Monitoring with Cisco WAAS › How Cisco WAAS Works as a Monitoring Device › Monitoring Device Considerations

Monitoring Device Considerations

When using a Cisco WAE as a monitoring device, keep in mind:

• The management console requires the branch WAE device to export application response times on the Client network segment. If necessary, you can simply enable the data center WAE device to report application performance to the management console across the WAN and Server segments.
• The management console cannot report application performance by network segment for:
  • A FTP application because Cisco WAAS does not optimize FTP.
  • A Web application by URL. Alternatively, you can define a Standard application to monitor all TCP-80 traffic across the Client, WAN, and Server segments.
• If communication is interrupted between a Cisco WAE device and its assigned CA Standard Monitor or CA Multi-Port Monitor, the Cisco WAAS Flow Agent temporarily stores its packet digest files to avoid the loss of reporting data.
• The Cisco WAAS Flow Agent polls the management console every 5 minutes for a list of server IP addresses to monitor.

  To enable a Cisco WAE device to monitor new server traffic that matches a server subnet, configure a monitoring device to monitor the server SPAN, such as a CA Multi-Port Monitor. If you are only using Cisco WAE devices to collect response time data, manually update the Console to add the server IP addresses that you want to monitor.

  To view the list of servers monitored by the management console, click Data Monitoring, Servers in the Show Me list.

• A Cisco WAE device does not capture performance information about unoptimized, pass-through traffic. To monitor application performance for pass-through applications, configure a monitoring device to monitor the server SPAN, such as a CA Multi-Port Monitor.
• A Cisco WAE device recognizes and eliminates duplicate data, therefore, it is unnecessary to configure a CA Standard Monitor or CA Multi-Port Monitor to de-duplicate packets from the WAN Opt monitor feed.
• Packet capture investigations cannot be performed from a Cisco WAE device, however, if you monitor the server SPAN, for example, with CA Multi-Port Monitor, the management console uses this device to take the packet capture.