The Cisco® GSS 4492R ACE Global Site Selector along with Cisco ACE Application Control Engine Modules and Appliances represent the next generation of application switches and Domain Name System (DNS) appliances. These devices form an application-fluent networking solution that maximizes availability, acceleration, and security for data center applications. The Cisco GSS 4492R allows enterprises and service providers to accomplish four primary IT objectives for application delivery:
• Maximize application availability
• Accelerate application performance
• Secure the data center and critical business applications
• Facilitate data center consolidation through the use of fewer servers, load balancers, and data center firewalls
Highlights of Cisco ACE Module Software Global Site Selector Software Release 2.0 include the following:
• Full DNS and DHCP (Requires Cisco Global Site Selector Software 2.0 license [SF-GSS-V2.0-K9] and Cisco Network Registrar software [CNR-6.2-BASE1K])
• Complete business continuance and traffic management support for several DNS record types
• Universal Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) load and health monitoring
• Proximity probing enhancement
• SNMP traps for critical operating conditions
Table 1. New Features and Benefits
Feature
Description
Benefit
Cisco Network Registrar® Support for the Cisco GSS 4492R
You can now load Cisco Network Registrar software onto your Cisco GSS 4492R. This transforms the Cisco GSS 4492R into a standards-compliant DNS server that offers a very advanced feature set, including support for incremental zone transfers, dynamic updates, and notify. The Cisco Network Registrar DHCP server supports DHCP Safe Failover (redundant DHCP servers), dynamic DNS updates, DOCSIS® cable modems, and integration with directory services using LDAP v3.
Cisco GSS 4492R reduces operating expenses (OpEx) and optimizes capital expenditures (CapEx) by consolidating global server load balancing (GSLB), DNS, and DHCP services on one appliance. The Cisco GSS 4492R and Cisco Network Registrar appliance can be fully integrated or replace an existing DNS BIND infrastructure.
DDoS Mitigation Software
Using acquired technology, Cisco has integrated DNS-focused DDoS protection software into the Cisco GSS 4492R. This software uses a subset of the unique Multi-Verification Process (MVP) architecture found on the Cisco Guard DDoS Mitigation Appliances. This optional software handles DNS-related attacks and delivers the following DDoS mitigation capabilities:
• Filters
• Rate limitation per D-proxy with learning during normal operation
• Spoofing prevention through cookie insertion
The Cisco GSS 4492R provides a unique self-defending, resilient architecture that is crucial for maximizing application availability and for multi-site Web application deployments.
New DNS Record Support for Global Traffic Management and Business Continuance Services
The Cisco GSS 4492R now supports global traffic management and business continuance services to these DNS record types:
• Address Record (A-record)
• Mail exchange (MX)
• Service Records (SRV)
• Name Server (NS)
The Cisco GSS 4492R, with its advance DNS services, provides a scalable, dedicated hardware platform for industry-leading Cisco application switches. It helps ensure that all applications (Web-based, e-mail, third-party, etc.) are always available, by detecting site outages or site congestion and rerouting client requests.
Universal SNMP Load and Health Probes
The Cisco GSS 4492R can now monitor third-party devices that provide load and health information through an SNMP MIB
Through the combination of universal SNMP load and health monitoring, the Cisco GSS 4492R can now essentially globally load balance any device that uses common DNS requests for access and provide load data through an SNMP MIB.
Traceroute Proximity Probing
The Cisco GSS 4492R will issue a traceroute proximity probe if needed to determine the IP address
This feature improves the accuracy of the Cisco GSS proximity solution.
SNMP Traps
The Cisco GSS 4492R will issue a SNMP trap when it detects the following conditions:
• Unable to probe a device it is monitoring
• Loss of Cisco GSS-to-GSS communication
• Change in existing load-balancing policy
• Loss of a Cisco GSS software process
This feature allows the Cisco GSS 4492R to notify network administrators monitoring tools if there is a change in the GSS operational conditions.
System Requirements
Table 2 lists system requirements.
Table 2. System Requirements for the Cisco GSS 4492R
Requirement
Details
Cisco ACE Global Site Selector Software 2.0
Cisco Global Site Selector Software 2.0 will operate on all Cisco GSS hardware platforms
DDoS Mitigation Software
Requires Cisco Global Site Selector Software 2.0 license
Full DNS Software
Requires Cisco Global Site Selector Software 2.0 license and Cisco Network Registrar software (CNR-6.2-BASE1K)
Ordering Information
Table 3 provides ordering information.
Table 3. Ordering Information for Cisco GSS 4492R Hardware and Software
Part Number
Product Description
GSS-4492R-K9
Cisco ACE GSS 4492R Global Site Selector
SF-GSS-V2.0-K9
Cisco Global Site Selector Software 2.0
SF-GSS-DNSLIC
Cisco GSS DNS license (requires Cisco Network Registrar 6.2 software [CNR-6.2-BASE1K] for full DNS capability) and Cisco Global Site Selector Software 2.0
SF-GSS-DNSLIC=
Cisco GSS DNS license, spare (requires CNR-6.2-BASE1K for full DNS capability. Must be ordered separately)
SF-GSS-DDOSLIC
Cisco GSS DDoS Mitigation Software (requires Cisco Global Site Selector Software 2.0)
SF-GSS-DDOSLIC=
GSS DDoS Mitigation Software, spare (requires Cisco Global Site Selector Software 2.0)
