Table 11-2
provides an overview of the steps that you must complete to configure transparent CIFS accelerator mode. By using this mode, you can skip most of the configuration steps in this chapter.
-
Legacy mode—This mode requires that you configure a Core cluster, Edge file services, and connections between the Core and Edge devices. Use this mode if you need to interoperate with WAAS 4.0.x devices or if disconnected mode operation is essential.
Table 11-3
provides an overview of the steps that you must complete to configure file services.
Table 11-2 Checklist for Configuring Transparent Mode File Services
|
Additional Information and Instructions
|
Prepare for file services.
|
Provides the tasks that you need to complete before enabling and configuring file services on your WAAS devices. For more information, see the “Preparing for File Services” section.
|
Enable CIFS acceleration.
|
Enables the transparent CIFS accelerator. For more information, see the “Enabling and Disabling the Global Optimization Features” section.
|
(Optional) Identify dynamic shares.
|
Identifies the dynamic shares on an exported file server. If your file server does not contain dynamic shares, you can skip this step.
For more information, see the “Creating Dynamic Shares” section.
|
(Optional) Create a preposition directive.
|
Defines which files are proactively copied from an exported file server to the Edge WAE cache. For more information, see the “Creating a Preposition Directive” section.
|
Table 11-3 Checklist for Configuring Legacy Mode File Services
|
Additional Information and Instructions
|
Prepare for file services.
|
Provides the tasks that you need to complete before enabling and configuring file services on your WAAS devices. For more information, see the “Preparing for File Services” section.
|
Configure a WAFS core cluster.
|
WAFS core clusters are required to copy data from the exported file server to the cache of the Edge WAEs. For more information, see the “Configuring the Core Cluster” section.
|
Configure the edge devices.
|
By default, file services are not enabled on your WAAS devices. To enable and start file services on edge devices, see the “Configuring the Edge Devices” section.
|
(Optional) Register a file server with the WAAS Central Manager.
|
Identifies to the WAAS system which file servers to export. This step also creates a link between a core cluster and the registered file server. For more information, see the “Setting Up File Servers to Export to the Edge WAE Cache” section. This step is optional if you are using automatic discovery.
|
(Optional) Identify dynamic shares.
|
Identifies the dynamic shares on a exported file server. If your file server does not contain dynamic shares, you can skip this step.
For more information, see the “Creating Dynamic Shares” section.
|
Create a connection between a core cluster and your edge devices.
|
Enables a core cluster to copy data to the Edge WAE cache. For more information, see the “Creating a Connection Between a Core Cluster and Edge WAEs” section.
|
(Optional) Create a preposition directive.
|
Defines which files are proactively copied from an exported file server to the Edge WAE cache. For more information, see the “Creating a Preposition Directive” section.
|
Configuring the Core Cluster
The first step in setting up file services in legacy mode is to enable Core services on a device and assign the device to a Core cluster. The Core cluster will be responsible for copying data from the exported file server (or multiple file servers) to the cache of the Edge WAEs. In later sections you will assign edge devices and, optionally, file servers to this core cluster, so the cluster knows which file servers to export and which edge devices to populate with cached data.
In Steps 1 through 7 you enable core server services and assign the device to a Core cluster. In Steps 8 through 12 you configure the new core cluster. The last step in this procedure describes how to reload the device, which is required for the device to function as a Core WAE.
To create a WAFS core cluster, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager GUI navigation pane, choose
My WAN > Manage Devices
.
The Devices window displays a list of devices created on your WAAS system.
Step 2 Click the
Edit
button next to the device that you want to be a member of the new core cluster.
The Device Dashboard window appears.
Step 3 From the navigation pane, choose
Configure > Acceleration > Legacy Services > File Services > Core Configuration
.
The Enable Core Server Services window appears. (See Figure 11-2.)
Figure 11-2 Enabling Core Server Services
Step 4 Check the
Enable Core Server
check box.
Step 5 Use one of the following methods to assign this device to a core cluster:
-
To create a new core cluster for this device, select the radio button next to the empty Core Cluster field, and enter a name for the new core cluster in this empty field. This name cannot contain spaces or special characters.
-
To have this device join an existing core cluster, select the radio button next to that core cluster. If you do not have any existing core clusters, your only option is to create a new core cluster for this device.
Step 6 Click
Submit
.
A popup message is displayed that the device must be manually rebooted for the device to function as a Core server.
Step 7 Click
OK
after reading the popup message.
Core Server services are enabled on the device and the device joins the specified Core cluster. The last step in this section describes how to reboot the device, which is required for the Core services to be activated.
If you click
Cancel
on the popup message you are returned to the Enable Core Server window and your changes are not submitted.
If you are relying on the automatic discovery feature instead of explicitly registering file servers, and you do not need to configure an optional differentiated services code point (DSCP) setting, you can skip to Step 14.
Step 8 Click the Home link at the top right in the WAAS Central Manager GUI to return to the global context, then from the navigation pane, choose
My WAN > Manage Device Groups
.
Step 9 Click the
Edit
icon next to the new core cluster.
Step 10 From the navigation pane, choose
Cluster Name
> Core Server Settings
. The Configure Core Server Settings window appears. (See Figure 11-3.)
