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This chapter describes how to configure Cisco WAAS File Services. This feature allows branch office users to access data stored at centralized data centers more efficiently. The file services feature overcomes the WAN latency and bandwidth limitations by caching data on Cisco Edge Wide Area Application Engines (Cisco WAEs) near branch office users. Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) file services use Server Message Block (SMB) application accelerators.
Note Throughout this chapter, the term Cisco WAAS device is used to refer collectively to the Cisco WAAS Central Managers and Cisco WAEs in your network. The term Cisco WAE refers to Cisco WAE and Cisco Wide Area Virtualization Engine (Cisco WAVE) appliances, and Cisco Virtual WAAS (vWAAS) instances.
Enterprises today have remote offices in different parts of the country and around the world, often with remote offices having their own file servers to store and manage the data needed by local users. This method of operation can be costly to purchase, manage, and upgrade file servers at each remote office, and to protect data in case of server failure. To achieve the required level of data assurance, the remote office must devote resources to back up the data at the remote site and physically move it to a secure location, often at a considerable distance from the site. When this scenario is multiplied by tens, hundreds, and thousands of remote offices, the enterprise data management costs can rise exponentially, along with the increased risks to critical data.
The logical solution is to move all of the enterprise’s important data to a central location containing the facilities, trained personnel, and storage mass required to manage the data properly. By having a data center provide backup and other storage-management facilities, the enterprise can achieve better utilization of both personnel and storage, as well as a higher level of data assurance and security.
However, the WAN between the enterprise’s data center and its remote offices can be unreliable and slow, with limited bandwidth and high latency. The WAN can also create other obstacles to the implementation of the data center solution, including file server protocols that operate over the WAN. Every file operation generates several exchanges of protocol messages between the client and the file server. While often not noticeable on the LAN, this can quickly cause high latency over the WAN, which sometimes can break the file server protocol altogether. Even when the file server protocol functions correctly over the WAN, there can be long delays between each transaction, which can cause timeouts in user applications such as word-processing programs, image-editing programs, and design tools, or which stop the applications from functioning correctly.
The problems of unreliable WANs, file system protocol compatibility, and user application compatibility diminish productivity, and overall, negatively affect the user experience.
Cisco WAAS File Services overcomes WAN latency and bandwidth limitations by caching data on Edge WAEs near the user. This data caching method allows branch office users to access centralized data at LAN-like speeds over the WAN. The solution is based on several key concepts:
By using Cisco WAAS File Services, enterprises can consolidate their file servers to a data center that provides the facilities, IT personnel, and storage devices required to manage the data properly.
Figure 11-1 shows a typical deployment scenario after WAAS file services have been set up.
Figure 11-1 Cisco WAAS File Services Solution
This section contains the following topics:
Note To accelerate SMB traffic, use the SMB application accelerator, which handles optimizations of file server operations. These optimizations apply to SMBv1, SMBv2 and SMBv3. For information on how to use the SMB application accelerator to perform specific file server optimizations, see Configuring SMB Acceleration in the chapter “Configuring Application Acceleration”.
Legacy-mode Cisco Wide Area File Services (WAFS) is not supported Cisco WAAS Version 4.4.1 and later. Legacy WAFS users must migrate to the SMB accelerator before upgrading.
The Automatic Discovery feature allows you to enable SMB without having to register individual file servers in the Cisco WAAS Central Manager. With the Automatic Discovery feature, Cisco WAAS attempts to automatically discover and connect to a new file server when a SMB request is received.
Cisco WAAS software ensures data integrity across the system by using two interrelated features: data coherency, which manages the freshness of data, and data concurrency, which controls the access to 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, which can cause the changed copy to lose consistency or coherency with the other copies. To address this scenario, data coherency manages the freshness of data.
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 Cisco WAAS software applies the following data coherency semantics to its built-in coherency policies:
Cisco 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 in the Cisco Edge WAE is considered valid, and the user is permitted to open the file from the Cisco Edge WAE cache.
