Cisco ACE Boot Camp

Prerequisites:

Delegates should have a basic understanding of:

* TCP/IP protocol
* TTP and SSL protocols
* N-tier application architecture
* Server load-balancing

Course Description:

The Cisco ACE Boot Camp is a 4-day, instructor-led lecture/lab course in which delegates will learn how to deploy and configure the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Application Control Engine (ACE) module and the Cisco ACE 4710 appliance.

All of the key features of the ACE module and appliance are incorporated into this course, including resource virtualization and management, server load balancing (Layer 2-4 and Layer 7), SSL termination and offload, security features like application-layer inspection and fixups, and application optimization features.

On completion of this course, delegates will be able to:

• Describe IP traffic flows in n-tier web applications
• Describe the key hardware and software features of the ACE module and appliance
• Design and configure integration of the ACE into the network topology, including bridged, routed, and one-arm modes
• Design and configure multiple ACE contexts to virtualize network services
• Manage allocation of resources to virtual contexts
• Describe the methods used to manage the ACE module and appliance
• Use the Cisco Modular Policy CLI to configure ACE features
• Configure IP application-based security
• Configure Layer 4-7 load balancing
• Configure health monitoring
• Configure Layer 7 protocol processing options
• Configure SSL protocol processing
• Configure the web application acceleration features on the ACE appliance
• Configure the ACE module or appliance for high availability to provide reliable application networking services
• Apply a methodology for designing an end-to-end ACE configuration that integrates multiple feature sets

This course includes the following modules:

IP-Based Data Center Applications

• IP Protocol Stack Review
• IP Application Review
• Web Technology Overview

Introducing ACE Family Solutions

• Multi-Tier Applications
• Intra-Datacenter Redundancy
• Application Delivery Products

Deploying the ACE Appliance and Service Module

• Connecting ACE to the Network
• Network Topologies
• ACE 4710 Installation Procedure
• ACE Appliance GUI
• Virtualization
• Resource Management
• Role Based Access Control
• Configuring Interfaces
• Configuring Management

Modular Policy CLI

• Class Maps
• Policy Maps
• Applying Policy Maps

Managing the ACE Appliance

• Permitting Management Traffic
• SNMP Manageability
• GUI Management

Security Features

• IP Access Control Lists
• ACL Object Groups
• TCP/IP Fragmentation/Reassembly
• TCP/IP Normalization
• SYN Cookies
• Network Address Translation

Layer 4 Load Balancing

• Load-Balancing Concepts
• Load-Balancing Algorithms
• Configuring Layer 4 Load Balancing
• Traffic Rate Limiting
• Firewall Load-Balancing

Health Monitoring

• Health Monitoring Overview
• Active Health Probes
• HTTP Error Code Monitoring
• Using TCL Scripting
• Route Health Injection
• Backup Servers/Server Farms
• KAL-AP Integration

Layer 7 Protocol Processing

• HTTP Layer 7 Load Balancing
• Persistent/Pipelined HTTP Extensions
• Server Reuse
• HTTP Modifications
• Session Persistance
• HTTP Inspection
• FTP Protocol Processing
• Other Inspected Protocols

Processing Secure Connections

• Digital Encryption Technologies
• SSL Service Options
• Configuring a Public-Key Infrastructure
• Configuring SSL Proxy Services
• SSL Session Reuse
• SSL Queue Delay

Web Application Acceleration Overview

• Web Application Performance Factors
• Web Application Acceleration Architecture
• FlashForward
• DeltaOptimization
• Single-Request Optimizations
• Compression Overview
• Configuring Compression

High Availability

• Redundancy
• Object Tracking
• Failover
• State Replication
• Fault Tolerance Configuration
• Displaying Fault Tolerance Information

Integrating Multiple Features

• Analyzing Network Requirements
• Designing ACE Contexts
• Designing ACE features
• Configuring Multiple Integrated Features

Appendices

• Appendix A: ANM SLB Configuration
• Appendix B: Troubleshooting Case Study 1
• Appendix C: Troubleshooting Case Study 2

Labs

• Lab 1: Implementing Virtualization
• Lab 2: Using NAT
• Lab 3: Configuring Server Load Balancing
• Lab 4: Implementing Health Monitoring
• Lab 5: Configuring Layer 7 Load Balancing
• Lab 6: Enabling Sticky Connections
• Lab 7: Enabling Protocol Inspection
• Lab 8: Configuring SSL Termination
• Lab 9: Integrate Application Acceleration and Optimization Features into the Load Balancing Design
• Lab 10: Integrating Multiple Features