Figure 11-3 Configuring a Core Cluster Example
Step 11 In the File Server access username, File Server access password, and Confirm password fields, enter the access information that will be used for all of the CIFS file servers that are configured as part of this Core cluster. If you are relying on the automatic discovery feature instead of explicitly registering file servers, these fields are unnecessary.
You will specify which file servers this core cluster will export in the “Setting Up File Servers to Export to the Edge WAE Cache” section.
Step 12 (Optional) Configure a differentiated services code point (DSCP) value for high-priority messages, as follows:
a. Check the
Set DSCP value for high priority messages
check box.
b. Choose one of the following options:
–
Match Edge
—Matches the DSCP value of the Edge WAEs connected to this core cluster. This matching takes place when you create a connection between edge and core devices, as described in the “Creating a Connection Between a Core Cluster and Edge WAEs” section.
–
DSCP Value
—Allows you to specify a DSCP value for this core cluster.
Select a value from the drop-down list and refer to Table 11-4 for a description of the supported values. If you choose
Please Make a Choice
from the drop-down list, enter a value from 0 to 63 in the corresponding field.
DSCP is a field in an IP packet that enables different levels of service to be assigned to network traffic. Levels of service are assigned by marking each packet on the network with a DSCP code (shown in
Table 11-4
) and associating a corresponding level of service. DSCP is the combination of IP Precedence and Type of Service (ToS) fields. For more information, see RFC 2474.
We recommend setting a DSCP value for WAFS control traffic to improve system performance. This requires your routers to be configured to enforce the QoS markings accordingly.
Step 13 Click
Submit
.
Step 14 Reload the device by clicking the
Reload WAE
icon in the taskbar, or by completing the following steps:
a. From the WAAS Central Manager GUI navigation pane, choose
My WAN > Manage Devices
.
b. Click the
Edit
icon next the device on which you enabled Core services. The Device Dashboard window appears.
c. Click the
Reload WAE
icon in the taskbar. The device is rebooted and Core services are activated on the device.
Configuring the Edge Devices
After you create and configure the core cluster, the next step (for legacy mode) is to configure the edge devices that will contain the exported file server data in their cache.
To enable the edge server on a device or device group, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager GUI navigation pane, choose
My WAN > Manage Devices
(
or
Manage Device Groups
).
Note We recommend enabling file services on an edge device group if WCCP is enabled on your network. If WCCP is disabled, you should enable file services on individual edge devices to prevent name conflicts.
Step 2 Click the
Edit
icon next to the edge device or device group on which you want to enable file services.
The Device Dashboard window or the Modifying Device Group window appears depending on the selected option.
You cannot enable edge services on the WAAS Central Manager device.
Step 3 From the navigation pane, choose
Configure > Acceleration > Legacy Services > File Services > Edge Configuration
.
The Enable Edge Server Services window appears. (See Figure 11-4.)
Figure 11-4 Enabling File Services on Edge Devices
Step 4 Check the
Enable Edge Server
check box.
The other fields in the window are enabled.
Step 5 Check the
Enable Transparent Mode
check box if WCCP or PBR is enabled on your network, or if you are using inline mode.
The options for enabling TCP ports 139 and 445 are automatically updated based on whether transparent mode has been enabled.
If you enable transparent mode, the options for enabling TCP port 139 and port 445 are automatically selected. If you disable transparent mode (Enable Transparent Mode is not checked), the option for enabling TCP port 139 is selected and the option for enabling TCP port 445 is not selected, because port 445 is used only in transparent mode.
Step 6 Enter the name of the active directory site in the provided field.
Step 7 Enable the relevant ports on the Edge WAE by checking the following options (at least one must be checked):
-
Enable CIFS over NETBIOS connections (tcp port 139)
—Check this option if port 139 is open between your clients and the Edge WAEs, as well as between your core cluster and your file servers.
If port 139 is not open on your network for security reasons, uncheck this option,
and then complete the following tasks:
– Enable WCCP on your routers and Edge WAEs, or enable inline mode on the Edge WAEs. For more information, see Chapter4, “Configuring Traffic Interception”
– Enable port 445 on the Edge WAE by checking the
Enable CIFS Over TCP/IP Connections
check box.
-
Enable CIFS over TCP/IP connections (tcp port 445, requires Transparent Mode)
—Check this option if port 445 is open on your network
.
If port 445 is closed on your network, uncheck this option so that your Edge WAE does not try to establish a connection on this port, and then check the Enable CIFS over NETBIOS connections check box.
When you disable port 445 all clients connect directly to port 139 on the Edge WAE, then the core cluster connects to port 139 on the file server.
Note If you enable or disable connections on port 139 and port 445, existing clients will not lose their connection to the Edge WAEs.
Step 8 Check the
Enable Double-byte Language Support
check box if you have Windows 98 clients that need to support two-byte languages such as Japanese.
Leave this option unchecked in the following situations:
-
You do not have any Windows 98 clients in your environment.
-
You have Windows 98 clients in your environment, but they only need to support one-byte languages.
English will always be supported regardless of how this option is configured.
Step 9 (Optional) Configure a differentiated services code point (DSCP) value for high-priority messages, by following these steps:
a. Place a check in the
Set DSCP value for high priority messages
check box.
b. Select a value in the drop-down list. Refer to
Table 11-4
for a description of the supported values.