If the time stamps are different, the Cisco Edge WAE removes the file from its cache and requests a fresh copy from the file server.
When a client makes a change to a directory or file, the Cisco Edge WAE sends a change notification to the file server. The file server then sends a change notification to all the Cisco Edge WAEs, which includes a list of the modified directories and files. Upon receiving the change notification, each Cisco Edge WAE checks its cache and invalidates the directories and files listed in the notification, and then updates its cache with the latest versions.
If a user edits an existing Microsoft Word document and saves the changes to the Cisco Edge WAE cache, the Cisco Edge WAE sends a change notification to the file server so that it knows that the file has been modified. The Cisco Edge WAE then sends the changed sections to the file server, and the file server proactively sends change notifications to the other Cisco Edge WAEs in the network. These Cisco Edge WAEs then update their cache so that the file is consistent across all access points.
This process is also applicable when you rename a directory, add a new subdirectory, rename a file, or create a new file in a cached directory.
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 control is important when multiple users access the same cached data to read, or write, or both. Data concurrency control synchronizes this access by establishing and removing file system locks. This file-locking feature ensures data integrity and provides the following benefits:
Cisco WAAS software supports the CIFS OpLock feature, which allows a user to lock a file so that 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 OpLock, a user can proactively cache read-ahead data because it knows that no other user is accessing the file, and therefore, there is no chance of the cached data becoming stale. The user can also write data to its local cache and does not have to update the file server until it closes the file or until another user requests that the same file be opened.
Oplock applies to files only. The file server does not grant OpLock requests on directories and named pipes.
When a user opens a file, it sends a lock request to the file server. The Cisco Edge WAE intercepts and forwards all lock requests from the user to the file server as well as all the 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 that the same file be opened, the following actions occur:
– 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 since a second user will open the file.
The prepositioning feature allows system administrators to proactively push frequently-used files from the central storage into the cache of selected Cisco Edge WAEs. This operation provides users with faster first-time file access, and makes more efficient use of available bandwidth.
Create preposition directives from the Cisco WAAS Central Manager GUI.
This section contains the following topics:
Before enabling file services on Cisco WAEs, ensure that you complete the following prerequisites:
Other file servers may operate with Cisco WAAS, but only those listed in the table were tested. The file server must support opportunistic locking (OpLock) and CIFS notifications.
Consider the following prerequisites for configuring files services on a Cisco ISR router with a Cisco WAAS Network Module (NME-WAE).
This section contains the following topics:
To accelerate CIFS traffic, enable and configure the CIFS accelerator.
The CIFS accelerator relies on automatic discovery and transparently accelerates CIFS traffic with no configuration needed.
Table 11-1 provides an overview of the steps that you must complete to configure the CIFS accelerator.
Table 11-1 Checklist for Configuring CIFS Accelerator
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Prepare for Cisco WAAS file services. |
Provides the tasks that you need to complete before enabling and configuring file services on your WAAS devices. For more information, see Prerequisites for Configuring Cisco WAAS File Services. |
Enable SMB acceleration. |
Enables and configures the SMB accelerator. For more information, see Enabling and Disabling Global Optimization Features of Chapter 12, “Configuring Application Acceleration.” |
(Optional) Identify dynamic shares. |
Identifies the dynamic shares on an exported file server. If your file server uses Access Based Enumeration (ABE) to give users different views of the share, you must configure the dynamic shares on the WAAS Central Manager. For more information, see Creating Dynamic Shares for the CIFS Accelerator |
(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 About Preposition Directives for CIFS Files section. |
Many file servers use dynamic shares, that is, multiple users can access the same share, but the share is then automatically mapped to a different directory based on a 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 that each user accessing that share is automatically redirected to their own personal directory.
If a file server contains a dynamic share or is using Access Based Enumeration (ABE), you must register that dynamic share with the Cisco WAAS Central Manager, as described in this section.
Defining a dynamic share in the Cisco WAAS Central Manager allows each user to see a different view of the share and allows the operation of ABE if it is configured on the Microsoft Windows Server.
