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Managing and monitoring a network can be a harrowing
experience, with different applications using
different amounts of bandwidth during any given time.
With remote users accessing the network, it is
becoming more difficult to determine when critical
applications may be running or when the network may be
slow. Without some type of application to monitor
network congestion and deliver QoS controls,
enterprises probably would not be able to utilize
their network with complete efficiency. NetReality's
WiseWan 201 with WanXplorer 5.0 software addresses
these network concerns. Sitting on an access link
between two WAN networks (as opposed to behind a
firewall on a LAN), the hardware monitors and
identifies data and voice traffic in real-time.
INSTALLATION
To set up a WAN environment in our labs, we needed two
routers, one to act on the local side and one for the
remote side. Between the two routers, we connected two
V.35 DTE cables to both sides of a V.35 WiseCable and
connected the WiseCable directly to the WiseWan 201.
The WiseCable is used to ensure that data continues to
pass through even if there is a power failure or the
WiseWan 201 breaks down. The cable acts as a straight
pass-through until it is made active from the
WanXplorer server. This slight configuration usually
needs to be adjusted only once through the command
line interface via a serial cable. We also configured
the clock rate to be 512 Kbps and later changed it to
256 Kbps so that the bandwidth could be used up more
quickly. For testing purposes, with a "smaller pipe"
the WiseWan 201 would need to manage the network more
efficiently when we sent packets through.
We installed a fresh copy of Windows 2000
Professional with Service Pack 1 as well as SNMP
services (required), an FTP server, and a Web server.
Then, we connected an Ethernet cable from the Windows
2000 Server to a hub and configured the server to our
LAN settings. From the hub, we extended one Ethernet
cable to the local router and one to the WiseWan 201.
On the remote side, we extended a network cable from
the router to a hub and connected a client to that hub
as well. In this way, we created a "mini-WAN" so that
we could send voice and data applications over this
network and see how the WiseWan 201 would monitor and
prioritize this bandwidth.
Installing the WanXplorer management server with
the Sybase database that was included took only
moments, but it is necessary to make sure that the PC
being used as a server has at least 1 GB of free disk
space and 128 MB of RAM. The WanXplorer server can be
installed on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Sun
Solaris. The WanXplorer Console is easily installed on
any Windows PC for remote management and monitoring
purposes.
DOCUMENTATION
The WiseWan User's Guide has all the makings of a
quality manual. It consists of a detailed table of
contents, understandable text that covers almost
everything a user might need to know, distinct
screenshots, and an index. While this manual covers
the installation and configuration process in detail,
the CD jewel case insert acts as the quick start guide
for the installation. Help files are also bundled in
to WanXplorer. These files offer some decent
information, but are not context-sensitive. We found
ourselves favoring the User's Guide. However, since we
were using the brand new version of WanXplorer (5.0),
the older manual sometimes did not correctly refer to
the location of certain features on version 5.0,
especially when discussing the shaping features. This
is because the shaping features seemed to be a
separate piece of software called WanShaper in the
previous version. Regardless, this important
functionality is now incorporated as part of
WanXplorer.
FEATURES
The following is a list of the key features of
NetReality's WiseWan 201 with WanXplorer 5.0 software:
- Sits on WAN access link, senses network
congestion, and employs techniques for the control
of network traffic so that business-critical
applications can receive the required bandwidth.
- Supplies centralized control for all networked
applications.
- Provides real-time status of the condition of
the network.
- Boosts network performance, which may cut costs.
- Guarantees QoS for business-critical voice and
data traffic.
- Compares traffic flows against QoS policies to
ensure that session priorities are set and network
traffic is rated.
- Optimizes your network by providing specific
analysis and troubleshooting tools.
- Shapes bandwidth to provide Application SLA
management utilizing Layer 7+ data, such as
prioritizing specific Citrix functionality.
- Enforces service levels and dynamically manages
bandwidth in accordance with corporate policies.
OPERATIONAL TESTING
Once the server and the WiseWan 201 are set up, the
only reasons the administrator would need to access
them again would be for configuration changes or for
database maintenance (unless more critical issues
arise, such as if the server or WiseWan breaks down).
For normal user concerns, such as creating reports and
allocating bandwidth and control usage, the
centrally-managed WanXplorer software is all that is
needed. After connecting to the server from any PC
with WanXplorer installed, the main interface shows
the Corporate WAN tree which looks similar to Windows
Explorer, except that it also comes across as a
hierarchal diagram of the network. Also, the Global
Events window automatically opens. It shows when the
WanXplorer server has been shut down or restarted and
if there is any bandwidth utilization events on the
network. It also indicates the severity of the
over-utilized bandwidth if the set threshold is
passed. Other events windows include inactive
(history) and active (present) issues on the network.