If you choose
Please Make a Choice
from the drop-down list, enter a value from 0 to 63 in the corresponding field.
DSCP is a field in an IP packet that enables different levels of service to be assigned to network traffic. Each packet on the network is marked with a DSCP code (shown in
Table 11-4
) and is assigned to the corresponding level of service. DSCP is the combination of IP Precedence and Type of Service (ToS) fields. For more information, see RFC 2474.
We recommend setting a DSCP value for WAFS control traffic to improve system performance. This requires your routers to be configured to enforce the QoS markings accordingly.
Table 11-4 DSCP Codes
|
|
af11
|
Sets packets with AF11 dscp (001010).
|
af12
|
Sets packets with AF11 dscp (001100).
|
af13
|
Sets packets with AF13 dscp (001110).
|
af21
|
Sets packets with AF21 dscp (010010).
|
af22
|
Sets packets with AF22 dscp (010100).
|
af23
|
Sets packets with AF23 dscp (010110).
|
af31
|
Sets packets with AF31 dscp (011010).
|
af32
|
Sets packets with AF32 dscp (011100).
|
af33
|
Sets packets with AF33 dscp (011110).
|
af41
|
Sets packets with AF41 dscp (100010).
|
af42
|
Sets packets with AF42 dscp (100100).
|
af43
|
Sets packets with AF43 dscp (100110).
|
cs1
|
Sets packets with CS1 (precedence 1) dscp (001000).
|
cs2
|
Sets packets with CS2 (precedence 2) dscp (010000).
|
cs3
|
Sets packets with CS3 (precedence 3) dscp (011000).
|
cs4
|
Sets packets with CS4 (precedence 4) dscp (100000).
|
cs5
|
Sets packets with CS5 (precedence 5) dscp (101000).
|
cs6
|
Sets packets with CS6 (precedence 6) dscp (110000).
|
cs7
|
Sets packets with CS7 (precedence 7) dscp (111000).
|
default
|
Sets packets with default dscp (000000).
|
ef
|
Sets packets with EF dscp (101110).
|
Step 10 Click
Submit
. A popup message is displayed that the device must be manually rebooted for the device to function as an Edge server.
Step 11 Click
OK
after reading the popup message. Edge Server services are enabled on the device.
If you click
Cancel
on the popup message, you are returned to the Edge Configuration window and your changes are not submitted.
Step 12 Reload the device by clicking the
Reload WAE
icon in the taskbar, or by completing the following steps:
a. From the WAAS Central Manager GUI navigation pane, choose
My WAN > Manage Devices (
or
Manage Device Groups
).
b. Click the
Edit
icon next the device or device group on which you enabled Edge services.
c. Click the
Reload WAE
or the
Reboot All Devices
icon in the taskbar. The device(s) are rebooted and Edge services are activated on the device(s).
Setting Up File Servers to Export to the Edge WAE Cache
For legacy mode, after you enable file services on a core cluster and Edge WAEs, you can optionally use the WAAS Central Manager GUI to set up the file servers that you want to export. If your network has many file servers that you need to define on the WAAS network (10 or more, for example), you can create and import a comma-separated values (CSV) file to speed up the process.
If you do not want to set up file servers but still want to use legacy mode, you can rely on the automatic discovery feature of legacy mode to allow WAFS to automatically discover file servers when they are accessed by users. If you are not explicitly registering file servers, you can skip this section.
This section contains the following topics on setting up a file server in the WAAS Central Manager GUI:
Registering a File Server with the WAAS Central Manager
To register a file server with the WAAS Central Manager, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager GUI navigation pane, choose
Configure > File Services >
File Servers
. The File Servers window appears.
From this window, you can perform the following tasks:
-
Edit the configuration of an existing file server by clicking the
Edit
icon next to the file server. You can then delete the file server configuration, or modify any of the file server settings.
-
Import multiple file server definitions using a CSV file by clicking the
Import from CSV
icon in the task bar. (See the “Importing File Server Definitions Using a CSV File” section.)
-
Identify a new file server to export, as described in the next steps.
Step 2 Click the
Create New File Server
icon in the taskbar to identify a new file server to export. The Registering New File Server window appears. (See Figure 11-5.)
Figure 11-5 Registering New File Server Window
Step 3 In the
File Server Name
field, enter the hostname of the file server to export. You can enter the server’s NetBIOS name, DNS name, or IP address.
Note If a file server has multiple NetBIOS or DNS names, you must register the file server separately under each one of its names. Otherwise, a client using a NetBIOS name that is not registered will not be able to connect. (Clients using CIFS over TCP port 445 will work fine, however.)
Step 4 Check the
Allow Access on WAN Failure
check box to provide CIFS clients with read-only access to the cached data on this Edge WAE in the event of a WAN failure.
When a WAN failure occurs, enabling this option allows CIFS clients to browse the cached directory structure and read fully cached files while authentication and authorization is maintained.
For more information, see the “Preparing Your WAAS Network for WAN Failures” section.
Step 5 Click
Submit
.
The file server is registered with the WAAS system, and the navigation pane refreshes with additional options.
Step 6 Proceed to the “Assigning a Core Cluster to a Registered File Server” section to assign a core cluster to the registered file server.