Note Dynamic share configuration on the Cisco WAAS Central Manager overrides any dynamic share configuration set up directly on the Cisco WAE device using the Cisco WAAS CLI.
Before configuring a dynamic share, consider the following limitations:
To configure a dynamic share for the CIFS accelerator, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Configure > CIFS File Services > Dynamic Shares.
A list of dynamic shares appears. The Dynamic Shares window shows all the dynamic shares that are configured. From this window, you can perform the following tasks:
Step 2 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 3 In the Name field, enter a name for the dynamic share.
The following characters are not supported in the dynamic share name: /, \, :, *, ?, ", <, >, |. From the Assigned Domain drop-down list, choose the Cisco WAAS domain that you want to assign to the dynamic share. Only administrators who are also assigned to this Cisco WAAS domain have permission to edit the dynamic share configuration. The domain does not affect a client’s access to the dynamic share.
Note A Cisco WAAS domain is not the same as a DNS domain or Microsoft Windows domain. For more information on Cisco WAAS domains, see Working with Domains in the chapter “Creating and Managing Administrator User Accounts and Groups”.
The Cisco WAAS domain does not use entities. When defining the Cisco WAAS domain, choose None for the Entity Type. The Cisco WAAS domain must be assigned to each Cisco WAAS administrative user who needs to edit the dynamic share configuration (see Assigning a Domain to a User Account in the chapter “Creating and Managing Administrator User Accounts and Groups” ).
Step 4 In the File Server field, enter the name or IP address of the file server with the dynamic share.
If you specify the file server name, the Cisco Edge WAE resolves it to an IP address.
The registered file servers are displayed in a drop-down list.
Step 5 In the User name, Password, and Confirm Password fields, enter the username and password credentials for the file server. If the username is in a Microsoft Windows domain, specify the domain name as part of the User name field, as follows: domain\username.
These credentials are only used to access the file server when you click Browse.
Step 6 In the Share Name field, specify the location of the dynamic share by doing one of the following tasks:
Note The Browse button appears only if you have at least one Cisco WAE device with the CIFS accelerator enabled and registered to the Cisco WAAS Central Manager.
Step 7 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 Cisco WAAS environment.
The specified directory now functions as a dynamic share on the Cisco Edge WAE cache.
This section contains the following topics:
A preposition directive allows you to determine which files should be proactively copied from CIFS file servers to the cache of selected Cisco Edge WAEs. Prepositioning enables you to take advantage of the 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.
Consider the following preposition operating guidelines:
Note When preposition updates are sent to the Cisco WAAS Central Manager, if any preposition file server credentials cannot be decrypted, all further preposition updates are not sent from the Cisco WAE to the Cisco WAAS Central Manager, and decryption failure error messages are logged in errorlog/cms_log.current. You must reconfigure the preposition credentials from the Cisco WAAS CLI.
Prepositioning includes the ability to configure multiple roots. For more information, see Creating a New Preposition Directive for CIFS Files.
When using prepositioning, both branch and data center WAEs are required (the same as for any other accelerated traffic). The branch WAE retrieves prepositioned files through an optimized connection. Verify that you have connectivity between the following network entities:
You will need to change any ACLs that might be blocking prepositioning traffic.
Note Although preposition directives can be created and managed by using the Cisco WAAS CLI, we recommend that you use the Cisco WAAS Central Manager GUI because you can manage prepositioning for groups of Cisco WAEs from the Cisco WAAS Central Manager. If you mix Cisco WAAS Central Manager and Cisco WAAS CLI configuration, unpredictable results may occur because changes on one device can affect other devices.
To create a preposition directive, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Configure > CIFS File Services > Preposition.
The Preposition Directives window appears. This window displays the following information about preposition directives that exist on the system:
– 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.
– 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.
– Since: Only the files that are found as changed within a specified time period are sent to the Edge cache.
The following tasks are available from the Preposition Directive window:
Step 2 To create a new preposition directive, click the Create New Preposition Directive icon in the taskbar.
