Manual Chapter : Defining Connectivity Options

Applies To:

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BIG-IP APM

  • 15.1.10, 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0
Manual Chapter

Defining Connectivity Options

About connectivity profiles and Network Access

A connectivity profile defines connectivity and client settings for a Network Access session.
A connectivity profile contains:
  • Compression settings for network access connections and application tunnels
  • Citrix client settings
  • Virtual servers and DNS-location awareness settings for BIG-IP Edge Client® for Windows, Mac, and Linux
  • Password caching settings for BIG-IP Edge Client for Windows, Mac, and mobile clients
  • Settings for mobile clients
A connectivity profile is also associated with customizable client download packages for Edge Client for Windows and Edge Client for Mac.

Create a connectivity profile foraccess tunnels and clients

You create a connectivity profile to configure client connections for a network access tunnel, application access tunnel, and clients.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Access
    Connectivity / VPN
    Connectivity
    Profiles
    .
    A list of connectivity profiles displays.
  2. Click
    Add
    .
    The Create New Connectivity Profile popup screen opens and displays General Settings.
  3. Type a
    Profile Name
    for the connectivity profile.
  4. Select a
    Parent Profile
    from the list.
    APM provides a default profile,
    connectivity
    .
  5. From the Compression Settings folder, click
    Network Access
    and make changes to the network access compression settings.
    The settings specify available compression codecs for server-to-client connections.
    The default settings are displayed in the right pane.
  6. From the Compression Settings folder, click
    App Tunnel
    and make changes to the application tunnel compression settings.
    The settings specify available compression codecs for server-to-client connections. By default, compression is enabled, but no codecs are selected in the Available Codecs area.
    The default settings are displayed in the right pane.
  7. Click
    OK
    .
    The popup screen closes, and the Connectivity Profile List displays.
To provide functionality with a connectivity profile, you must add the connectivity profile and an access profile to a virtual server.

About connectivity profile compression settings

Compression settings specify the available compression codecs for server-to-client connections. The server compares the available compression types configured in the connectivity profile with the available compression types on the client, and chooses the most effective mutual compression setting.

Connectivity profile general settings

You can configure the following general settings in a connectivity profile.
Profile setting
Value
Description
Profile Name
Text.
Text specifying name of the connectivity profile.
Parent Profile
A connectivity profile, selected from a list.
A profile inherits settings from its parent profile.
FEC Profile
A forward error correcting (FEC) profile, selected from a list.
A FEC profile applies to a network access tunnel.
FEC profiles might not be available on all BIG-IP systems.
Description
Text.
Text description of the connectivity profile.

Connectivity profile network access compression settings

You can configure the following network access compression settings in a connectivity profile.
Setting
Value
Description
Compression Buffer Size
Number of bytes. The default is
4096
.
Specifies the size of the output buffers containing compressed data.
gzip Compression Level
A preset, or a value between
1
and
9
.
Specifies the degree to which the system compresses the content. Higher compression levels cause the compression process to be slower and the result to be more compressed. The default compression level is
6 - Optimal Compression (Recommended)
, which provides a balance between level of compression and CPU processing time. You can also select compression level
1 - Least Compression (Fastest)
, the lowest amount of compression, which requires the least processing time, or
9 - Most Compression (Slowest)
, the highest level of compression, which requires the most processing time. You can also select a number between
1
and
9
.
gzip Memory Level
1
-
256
kb.
Specifies the number of kilobytes of memory that the system uses for internal compression buffers when compressing data. You can select a value between
1
and
256
.
gzip Window Size
1
-
128
kb.
Specifies the number of kilobytes in the window size that the system uses when compressing data. You can select a value between
1
and
128
.
CPU Saver
Selected or cleared.
Specifies, when enabled, that the system monitors the percentage of CPU usage and adjusts compression rates automatically when the CPU usage reaches either the
High
value or the
Low
Value.
High
Percentage
Specifies the percentage of CPU usage at which the system starts automatically decreasing the amount of content being compressed, as well as the amount of compression which the system is applying.
Low
Percentage
Specifies the percentage of CPU usage at which the system resumes content compression at the user-defined rates.

Connectivity profile application tunnel compression settings

You can configure the following application tunnel compression settings in a connectivity profile.
Setting
Value
Description
Compression
Enable
or
Disable
Specifies the available compression codecs for server-to-client connections. The server compares the available compression types configured here, with the available compression types on the client, and chooses the most effective mutual compression setting.
Adaptive Compression
Enable
or
Disable
Specifies whether to enable to disable adaptive compression between the client and the server.
Deflate Level
From 1 to 9
Specifies a compression level for deflate compression. Higher numbers compress more, at the cost of more processing time.
lzo
Enable
or
Disable
Specifies LZO compression. LZO compression offers a balance between CPU resources and compression ratio, compressing more than Deflate compression, but with less CPU resources than Bzip2.
deflate
Enable
or
Disable
Specifies deflate compression. Deflate compression uses the least CPU resources, but compresses the least effectively.
bzip2
Enable
or
Disable
Specifies Bzip2 compression. Bzip2 compression uses the most CPU resources, but compresses the most effectively.