Importing File Server Definitions Using a CSV File
If your network includes a high number (10 or more, for example) of file servers that you need to define on the WAAS network, you can create and import a comma-separated values (CSV) file to speed up the process. You can use Excel or another spreadsheet application to create the CSV file.
This section contains the following topics:
CSV File Creation Requirements
Table 11-5
specifies the CSV file requirements.
Table 11-5 CSV File Requirements
|
|
|
Name
|
Specify the name of the file server. Corresponds to the
File Server Name
field in the Registering New File Server window (Figure 11-5).
|
Required.
Same constraints as in Step 3 in Registering a File Server with the WAAS Central Manager.
|
AllowDisconnected
|
Corresponds to the Allow access on WAN Failure check box in the Registering New File Server window (Figure 11-5). Set to “true” to apply; set to “false” when not applicable.
|
Optional.
If not specified, assumed to be “false.”
|
Cluster
|
Specifies the name of an existing core cluster to which the file server is to be assigned.
|
Optional.
If not specified, file server is not assigned to a core cluster.
No error is reported if a cluster name is assigned to a file server more than one time.
|
CSV File Considerations
Keep the following in mind when creating CSV files:
-
The first row must list the column headings that you are going to specify.
-
At a minimum, the file must contain a “Name” column (other columns are optional).
-
Column headings are not case sensitive and can be specified in any order.
-
To assign a file server to multiple core clusters, you can specify multiple “Cluster” columns. The column headings row must contain multiple “Cluster” columns if you want to specify multiple clusters in the data rows.
-
When you specify a row, it is not necessary to have a value for each column. However, you must specify the correct number of columns. That is, the number of columns must correspond to the number of objects defined in the headings row. The following example presents valid CSV file entries (assuming that core clusters c-1, c-2, and c-5 exist). The adjacent pairs of commas indicate that default values are to be used.
Example:
name,allowdisconnected,cluster,cluster
s71,TRUE,c-1,
s72,,c-2,c-5
Importing the CSV File
After you have created the CSV file, you use the WAAS Central Manager GUI to import the file.
To import the CSV file, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager GUI navigation pane, choose
Configure > File Services >
File Servers
.
Step 2 In the taskbar, click the
Import from CSV
icon (
).
The Importing File Server Definitions window appears.
Step 3 Click
Browse
.
The Choose File window opens.
Step 4 Navigate to and select the CSV file that you want to import, then click
Open
. The path and file server name appear in the Path to File Server Definitions field.
Step 5 In the Importing File Server Definitions window, click
Submit
.
The CSV file is imported and a “successfully imported” message is displayed.
The WAAS Central Manager checks the following:
-
File headings are correct
-
File server name appears on each row
-
At least one file server is specified in the file
-
All rows have the correct number of columns and each row is syntactically correct
If the file fails any of these checks, an error message appears in the WAAS Central Manager and no file servers are imported. Error messages may provide error explanations for up to 10 rows. However, if the error is related to the headings or the file cannot be read, no further checking occurs.
Assigning a Core Cluster to a Registered File Server
After you register a file server with the WAAS Central Manager, you need to assign at least one core cluster to the file server. The core cluster will be responsible for exporting the file server to the cache on the Edge WAEs. If you are relying on the automatic discovery feature rather than explicitly registering file servers, you do not need to perform this step.
To assign a core cluster to a registered file server, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager GUI navigation pane, choose
Configure > File Services >
File Servers
.
The File Servers window appears.
Step 2 Click the
Edit
icon next to the file server that you want to assign to a core cluster.
Step 3 Click the
Core Clusters
tab. The Core Cluster Assignments window appears.
The Core Cluster Assignments window displays the device groups configured in your WAAS network. By default, the window displays 10 device groups.
Step 4 Assign a core cluster to the file server by doing either of the following:
in the taskbar to assign all available core clusters to the file server.
next to each core cluster that you want to assign to the file server. The icon changes to
when selected.
Note You can only assign core clusters to file servers. You cannot assign regular device groups (identified by ) to file servers.
Step 5 Click the
Resolve File Server Name
icon (
) for the WAFS Core Cluster you selected. This icon is located next to the Type column and verifies that the name you entered for the file server can be resolved to an IP address.
This icon is available only for WAFS Core Clusters. If the file server name does not resolve, an error message appears in the Comments column. If this occurs, ensure you entered the correct name for the file server.
Step 6 Click
Submit
.
The icon next to the Core Clusters you selected changes to
.
Step 7 (Optional) If the file server that you just added contains a dynamic share, see the “Creating Dynamic Shares” section.
When a file server contains a dynamic share, you must specify the dynamic share in the WAAS Central Manager GUI.
Creating Dynamic Shares
Many file servers use dynamic shares, which allow multiple users to access the same share but then be automatically mapped to a different directory based on the user’s credentials. Dynamic shares are most commonly used on file servers to set up user home directories.
For example, a directory named Home can be set up as a dynamic share on a file server so each user accessing that share is automatically redirected to their own personal directory.
If a file server contains a dynamic share, you must register that dynamic share with the WAAS Central Manager as described in this section.
Before adding a dynamic share, note the following limitations:
-
Each dynamic share on a file server must be unique.
-
You cannot add a dynamic share if that share has a preposition directive. You must remove the preposition policy before you can add the dynamic share.