The Creating a New Preposition Directive window appears. (Figure 11-2)
Figure 11-2 Creating a New Preposition Directive Window
Step 3 Enter a unique name for the directive. The name cannot contain characters other than letters, numbers, period, hyphen, and underscore; the double quote (") character is not allowed in the name.
Step 4 From the Status drop-down list, choose enabled or disabled. Disabled directives are not put into effect.
Step 5 (Optional) Define the time and size limitations using the provided fields.
Table 11-6 describes the time and size limitation fields.
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 Cisco WAAS software as usual.
Step 6 (Optional) To prevent hidden directories on the file server from being prepositioned, check the Ignore Hidden Directories check box. This check box is unchecked by default. If you leave this box unchecked, hidden directories are prepositioned.
Step 7 In the File Server field, enter the unique name of a file server to export. The name cannot contain characters other than letters, numbers, period, hyphen, and underscore; the double quote (") or forward slash (/) characters are not allowed in the name.
Step 8 From the Location drop-down list, choose the device location that will provide browsing services for the file server. Normally, this is the Cisco data center WAE. For the best browsing performance, specify a location that is close to the file server. The location is used only for browsing; each Cisco edge WAE will retrieve prepositioned files directly from the file server, not from this location. For more information on defining locations, see Working with Device Locations in the chapter “Using Device Groups and Device Locations” .
Step 9 In the Username, Password, and Confirm Password fields, enter the username and password credentials for the file server. If the username is in a Microsoft Windows domain, specify the domain name as part of the User name field, as: domain\username.
The access credentials that you enter must allow read access to the prepositioned root directories and to their parent directories.
Step 10 (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 to 63 in the text field.
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 11 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:
a. When you define multiple root shares, the preposition sequence that is performed for a single root configuration is repeated for each root serially.
– To navigate to 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 Select Directory.
The Browse window allows you to choose multiple directories.
The Browse function operates best when you choose the location of the nearest CIFS accelerator to the file server, from the Location drop-down list. If you do not choose a location, the browse request is sent to all the devices that have the CIFS accelerator enabled, and the request may time out.
The directive is saved and additional tabs appear at the top of the window.
After you create a preposition directive, you need to assign Cisco Edge WAEs or device groups to the directive. This task determines which Cisco Edge WAEs will store preposition content in their cache.
Note Prepositioning includes the ability to configure multiple roots. See Creating a New Preposition Directive for CIFS Files.
To assign a Cisco Edge WAE or device group to a preposition directive, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Configure > CIFS 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:
The Edge Device Assignments window or the Device Groups Assignments window appears, depending on the selected option.
For either view, the assignments window lets you filter your view of the items in the list. Filtering enables you to find items in the list that match the criteria that you set.
Step 4 Choose the Cisco Edge WAEs or device groups to assign to this preposition directive by doing either of the following:
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.
When assigning a CIFS accelerator preposition directive to a device group, the directive is applied only to those devices enabled for CIFS acceleration in the assigned device group.
The icon next to each edge device or device group you selected changes to .
Note If the CIFS accelerator is disabled on a Cisco WAE, the Cisco WAE is removed from any preposition directives to which it is assigned. Also, the preposition directive is removed from the device’s running configuration.
After you create a preposition directive and assign Cisco WAEs to the directive, create a schedule that determines when and how often prepositioning occurs.
You 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 Cisco WAEs assigned to this directive have the latest file updates in their cache.
Note When a preposition task is scheduled to begin at the same time for multiple Cisco Edge WAEs that are located in different timezones, the task will begin on the Cisco Edge WAEs based on the Cisco Core WAE timezone. If the clocks of the Cisco Edge WAE and the Cisco Core WAE are not synchronized, the task will not start on time.
To create a preposition schedule for CIFS files, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Configure > CIFS 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:
A Now schedule begins again each time you make a change to the preposition directive and click the Submit button, and a Now schedule also begins again as soon as a Cisco Edge device that has been reloaded comes back online.
