Optimizing Traffic

CNS 205-5I: Citrix NetScaler 10.5 Essentials and Networking

Overview
After completing this module, you will be able to:

Implement compression policies to optimize traffic.

Cache frequently served web content to relieve servers and reduce response time.
Use templates to optimize web traffic from specific applications.
Route traffic based on specific parameters.

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Introduction to Compression
For all browsers, the NetScaler system compresses:
Text/HTML
Text/plain Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)

For other (text/*) MIME formats, the NetScaler system compresses traffic based
on the format supported by the browser

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Compression Policies
1. A NetScaler with compression policies configured intercepts requests from
compression-aware clients.
2. NetScaler applies the compression policies to determine whether the client can
accept compressible content.
3. NetScaler examines the content again to determine if it is compressible.
4. If compressible, NetScaler compresses the content and forwards it to the client.
5. The response header is modified to indicate the type of compression
performed.

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Compression Considerations
Items to consider for using compression on the NetScaler:

Compression algorithm
Compression ratio
Browser awareness
HTTPS compression
HTTP versions

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Compression Responses
Responses are compressed
Requests are not compressed
Only responses with a 200 status code are compressed

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Compression Parameters
Compression parameters include:

Compression level
Quantum size
Minimum HTTP-response size
Bypass compression on CPU usage
Server-side compression

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Compression Policies
Compression policies enable the NetScaler system to identify the content that
needs to be compressed.
Each compression policy consists of an expression and an action.
An expression is created to identify the files entering the system.
An action defines the action the system performs on the file identified by the
expression.

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Setting Compression Policies Globally

Either the classic or default compression global policy set can be used for
compression policy evaluation for entities:
HTTP/HTTPS load-balancing or content-switching virtual servers with no compression policies
bound
Transparent HTTP/HTTPS services

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Compression Actions
There are four built-in compression actions:

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COMPRESS
NOCOMPRESS
GZIP
DEFLATE

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Action Analytics
The system aggregates the following statistics:

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Number of requests
Bandwidth consumed by the requests
Response time
Number of concurrent connections

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AppExpert Templates
AppExpert templates:
Are reusable bundles of configuration information
Provide an easy way to configure the NetScaler system to optimize the traffic of specific
applications

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Applications Pane

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Planning for Applications

The creation and use of AppExpert templates can be divided into two major tasks
Both tasks can be carried out by the same person or team in an organization:
1. Create the AppExpert template and application units

2. Import the AppExpert template

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Deploying NetScaler for Applications

The methodology behind deploying a NetScaler configuration for an application
requires two steps:
1. Identification of application workflows of interest according to the type of content they generate

from server to client

2. Creation of application units based on the identified workflows, defining specific rules that allow
the NetScaler system to recognize each workflow

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AppExpert Template Deployment

To deploy an application template:
1. Configure the back-end services and public endpoints
2. Create application units
3. Apply the desired features

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WORK BETTER. LIVE BETTER.

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