-
You can use the WAAS Central Manager GUI to define any directory as a dynamic share. However, if a directory is not set up as a dynamic share on the file server, all users will read or write the same content from the same directory and will not be redirected to different directories based on their credentials.
-
If you are using legacy mode, you can add two different dynamic shares with the same file server name and the same share name, but each one needs to be associated with a different core cluster. Each share will have a different ID.
-
If you are using legacy mode, you can add dynamic shares only for explicitly registered file servers. Dynamic shares are supported on automatically discovered file servers only if you are using transparent CIFS accelerator mode.
To add a dynamic share, follow these steps:
Step 1 Before adding a dynamic share, verify the following (only if you are using legacy mode):
Step 2 From the WAAS Central Manager GUI navigation pane, choose
Configure > File Services > Dynamic Shares
.
A list of dynamic shares appears. The Dynamic Shares window shows all the dynamic shares configured. From this window, you can perform the following tasks:
-
Edit the configuration of an existing dynamic share by clicking the
Edit
icon next to the share. You can delete the dynamic share, or modify any of the dynamic share settings.
-
Add a new dynamic share definition, as described in the next steps.
Step 3 Click the
Create New Dynamic Share
icon in the taskbar to add a new dynamic share. The Creating a new Dynamic Share window appears.
Step 4 In the Name field, enter a name for the dynamic share. This name appears to users when they access the share on the Edge WAE cache.
The following characters are not supported in the dynamic share name: / \ : * ? " < > |
Step 5 From the Assigned Domain drop-down list, choose the WAAS domain that you want to assign to the dynamic share. Only users who are also assigned to this domain have permission to access the dynamic share.
This kind of WAAS domain does not use entities. (When defining the domain, choose
None
for the Entity Type.) For more information on domains, see the “Working with Domains” section.
Step 6 (Optional) If you are using legacy mode, check the
CIFS - Use WAFS transport mode
check box.
Checking this box hides certain fields in this window because some fields are appropriate only for transparent CIFS accelerator mode.
Step 7 In the File Server field, enter the name of the file server with the dynamic share.
The text field is not shown if you checked the CIFS - Use WAFS transport mode check box. Instead, registered file servers are displayed in a drop-down list. For information on registering a file server, see the “Registering a File Server with the WAAS Central Manager” section. (Registering file servers is not required for transparent CIFS mode.)
Step 8 In the User name, Password, and Confirm fields, enter the username and password credentials for the file server. If the username is in a Windows domain, specify the domain name as part of the User name field, as follows: domain\username. (These fields are not shown if you checked the CIFS - Use WAFS transport mode check box.)
Step 9 In the Share Name
field, specify the location of the dynamic share by doing one of the following tasks:
-
Enter the name of the dynamic share on the file server. The following characters cannot be used in the share name: \ / : * ? “ < > |
-
Click
Browse
next to the
Share Name
field to navigate to the correct root directory.
Note To make the Browse button appear in legacy mode, you must assign the file server to a Core Cluster and the cluster must contain at least one Core WAE. If these conditions are not met, the Browse button is not displayed in legacy mode. In transparent CIFS accelerator mode, the Browse button appears only if you have at least one WAE device with the CIFS accelerator enabled and registered to the WAAS Central Manager.
Step 10 Ensure that the status of the share is set to enabled. If you change the status to disabled, the share will not be set up as a dynamic share in your WAAS environment.
Step 11 Click
Submit
.
The specified directory now functions as a dynamic share on the Edge WAE cache.
Creating a Connection Between a Core Cluster and Edge WAEs
After you have registered a file server with the WAAS system, you need to create a connection between a core cluster and your Edge WAEs (for legacy mode). This connection enables the core cluster to copy files to the cache on your Edge WAEs.
Before you define a connection that includes multiple core clusters and Edge WAEs, it is important to confirm that each core cluster-to-Edge WAE link has the same connection parameters, such as allocated bandwidth and roundtrip delay, as well as identical aliasing. If this is not the case, you must define a separate connection for each link.
To create a connection between a core cluster and one or more Edge WAEs, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager GUI navigation pane, choose
Configure > File Services > Connectivity
.
The Connectivity window appears.
From this window, you can perform the following tasks:
-
Edit the configuration of an existing connection by clicking the
Edit
icon next to the connection. You can delete the connection, or modify any of the connection settings.
-
Add a new connection, as described in the next steps.
Step 2 Click the
Create New Connection
icon in the taskbar to add a new connection.
The Creating a New Connection window appears. (See Figure 11-6.)
Figure 11-6 Creating a New Connectivity Directive Window
Step 3 Enter a name for the connection.
Step 4 Choose the radio button next to the core cluster that you want included in this connection.
Step 5 Click
Submit
.
A message appears explaining that if you do not want to export any file servers for this connection, you need to uncheck each file server on the File Server Settings window before you assign an Edge device or group to this connection.
Step 6 Click
OK
after reading the message.
If you are relying on the automatic discovery feature instead of explicitly registering file servers, you do not need to configure file server settings and you can skip to Step 12.
Step 7 Click the
File Server Settings
tab.
The Configure File Server Aliases window appears. (See Figure 11-7.)
Figure 11-7 Configuring File Server Aliases
This window allows you to define the naming scheme for each file server. You can use the original file server name, the file server name plus a prefix or suffix, or an alias of your own design. For example, if you specify
as-
as a prefix and the name of the file server is
win3srv
, users will see this file server as
as-win3srv
.