Step 5 Specify a start time for the prepositioning task.
Step 6 Consider the following guidelines for specifying a start time:
After you create one or more preposition directives, you can verify the status of all the preposition tasks to ensure that they are completed successfully. If a task does not complete successfully, then some of the prepositioned files may have not been copied to the Cisco Edge WAE cache.
To check the status of a prepositioning task, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Configure > CIFS File Services > Preposition.
The Preposition Directives window, which lists the preposition directives that exist on the system, appears.
Step 2 Click the Edit icon next to the preposition directive that you want to check.
Step 3 Click the Preposition Status tab at the top of the window.
The Preposition Status window displays the following information:
Step 4 Ensure that the Status column displays the Completed status.
If the Status column displays the Failure status, look in the Reason column for an explanation that can help you troubleshoot why the preposition task failed. After resolving the issue, you can schedule the preposition task to run again now, or wait until the scheduled start time and verify the status again later.
You can start or stop a preposition task from the Cisco WAAS Device Manager.
This section contains the following topics:
To accelerate SMB traffic, enable and configure the SMB accelerator.
Table 11-2 provides an overview of the steps required to configure the SMB accelerator.
Table 11-2 Checklist for Configuring SMB Accelerator
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Prepare for Cisco WAAS file services. |
Provides the tasks that you need to complete before enabling and configuring file services on your Cisco WAAS devices. For more information, see Prerequisites for Configuring Cisco WAAS File Services. |
Enable SMB acceleration. |
Enables and configures the SMB accelerator. For more information, see Enabling and Disabling Global Optimization Features in the chapter “Configuring Application Acceleration” . |
(Optional) Configure dynamic shares. |
Configures the dynamic shares on an exported file server. If your file server uses Access Based Enumeration (ABE) to give users different views of the share, you must configure the dynamic shares on the Cisco WAAS Central Manager. For more information, see Configuring Dynamic Shares for the SMB Accelerator. |
(Optional) Create a preposition directive. |
Defines which files are proactively copied from an exported file server to the Cisco Edge WAE cache. For more information, see Preposition Directives for SMB Files |
Consider the following guidelines for creating and using dynamic shares:
Note Dynamic share configuration on the Cisco WAAS Central Manager overrides any dynamic share configuration set up directly on the WAE device using the CLI.
Before adding a dynamic share, note the following limitations:
To configure a dynamic share for the SMB accelerator, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > Configure > SMB File Services > Dynamic Shares.
The Dynamic Shares window appears, displaying all the dynamic shares configured. From this window, you can perform the following tasks:
Step 2 Click the Add Dynamic Share icon in the taskbar to add a new dynamic share. The Creating a new Dynamic Share window appears.
Step 3 In the File Server field, enter the name or IP address of the file server with the dynamic share.
If you specify the file server name, the Cisco Edge WAE resolves it to an IP address.
The registered file servers are displayed in a drop-down list.
Step 4 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: \ / : * ? “ < > |
To navigate to the correct root directory, click Browse next to the Share Name field
The Browse button appears only if you have at least one Cisco WAE device with the SMB accelerator enabled and registered to the Cisco WAAS Central Manager.
Step 5 To submit the changes, click OK.
The specified directory now functions as a dynamic share in the Cisco Edge WAE cache.
This section contains the following topics:
A preposition directive allows you to determine which files should be proactively copied from SMB file servers to the cache of selected Cisco Edge WAEs. Prepositioning enables you to take advantage of the 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.
Consider the following operating guidelines for creating and using preposition directives for SMB files:
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 Cisco Edge WAE cache. We strongly recommend that you use these limits to optimize network efficiency and prevent misuse of this feature.
Note When preposition updates are sent to the Cisco WAAS Central Manager, if any preposition file server credentials cannot be decrypted, all further preposition updates are not sent from the Cisco WAE to the Cisco WAAS Central Manager, and decryption failure error messages are logged in errorlog/cms_log.current. You must reconfigure the preposition credentials from the Cisco WAAS CLI.