Simple events reports can be created from this
information as well.
From the Enterprises tab, the whole network can be
managed and monitored and any report available,
including real-time, history, analysis, and SLA
reports, can be created. It was the real-time reports
that were of most interest to us because they showed
us what was currently happening within one minute's
refresh time on our network. These real-time reports
include topics such as line statistics, line bursts,
DLCI, response time, protocol distribution, hosts,
conversations, and VoIP reports, all of which can be
viewed in pie, line, or bar graph format. These graphs
are colorful, clearly labeled, and easily understood.
To utilize some bandwidth on our mini-WAN network,
we made some NetMeeting calls, FTP transfers, and
accessed the Web. Since we allocated such a small
amount of bandwidth for our network (512 Kbps which
was later lowered to 256 Kbps), we were able to
occasionally over-utilize this bandwidth just to see
what would happen. The Global Events window warned us
of the over-utilization, and the report graphs showed
us exactly which components of the protocols were
being used the most. They also give the name and IP
address of the local and remote host computers being
used for the applications. When we made the NetMeeting
calls, the VoIP call report even gave us the name of
the local and remote PCs being used for the call, how
much bandwidth was being used for the inbound and
outbound calls for both the video and audio portions,
and the duration of the call thus far (updated every
minute). We were certainly impressed with all the
information inherent in these reports.
Another important aspect of WanXplorer is adaptive
circuit-based shaping. We have already mentioned a bit
about bandwidth allocation in relation to real-time
monitoring. Shaping is the nuts and bolts behind this
and includes capabilities to control usage based on
business policies and priorities and can even employ
either TCP rate control or queuing depending on which
one is best for particular circumstances. One of the
most intriguing components of the traffic shaping is
its support for VoIP conversations -- limiting the
number of voice calls or guaranteeing or limiting
bandwidth for certain applications. To do this, we
highlighted the WiseWan icon in the Enterprises tab
and selected Policies under the tools drop-down box.
The active bandwidth policies window appeared.
We then pressed the New Rule button to configure
the traffic classification and set a new bandwidth
policy. While there are other configurations of value,
such as for scheduling the time for a particular
bandwidth policy to be active (set for working hours
for instance), we were most interested in
differentiating the classes so that we could determine
traffic policy according to a specific protocol or
groups of protocol categories within the network, such
as for business applications and VoIP. By conversation
or rule, we just had to choose the protocol(s) that we
wanted to guarantee or limit, enter the appropriate
number of Kbps that we wanted, and apply the policy.
For instance, we limited the amount of bandwidth for
use for FTP. When viewing the reports, the bandwidth
being utilized did not exceed the amount of Kbps we
had defined, whereas it had continuously done so
before we entered the policy. In this way, the network
bandwidth could really be utilized to the enterprise's
utmost potential.
We created new schedules, classes, and other
shaping settings through the Configurations tab on the
main menu. The scheduling tool is much like other
similar tools except that it uses 24-hour military
time instead of 12-hour standard time. For the
classes, we decided to separate what we felt were
critical applications from non-critical ones that are
used on the network. In other words, what we were
setting up to do was allocating bandwidth to favor
critical applications when required. We could further
distinguish these applications by creating a new rule,
selecting the class and application, and adding the
protocols from within that application to determine
which protocol(s) should be allocated more bandwidth.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
We have only a few suggestions for WiseWan 201 and
the WanXplorer 5.0 software. While we didn't have too
many configuration issues when using NetReality's
command line interface, the addition of a Web-based
interface would have been helpful to make these and
any other configurations simpler to achieve. Also for
simplicity purposes, it would be nice to create new
classes, or protocols within the class, or to create
new groups directly from the Traffic Classification
tab in the New Rule screen, by simply right-clicking
in the appropriate location. This way, there would be
no need to keep going back between the Configuration
tree window and the New Rule screen to achieve this
purpose. Last, while we know the WiseWan 201 is
positioned behind the scenes in an MIS room, we still
feel that the box could have had a quieter fan to be a
little less noisy. Even with other machines running,
more quiet may very well help keep MIS administrators
sane when doing their work.
CONCLUSION
Clearly knowing what applications and protocols are
being used on the network may be reason enough to
consider buying the product. With the excellent
real-time reports and QoS functionality, NetReality
may also offer enterprises the ability to assess and
revise their network usage enough to save money that
might have been used on obtaining more bandwidth or on
having to buy expensive new equipment. This savings
may very well end up to be the reality of using
NetReality's products.
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