This window also allows you to select the file servers that you want the core cluster to export.
Step 8 Specify a prefix or suffix value by selecting one of the following options:
-
Prefix
—Adds the prefix you enter to the beginning of the exported file server alias.
-
Suffix
—Adds the suffix you enter to the end of the exported file server alias.
The default behavior is for WAAS to add the prefix AS- to the beginning of the file server alias. You cannot enter a blank prefix or suffix value. If you specify an alias, as described in Step 10, it overrides the prefix and suffix setting.
Step 9 Check the check box next to each file server that you want to export in this connection (at least one must be selected). By default, all file servers are selected.
Note If no file servers appear in this window, then you have not assigned this core cluster to a file server as described in the “Assigning a Core Cluster to a Registered File Server” section. You must complete the procedures in that section before proceeding.
Step 10 (Optional) Enter an alias for the selected file servers in the Alias column.
An alias, which can be any name (maximum of 15 characters), overrides the default prefix and suffix setting defined in Step 8.
Step 11 Click
Submit
.
The Exported As column displays the name of each exported file server as it will appear to your end users.
Step 12 Click one of the following tabs:
-
Assign Edge Devices
to assign individual edge devices to this connection.
-
Assign Edge Groups
to assign an edge device group to this connection.
The Edge Device Assignments window or the Edge Group Assignments window appears depending on the selected option.
Step 13 Choose the edge devices to include in this connection by doing either of the following:
in the taskbar to assign all available edge devices or groups to this connection.
next to each edge device or device group that you want to assign to this connection. The icon changes to
when selected.
Note You can only assign edge devices or device groups with edge services enabled on them. You cannot assign regular core clusters or offline devices (identified by ) to the connection. For information on enabling edge services, see the “Configuring the Edge Devices” section.
Step 14 Click
Submit
.
The icon next to each edge device or device group you selected changes to
.
Step 15 (Optional) Configure WAN utilization settings for this connection, by completing the following tasks:
a. Click the
WAN Utilization
tab. The WAN Utilization window appears.
b. Define the following WAN utilization settings that control the bandwidth that is used for WAFS traffic between the Edge and Core WAEs:
–
Maximum allocated bandwidth
—Enter the maximum bandwidth allocated to the connection (in kilobits per second). This value must be less than or equal to the maximum bandwidth of the physical WAN link between the WAEs in this connection. This setting has a default value of 1544 KB per second. WAFS throttles its bandwidth usage to 1.5 times the value of this setting.
–
Minimum roundtrip delay
—Enter the length of time (in milliseconds) it takes a bit to travel round-trip from one WAE to the other end and back when the link is idle. This setting has a default value of 80 msec.
Note If you later change any of the WAN utilization settings for this connection, you need to restart the Edge WAE for the new values to take effect.
Step 16 Click
Submit
.
Creating a Preposition Directive
A preposition directive allows you to determine which files should be proactively copied from CIFS file servers to the cache of selected Edge WAEs. Prepositioning enables you to take advantage of idle time on the WAN to transfer frequently accessed files to selected WAEs, where users can benefit from cache-level performance even during first-time access of these files.
You can add preposition directives only for explicitly registered file servers in legacy mode. Prepositioning is supported on automatically discovered file servers only in transparent CIFS accelerator mode.
When defining a preposition directive, you select the Edge WAEs that you want to be prepositioned with content from the file server, then specify the root directories on the file server to be prepositioned. Initially, the preposition directive is in the unscheduled state. You must create a schedule that determines when and how often the content is prepositioned. Because content can be prepositioned on a regular basis, you can specify whether each new iteration of the task should copy all designated files, or only those files that have changed over a specified time interval.
In addition, you can specify time and size limits to prevent a preposition task from consuming too much bandwidth on the WAN or too much space on the Edge WAE cache. We strongly recommend that you use these limits to optimize network efficiency and prevent misuse of this feature.
When the activation time of a preposition directive arrives, a preposition task starts on the Edge WAE. Each preposition task can be monitored in the WAAS Central Manager GUI during and after processing. You can also terminate active preposition tasks if required.
Prepositioning requires that the username and password needed to access the file server be specified in the Configure Core Server Settings window. For details, see Step 11 in the “Configuring the Core Cluster” section.
Prepositioning includes the ability to configure multiple roots. See the “Creating a New Preposition Directive” section.
Note A warning message appears if the required connections do not exist for defining preposition directives.
The following topics describe how to create a preposition directive:
Creating a New Preposition Directive
To create a preposition directive, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager GUI navigation pane, choose
Configure > File Services >
Preposition
.
The Preposition Directives window appears. This window displays the following information about preposition directives that exist on the system:
-
Preposition Directive—Name of the preposition directive.
-
Type—Whether the preposition directive affects all files (Full) or just those that have changed since the last preposition task (Differential).
– When the type is Full, all the files that match the other filters of the task and that are found on the file server are sent to the Edge to be compared with the cache.
– When the type is Differential, only the files that are found as changed since the last successful preposition are sent to the Edge cache. The time of the last successful preposition is taken from the Edge device, so ensure that the clock is synchronized with the file server. The first scan is always a full scan. If you change the preposition task, the last successful scan time is reset.
