Manual Chapter :
Creating Optimized Application Tunnels
Applies To:
Show Versions
BIG-IP APM
- 16.0.1, 16.0.0
Creating Optimized Application Tunnels
What is an optimized application?
An
optimized application
is a set of compression characteristics that are applied to
traffic flowing from the network access client to a specific IP address, network, or host, on a
specified port or range of ports. An optimized tunnel provides a TCP Layer 4 connection to an
application. You can configure optimized applications separately from the standard TCP Layer 3
network access tunnel specified on the Network Settings
page. Optimized application tunnels are supported only for Windows client systems,
and require administrative rights on the client system to install.
Optimized application tunnels take precedence over standard network access tunnels, so for
specified destinations, an optimized connection is established, whether the network access tunnel
is enabled or not. In cases where optimized application tunnels have overlapping addresses or
ranges, tunnels are prioritized in the following order:
- An address definition with a more specific network mask takes precedence.
- An address definition with a scope defined by a more specific subnet takes precedence.
- A tunnel defined by a host name takes precedence over a tunnel defined by an IP address.
- A tunnel defined by a host name takes precedence over a tunnel defined by a host name with a wildcard. For example,web.siterequest.comtakes precedence over*.siterequest.com.
- A tunnel defined by a host name with a wildcard takes precedence over a tunnel defined by a network address. For example,*.siterequest.comtakes precedence over1.2.3.4/16.
- For equivalent tunnels with different port ranges, the tunnel with a smaller port range takes precedence. For example,web.siterequest.com:21-22takes precedence overweb.siterequest.com:21-30.
Configuring an
optimized application on a network access tunnel
You must create a Network Access resource, or open an
existing resource, before you can perform this task.
You can configure the description of a network
access resource with network access properties.
- On the Main tab, click .The Network Access Lists screen opens.
- Click the name to select a network access resource on the Resource List.The Network Access editing screen opens.
- To configure optimization for a host with the network access resource, clickOptimizationon the menu bar.
- ClickAddto add a new optimized application configuration.
- Configure the destination and port settings, and any required optimization characteristics.
- ClickFinished.The optimized application configuration is added to the network access resource.
- Click theUpdatebutton.Your changes are saved and the page refreshes.
Optimized application settings
Use the following settings to configure an optimized
application.
Setting | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
Optimized
Application | Basic/Advanced | Select Basic to show only
destination and port settings, and Advanced to show optimization settings for the application
destination. |
Destination Type: Host
Name | Fully qualified domain
name (FQDN) | Select this option to
apply optimization to a specific named host. Specify a fully qualified domain
name (FQDN) for the destination. |
Destination Type: IP
Address | IP Address | Select this option to
apply optimization to a host at a specific IP address. Specify an IP address for
the destination. This can be an IPv4 or IPv6 address. |
Destination
Network | Network IP address and
network mask | Select this option to
apply optimization to a network. Specify a network IP address and subnet mask
for the destination. This can be an IPv4 or IPv6 address. |
Port(s) | Specific numeric port,
list selection, or port range | You can specify a single
port on which to optimize traffic, or select Port Range to specify an
inclusive range. If you optimize traffic on a single port, you can type a port
number, or you can select an application from the list of common applications to
add the appropriate port, for example, FTP. |
Deflate | Enabled/Disabled | Enable or disable Deflate
compression. Deflate compression uses the least CPU resources, but compresses
the least effectively. |
LZO | Enabled/Disabled | Enable or disable 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. |
Bzip2 | Enabled/Disabled | Enable or disable bzip2
compression. Bzip2 compression uses the most CPU resources, but compresses the
most effectively. |