– Branch WAE to data center WAE
– Data center WAE to file server
You will need to change any ACLs that might be blocking prepositioning traffic.
Note Although preposition directives can be created and managed by using the Cisco WAAS CLI, we recommend that you use the Cisco WAAS Central Manager GUI because you can manage prepositioning for groups of Cisco WAEs from the Cisco WAAS Central Manager. If you mix Cisco WAAS Central Manager and Cisco WAAS CLI configuration, unpredictable results may occur because changes on one device can affect other devices.
Note We recommend that you configure not more than 25 preposition directives per device.
– When DRE is enabled for the all prepositioning tasks, files are cached in Object Cache and DRE cache, particularly when the size of the prepositioned files is huge and this could affect the normal traffic. Otherwise, the files will be cached only in Object Cache.
– Table 11-3 shows the DRE disk capacity, default object cache capacity, and default Akamai Connect Cache capacity by WAVE model.
Table 11-3 DRE Disk, Default OC, and Default Akamai Connect Cache by Cisco WAVE Model
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– Table 11-4 shows the default and resized DRE disk capacity, object cache capacity, and Akamai Connect Cache capacity by Cisco vWAAS model.
Table 11-4 Default and Resized DRE, OC, and Akamai Connect Cache, by Cisco vWAAS Model
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– Table 11-5 shows the DRE disk capacity, default object cache capacity, and default Akamai Connect Cache capacity by Cisco ISR-WAAS model.
Table 11-5 DRE Disk, Object Cache, and Akamai Connect Cache by Cisco ISR-WAAS Model
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To create a preposition directive for SMB files, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Configure > SMB File Services > Preposition.
The Preposition Directives window appears. This window displays the following information about preposition directives that exist on the system:
From the Preposition Directive window, you can perform the following tasks:
Step 2 Click the Create New Preposition icon in the taskbar to create a new preposition directive.
The Creating New Preposition Directive window appears. (Figure 11-3)
Figure 11-3 Preposition Directive Window
Step 3 At the Preposition Settings pane, in the Name field, enter a unique name for the directive. The name cannot contain characters other than letters, numbers, period, hyphen, and underscore; the double quote (") character is not allowed in the name.
Step 4 Click the Enable Preposition check box. This denotes status of preposition. This is unchecked by default. If you disable it, preposition is not possible.
Step 5 (Optional) Define the time and size limitations in the displayed fields.
Table 11-6 describes the time and size limitation fields.
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 Cisco WAAS software as usual.
Step 6 To enable prepositioning of this traffic, at the File Server Settings pane, check the SMBv2 check box. The SMBv2 check box is unchecked (disabled) by default.
Step 7 In the File Server field, enter the unique name of a file server to export. The name cannot contain characters other than letters, numbers, period, hyphen, and underscore; the double quote (") is not allowed in the name.
To preposition a DFS share, enter the DFS workspace name and the file server name. The DFS share can be either a domain name or a domain IP address and can accept a maximum of one forward slash (/) character (/) and one period, for example, google.com/namespace.
Note The configuration of one forward slash character (/) and one period is only for devices for Cisco WAAS Software Version 6.4.3 and later. The Cisco WAAS Central Manager Device Group lists only the devices that have the appropriate software version.
Step 8 From the Nearest Device drop-down list, choose the device location that will provide browsing services for the file server. Normally, this is the Cisco data center WAE. For optimum browsing performance, specify a location that is close to the file server.
The location is used only for browsing; each Cisco Edge WAE retrieves prepositioned files directly from the file server, not from this location. For more information on defining locations, see Working with Device Locations in the chapter “Using Device Groups and Device Locations” .
Step 9 In the User name, Password, and Confirm Password fields, enter the username and password credentials for the file server.
Step 10 Consider the following naming guidelines:
Step 11 Under Content Settings, 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:
Note Do not use the special character “;”in files and directory names, because it will generate errors. Additionally, Cisco WAAS Version 6.2.1 does not support extended Unicode characters in files and directories. These files or directories will skipped and not prepositioned.