– When the type is Since, only the files that are found as changed within a specified time period are sent to the Edge cache.
-
Status—Whether the preposition directive is enabled or disabled.
-
File Server—Name of the exported file server.
From the Preposition Directive window, you can perform the following tasks:
-
Edit the configuration of an existing preposition directive by clicking the
Edit
icon next to the directive. You can then delete the preposition directive, or modify any of the settings.
-
Add a new preposition directive, as described in the following steps.
Step 2 Click the
Create New Preposition Directive
icon in the taskbar to create a new preposition directive.
The Creating New Preposition Directive window appears. (See Figure 11-8.)
Figure 11-8 Creating a New Preposition Directive
Step 3 Enter a name for the directive.
Step 4 (Optional) If you are using legacy mode, check the
CIFS - Use WAFS transport mode
check box.
Checking this box hides certain fields in this window because some fields are appropriate only for transparent CIFS accelerator mode.
Step 5 From the Status drop-down list, choose either
enabled
or
disabled
. Disabled directives are not put into effect.
Step 6 In the File Server field, enter the name of a file server to export.
The text field is not shown if you checked the CIFS - Use WAFS transport mode check box. Instead, registered file servers are displayed in a drop-down list. For information on registering a file server, see the “Registering a File Server with the WAAS Central Manager” section. (Registering file servers is not required for transparent CIFS mode.)
Step 7 From the Location drop-down list, choose the device location that will provide browsing services for the file server. For the best browsing performance, specify a location that is close to the file server. For more information on defining locations, see the “Working with Device Locations” section. (The Location is not shown if you checked the CIFS - Use WAFS transport mode check box.)
Step 8 In the User name, Password, and Confirm fields, enter the username and password credentials for the file server. If the username is in a Windows domain, specify the domain name as part of the User name field, as follows: domain\username. (These fields are not shown if you checked the CIFS - Use WAFS transport mode check box.)
Step 9 (Optional) Check the
DSCP value for high priority messages
check box if you want to assign a DSCP marking value to the prepositioning traffic. Choose a DSCP value from the drop-down list or enter a number from 0–63 in the text field. See Table 11-4 for a description of the supported values. (The DSCP settings are not shown if you checked the CIFS - Use WAFS transport mode check box.)
DSCP is a field in an IP packet that enables different levels of service to be assigned to the network traffic. Levels of service are assigned by marking each packet on the network with a DSCP code and associating a corresponding level of service. DSCP is the combination of IP Precedence and Type of Service (ToS) fields. For more information, see RFC 2474.
Step 10 (Optional) Define the time and size limitations using the provided fields.
Table 11-6
describes the time and size limitation fields.
Table 11-6 Preposition Time and Size Limitations
|
|
Total Size as % of Cache Volume
|
Percentage of the overall Edge WAE cache that prepositioned files can consume. For example, if you do not want this prepositioning directive to consume more than 30 percent of a WAE’s cache, enter 30 in this field. The default value is 5 percent.
The percentage of the cache defined for a preposition task defines the maximum size that can be prepositioned in a single iteration of the task regardless of how much is already in the cache.
When the cache is full, regardless of the reason, prepositioning operates like on-demand caching: an eviction process begins and the files with the oldest time-last-accessed values are removed from the cache.
|
Max File Size
|
Maximum file size that can be exported. Files that are larger than this value are not exported to the WAE cache.
|
Min File Size
|
Minimum file size that can be exported. Files that are smaller than this value are not exported to the WAE cache. It is inefficient to preposition files smaller than 20 KB because these files can be retrieved quickly over the WAN through normal WAAS.
The default value is 20 KB.
|
Duration
|
Maximum amount of time it should take WAAS to export the file server. If it takes WAAS longer than this amount of time to export the file server, WAAS stops the exporting process before all files are copied to the Edge WAE cache.
If the preposition task does not start at the scheduled start time (for example, because the Edge and the Core have no connection), the start retries are counted in the duration.
If you do not specify a value for this field, WAAS takes as much time as needed to export this file server.
|
Type
|
Time filter on the scan process. From the Type drop-down list, choose one of the following options:
-
All Files
—Exports all files to the Edge WAE cache. This is the default setting.
-
Files changed since last preposition
—Exports only the files that have changed since the last preposition to the Edge WAE cache. This differential filter is applied from the second iteration of a task execution onward.
If a new directory is moved to an already prepositioned directory (without changing its last-modified time), this new directory is not prepositioned during the next prepositioning session when you choose this option.
-
Files changed since last
—Exports only the files that have changed within the specified time. For example, if you want to push out file updates that have been made on the file server in the last two hours, enter
2
in the provided field and choose
hour
from the drop-down list.
|
Note If one of these limits is exceeded during a prepositioning task, the task is terminated and a message is sent to the Administrator log. Any remaining files are exported the next time the task is run. If a user requests one of the missing files before this happens, it is fetched over the WAN through WAAS software as usual.
Step 11 (Optional) Check the
Ignore Hidden Directories
check box if you want to prevent hidden directories on the file server from being prepositioned. This check box is unchecked by default. If you leave this box unchecked, hidden directories will be prepositioned.
Note If you are using legacy mode and relying on the automatic discovery feature instead of explicitly registering file servers, this check box does not apply because prepositioning is not supported for automatically discovered file servers in legacy mode.
