Table Of Contents

Network Module Enhanced Application Performance Assurance Overview

Cisco Network Module Enhanced Application Performance Assurance Solution

Application Performance Assurance Engine

Network Module Enhanced Application Performance Assurance Module

APA Device Console

Application Performance Assurance for Enterprises

Cisco Application Performance Assurance Capabilities

Application Performance Assurance Technology

Network Module Enhanced Application Performance Assurance Overview

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This module provides a general overview of the Cisco Network Module Enhanced Application Performance Assurance (NME-APA) solution.

•Cisco Network Module Enhanced Application Performance Assurance Solution 

•Cisco Application Performance Assurance Capabilities 

•Application Performance Assurance Technology 

Cisco Network Module Enhanced Application Performance Assurance Solution

The Cisco NME-APA solution is delivered through a combination of hardware and specific software solutions that address various traffic management challenges faced by enterprises. Service providers can use the NME-APA to support classification, analysis, and control of Internet and IP traffic.

Cisco NME-APA enables enterprises to accommodate more traffic while capitalizing on their existing infrastructure. With the power of Application Performance Assurance, enterprises have the ability to analyze IP network traffic at high speeds. The NME-APA solution also gives enterprises the tools they need to identify and target overhead content-based traffic.

The NME-APA solution consists of the following components:

•APA Engine or NME-APA Module—Responsible for traffic classification using deep packet inspection of the traffic and providing application or protocol and user awareness, enforcing global and user-specific policies, and collecting the reporting data. The APA Engine is a standalone appliance on which the APA Device Console is resident, the NME-APA Module must be installed in an Integrated Services Router (ISR) and the APA Device Console is installed on a separate server.

•APA Device Console (APADC)—A management application responsible for device, fault, and traffic management, as well as report generation.

•The "operating system software" resident on the APA engine or the NME-APA module.

•A view-only or control software license

Application Performance Assurance Engine

Cisco Application Performance Assurance (APA) Engine is a standalone appliance designed to identify, analyze, and control application traffic on a per application, per user basis. The APA engine provides wire line identification and traffic control at up to 100 Mbps throughput in each direction. The result is an overall reduction of network congestion, improved application performance over the WAN, and the ability to plan more effective network bandwidth upgrades.

Network Module Enhanced Application Performance Assurance Module

Cisco Network Module Enhanced Application Performance Assurance Module is an integrated module for the 2800- and 3800-series ISRs that provides the same functionality as the APA Engine.

The NME-APA module is available in two separate offerings, the Cisco NME-APA-E2 for the 2800 series ISRs and the Cisco NME-APA-E3 for the 3800 series ISRs.

APA Device Console

The APA Device Console (APADC) is a web based element management application that is either resident on the APA engine or runs on a Microsoft Windows XP workstation which manages and communicates with NME-APA module. The APADC in installed with a web server to allow users to access the provisioning capabilities from a remote location.

Application Performance Assurance for Enterprises

Enterprises of any industry must find new ways to get maximum leverage from their existing infrastructure, while differentiating their offerings with enhanced IP capabilities.

The Cisco APA solution adds a layer of service intelligence and control to existing networks that can:

•Report and analyze network traffic at user and aggregate level for capacity planning

•Identify network abusers who are violating the acceptable use policy (AUP)

•Identify unwanted traffic such as peer-to-peer, NNTP (news), and Flash-based video traffic

•Integrate Application Performance Assurance solutions easily with existing network elements and business support systems (BSS) and operational support systems (OSS)

Cisco Application Performance Assurance Capabilities

The core of the Cisco APA solution is the application for managing traffic including:

•User and application awareness—Application-level drilling into IP traffic for real-time understanding and controlling of usage and content at the granularity of a specific user.

–User awareness—The ability to map between IP flows and a specific user to maintain the state of each user transmitting or receiving traffic through the APA engine or the NME-APA module.

–Application awareness—The ability to understand and analyze traffic up to the application protocol layer (Layer 7).

For application protocols implemented using bundled flows (such as FTP, which is implemented using Control and Data flows), APA understands the bundling connection between the flows and treats them accordingly.

•Programmability—The ability to quickly add new protocols and easily adapt to new services and applications in the ever-changing enterprise environment. Programmability is achieved using the Cisco Service Modeling Language (SML).

Programmability provides an easy upgrade path for network and application growth.

•Robust and flexible back-office integration—The ability to integrate with existing third-party systems at the enterprise, including provisioning systems, user repositories, billing systems, and OSS systems. The APA provides a set of open and well-documented APIs that allows a quick and robust integration process.

•Scalable high-performance service engines—The ability to perform all these operations at high-speed.

Application Performance Assurance Technology

The network devices perform application-layer stateful-flow inspection of IP traffic, and control that traffic based on configurable rules. The network device uses ASIC components and reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processors to exceed beyond packet counting and expand into the contents of network traffic. Providing programmable, stateful inspection of bidirectional traffic flows, and mapping these flows with user ownership, the network devices provide real-time classification of network usage. The classification provides the basis of the advanced traffic-control and bandwidth-shaping functionality. Where most bandwidth shaper functionality ends, the Cisco APA solution provides further control and shaping options, including:

•Layer 7 stateful packet inspection and classification

•Robust support for over 1000 protocols and applications, including:

–Business—Systems, Applications, and Products (SAP), Oracle, Citrix, Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM), Healthcare Level 7 (HL7), FIX, and Blackboard

–General—HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, Telnet, Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3), Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), and others

–Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing—FastTrack-KazaA, Gnutella, BitTorrent, Winny, Hotline, eDonkey, DirectConnect, Piolet, and others

–P2P VoIP—Skype, Skinny, DingoTel, and others

–Streaming and Multimedia—Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), HTTP streaming, Real Time Protocol (RTP) and Real Time Control Protocol (RTCP), and others

•Programmable system core for flexible reporting

•Transparent network and BSS and OSS integration into existing networks

•User awareness that relates traffic and usage to specific customers