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Transparent Caching with the Content Switching Module Configuration Example

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Document ID: 50381


Contents

Introduction
Before You Begin
      Requirements
      Components Used
      Conventions
Configure
      Network Diagram
      Configurations
Verify
Troubleshoot
Related Information

Introduction

This document provides a sample configuration for transparent caching using Cisco Cache Engines and the Content Switching Module (CSM). Transparent caching is the technique used to transparently intercept traffic from a a Web browser and redirect it to a cache device to retrieve the content that was previously cached.

Another method to do transparent caching is Web Cache Communications Protocol (WCCP). The advantage of transparent caching over WCCP is that the CSM looks at the URL requested by the client and decides if the traffic should be sent to the cache or not. Requests for static files such as gif or jpeg images are retrieved from the cache, while dynamic pages (result of a script) are retrieved directly from the server without going to the cache.

Before You Begin

Requirements

There are no specific requirements for this document.

Components Used

The information in this document is based on these hardware and software versions:

  • CSM version 3.x

  • Application Content Networking Software (ACNS) version 5.1

Conventions

For more information on document conventions, see the Cisco Technical Tips Conventions.

Configure

In this section, you are presented with the information to configure the features described in this document.

Network Diagram

This document uses the network setup shown in the diagram below.

csm_transparent_caching.jpg

Configurations

This document uses this configuration:


module ContentSwitchingModule 4 
 vlan 501 server
  ip address 192.168.30.97 255.255.254.0
!
 vlan 499 client
  ip address 192.168.10.97 255.255.254.0
  gateway 192.168.10.1
!
 vlan 500 server
  ip address 192.168.20.97 255.255.254.0
!
 serverfarm CACHES
  no nat server 


!--- This is a transparent redirect; do not change the destination IP address.

  
no nat client
  predictor hash url


!--- Use URL hashing to make sure the request for a specific URL always goes to the same server.

  
real 192.168.30.200
   inservice
  real 192.168.30.201
   inservice
!
 
serverfarm FORWARD
  no nat server 
  no nat client
  predictor forward


!--- This serverfarm tells the CSM not to load balance.
!--- The CSM instead uses its routing table to forward the traffic.

!

map CACHEABLE url


!--- In this example, you want to only redirect requests for certain  file types.
!--- This is not mandatory.
!--- You can also adjust this to something more realistic.

  
match protocol http url *.html
  match protocol http url *.gif
  match protocol http url *.jpg
  match protocol http url *.exe
  match protocol http url *.zip
!   
 
policy CACHEABLE


!--- The policy is the way to link the map with a serverfarm.

  
url-map CACHEABLE
  serverfarm CACHES
!
 
vserver FROMCACHE


!--- This rule is for traffic originating from the caches (when they have 
!--- to retrieve content from the origin server).

  
virtual 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 any
  vlan 501


!--- The VLAN command guarantees that you limit this vserver to the cache VLAN.

  
serverfarm FORWARD


!--- Use the serverfarm FORWARD command to disable load balancing for this traffic.
!--- In this example, you need forward requests from the caches to the origin server.
!--- You could, however, load balance this traffic to a series of Web servers, that is,
!--- when doing reverse proxy caching.

  
persistent rebalance
  inservice
!
 
vserver INTERCEPT


!---- This is the rule to transparently redirect requests from the client to the caches.

  
virtual 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 tcp www
  vlan 499
  serverfarm FORWARD


!--- The default action is forward; no load balancing.
!--- This is for requests that do not match the policy.

  
persistent rebalance
  slb-policy CACHEABLE


!--- Traffic matching the policy is load balanced to the caches.

  
inservice
!
 
vserver NONHTTP


!--- Non-HTTP traffic from the clients is forwarded.

  
virtual 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 any
  vlan 499
  serverfarm FORWARD
  persistent rebalance
  inservice
!

Verify

This section provides information you can use to confirm your configuration is working properly.

  • show mod csm X vserver name name detail

  • show mod csm X conns detail

EOMER#show mod csm 4 vser name intercept det
INTERCEPT, type = SLB, state = OPERATIONAL, v_index = 22
  virtual = 0.0.0.0/0:80 bidir, TCP, service = NONE, advertise = FALSE
  idle = 3600, replicate csrp = none, vlan = 499, pending = 30, layer 4
  max parse len = 2000, persist rebalance = TRUE
  ssl sticky offset = 0, length = 32
  conns = 0, total conns = 3
  Default policy:
    server farm = FORWARD, backup = <not assigned>
    sticky: timer = 0, subnet = 0.0.0.0, group id = 0
  Policy          Tot matches  Client pkts  Server pkts
  -----------------------------------------------------
  CACHEABLE       2            410          926          
  (default)       5            20           17

Verify that the traffic matched the policy (traffic redirected to the caches), or if the traffic was forwarded (match on the default policy).

EOMER#show mod csm 4 conn det

    prot vlan source                destination           state       
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In  ICMP 499  192.168.11.41         192.168.21.4          ESTAB       
Out ICMP 500  192.168.21.4          192.168.11.41         ESTAB       
    vs = NONHTTP, ftp = No, csrp = False

In  ICMP 501  192.168.10.107        10.48.66.102          ESTAB       
Out ICMP 499  10.48.66.102          192.168.10.107        ESTAB       
    vs = FROMCACHE, ftp = No, csrp = False

In  TCP  499  192.168.11.41:4402    192.168.21.4:80       REQ_WAIT    
Out TCP  501  192.168.21.4:80       192.168.11.41:4402    REQ_WAIT    
    vs = INTERCEPT, ftp = No, csrp = False

In  TCP  501  192.168.11.41:32784   192.168.21.4:80       ESTAB       
Out TCP  500  192.168.21.4:80       192.168.11.41:32784   ESTAB       
    vs = FROMCACHE, ftp = No, csrp = False

The cache was configured for IP spoofing. You can see in the output above that there is a connection from client 192.168.11.41 to server 192.168.21.4 seen on VLAN 499, and a similar connection seen on VLAN 501. The first one is the real connection from the client that was redirected to the cache (the out VLAN is 501), and the second one is the connection from the cache (spoofing client IP address) to the origin server.

Troubleshoot

This section provides information you can use to troubleshoot your configuration.

Related Information

Updated: Nov 30, 2005 Document ID: 50381