Step 12 In the
Root Share and Directories field, enter the directories on the file server that you want to export. Use any of the following methods to identify a directory:
-
Manually enter one or more directory paths in the following format:
protocol
://
server
/
share
or server\share. For example, cifs://win12srv/home or win12srv\home. You may enter multiple lines for multiple directories, with each full directory path on its own line.
When you define multiple root shares, the preposition sequence that is performed for a single root configuration is repeated for each root serially.
-
Click the
Browse
button to browse the directories on the file server. To navigate into a directory, click the file folder icon to the left of the directory name. Check the check box next to the directory that you want to export and then click the
Select Directory
button. The browse window allows you to choose multiple directories.
In legacy mode, the Browse button appears only if you have configured the File Server access username and the File Server access password fields in the Core Server Settings configuration window. (See Figure 11-3.) In transparent CIFS mode, the browse function operates best when you choose in the Location drop-down list the location of the nearest CIFS accelerator to the file server. If you do not choose a location, the browse request is sent to all devices that have the CIFS accelerator enabled, and the request may time out.
-
Check the
Include Sub Directories
check box to include all subdirectories under the specified root directory. If this option is not selected, only the files in the specified root directory are prepositioned and you cannot select subdirectories when you are browsing.
-
Narrow the policy definition to a particular type of file by choosing a pattern operator from the File Name drop-down list and entering the text that describes the pattern in the adjacent text box. For example, enter
ends with .doc
.
Step 13 Click
Submit
.
The directive is saved to the system and additional options appear in the navigation pane.
Assigning Edge Devices to a Preposition Directive
After you create a preposition directive, you need to assign Edge WAEs or device groups to the directive. This task determines which Edge WAEs will store preposition content in their cache.
Note Prepositioning includes the ability to configure multiple roots. See the “Creating a New Preposition Directive” section.
To assign an Edge WAE or device group to a preposition directive, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager GUI navigation pane, choose
Configure > File Services > Preposition
.
The Preposition Directives window appears, which lists the preposition directives that exist on the system.
Step 2 Click the
Edit
icon next to the preposition directive that you want to assign to an Edge WAE or device group.
Step 3 Click one of the following tabs at the top of the window:
-
Assign Edge Devices
—Allows you to select one or more Edge WAEs to assign to this directive.
-
Assign Edge Groups
—Allows you to select a device group to assign to this directive.
The Edge Device Assignments window or the Device Groups Assignments window appears, depending on the selected option.
Step 4 Choose the Edge WAEs or device groups to assign to this preposition directive by doing either of the following:
in the taskbar to assign all available Edge WAEs or device groups to this directive.
next to the individual Edge WAE or device group that you want to assign to this directive. The icon changes to
when selected.
Note If a device or device group is offline (identified by ), then you cannot assign that device or group to this directive. The preposition directive, when assigned to a device group, is applied only to connected Edge devices in the assigned device group.
Step 5 Click
Submit
.
The icon next to each edge device or device group you selected changes to
.
Creating a New Preposition Schedule
Once you create a preposition directive and assign WAEs to the directive, we recommend you create a schedule that determines when and how often prepositioning occurs.
For example, you may want to schedule prepositioning to occur at night to minimize the amount of traffic during business hours. Or you may want to schedule prepositioning to occur on a recurring basis if the exported data changes often. This will help ensure that the WAEs assigned to this directive have the latest file updates in their cache.
When a preposition task is scheduled to begin at the same time for multiple Edge WAEs that are located in different timezones, the task will begin on the Edge WAEs based on the Core WAE timezone. If the clocks of the Edge WAE and the Core WAE are not synchronized, the task will not start on time.
To create a preposition schedule, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager GUI navigation pane, choose
Configure > File Services > Preposition
.
The Preposition Directives window appears, which lists the preposition directives that exist on the system.
Step 2 Click the
Edit
icon next to the preposition directive for which you want to create a schedule.
Step 3 Click the
Schedule
tab at the top of the window.
The Creating New Preposition Schedule window appears. By default, no schedule is configured.
Step 4 Choose one of the following scheduling options:
-
Not Scheduled—Prepositioning is not scheduled at this time.
-
Now—Prepositioning occurs within a few minutes after you submit this schedule.
A Now schedule begins again each time you make a change to the preposition directive and click the
Submit
button. A Now schedule also begins again as soon as an edge device that has been reloaded comes back online.
-
Daily—Prepositioning occurs daily at the defined time.
-
Date—Prepositioning occurs at the defined time and date.
-
Weekly—Prepositioning occurs on the selected days of the week at the defined time.
-
Monthly Days—Prepositioning occurs on the selected days of the month at the defined time.
-
Monthly Weekdays—Prepositioning occurs on the defined day (as opposed to a defined date) and time during the month. For example, you can schedule prepositioning to occur on the second Tuesday of every month.
Step 5 Specify a start time for the prepositioning task.
The time is expressed in 24-hour format with 00:00 representing midnight.
Note You cannot schedule a start time for the Now option.
Step 6 Click
Submit
.
The message Changes Submitted appears at the bottom of the window confirming that your schedule was saved.
Step 7 Verify that the preposition directive completed successfully by checking the preposition status. For more information, see the “Checking the Preposition Status” section.