When you define multiple root shares, the preposition sequence that is performed for a single root configuration is repeated for each root serially.
The browse function operates best when you choose the location of the nearest SMB accelerator to the file server from the Location drop-down list. If you do not choose a location, the browse request is sent to all the devices that have the SMB accelerator enabled, and the request may time out.
Step 12 By default, a Now schedule begins (if the status is enabled) each time you make a change to the Preposition Directive window. A new schedule also begins as soon as a Cisco Edge device that has been reloaded comes back online.
– Not-Scheduled: This option is displayed by default.
– Immediate: Prepositioning occurs within a few minutes after click on ok button in schedule dialog.
– Date: Prepositioning occurs at the defined time and date..
– Daily: Prepositioning occurs daily at the defined time.
– 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 selected month weekdays at the defined time
Step 13 Specify the preposition start time from the Start Time drop-down list.
Consider the following start time guidelines:
The directive is saved and is added to the Preposition Directive table.
After you create a preposition directive, you need to assign Cisco Edge WAEs or device groups to the directive. This task determines which Cisco Edge WAEs will store-preposition content in their cache.
Note Prepositioning includes the ability to configure multiple roots. See Creating a New Preposition Directive for SMB Files.
To assign a Cisco Edge WAE or device group to a preposition directive, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Configure > SMB File Services > Preposition.
The Preposition Directives window appears, which lists the preposition directives that exist on the system.
Step 2 Select the appropriate Preposition Directive to assign it to the Device or Device Group, and click the Assign Devices/ Device Groups icon.
The Assign Device/Device Groups Assignments window appears. This window lets you filter your view of the items in the list. Filtering enables you to find items in the list that match the criteria that you set.
Step 3 Choose the Cisco Edge WAEs or device groups to assign to this preposition directive, and then click Assign.
The Assigned Status column changes to Assigned next to the selected device or device group. You can also un-assign a device or device group by clicking on Unassign. The Assigned Status column changes to Not Assigned.
Step 4 If there is a delay in sending the preposition details to the device, the Assigned Status column displays Notify Updates In-Progress for the device or device group.
Step 5 To see a change in status after the preposition changes have been made to the device, click Refresh.
Step 6 Consider the following operating guidelines:
After you create a preposition directive and assign Cisco WAEs to the directive, 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 Cisco WAEs assigned to this directive have the latest file updates in their cache.
Consider the following guidelines for specifying a start time:
To create a preposition directive schedule for SMB files, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Configure > SMB 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:
A Now schedule begins again each time you make a change to the preposition directive and click Submit.
A Now schedule also begins again as soon as a Cisco Edge device that has been reloaded comes back online.
Step 5 Specify a start time for the prepositioning task.
Consider the following guidelines for specifying a start time:
To confirm that your schedule has been saved, the Changes Submitted message is displayed at the bottom of the window.
Step 7 Verify that the preposition directive has completed successfully by checking the preposition status. For more information, see Checking the Preposition Task Status SMB Files.
After you create one or more preposition directives, you can verify the status of all the preposition tasks to ensure that they are completed successfully. If a task does not complete successfully, then some of the prepositioned files may have not been copied to the Cisco Edge WAE cache.
To check the status of a prepositioning task, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Configure > SMB File Services > Preposition.
The Preposition Directives window, which lists the preposition directives that exist on the system, appears.
Step 2 Select the SMB preposition directive that you want to check and click the Collect Preposition Status tab at the top of the window.
The Preposition Status window displays the following information:
Step 3 Verify that the Status column displays Completed.
If the Status column displays Failure, look in the Reason column for an explanation that can help you troubleshoot why the preposition task failed. After resolving the issue, you can schedule the preposition task to run again now, or wait until the scheduled start time and verify the status again later.
You can also export this data and save it to your local machine.
To start or stop a preposition task, use the Cisco WAAS Device Manager.