Overview of the Client Accelerator

This chapter introduces the Client Accelerator, the Management Console, and the basic steps for deploying Client Accelerator packages. This overview contains these sections:

Before reading this guide, you should know how to install and connect the Client Accelerator to your network. For details, see the Client Accelerator Installation Guide.

To use this chapter, you must know how to install, configure, and manage WAN optimization using the SteelHead. For details about the SteelHead, see the SteelHead Installation and Configuration Guide, the SteelHead User Guide, and the SteelHead Deployment Guide.

This table summarizes the hardware and software requirements for the Client Accelerator.

The Client Accelerator solution lets you optimize TCP traffic to remote users who are accessing your computer network using any type of remote access. Remote users employ client software to exchange optimized data with a SteelHead. In most cases, the Client Accelerator requires only a hostname and IP address to be operational, and client software can be deployed using default settings.

Depending on your organization, your Client Accelerator solution can include:

The Client Accelerator solution enables you to perform optimization for these types of users:

The Client Accelerator software is deployed to PC or Mac laptops or desktops. A Client Accelerator, typically located in the data center, is required for Client Accelerator deployment, management, and licensing control. After the Client Accelerator is deployed, packages that contain client software can be distributed.

Client Accelerator policies are assigned to a group or a particular user on the Client Accelerator. Policies define optimization rules and connection information for the Client Accelerator endpoints. The Client Accelerator can update Client Accelerator policies:

The Client Accelerator is designed to be deployed to your Client Accelerator endpoints without additional configuration. It ships with default policies that provide default values for the client software that is deployed to your endpoints. You can create your own packages and your own polices as needed.

You can find information about custom deployments in this guide and in the SteelHead Deployment Guide.

These terms are used to describe Client Accelerator features, attributes, and processes.

The Client Accelerator facilitates these administration tasks for your Client Accelerator endpoints:

Policies are sets of optimization, security, endpoint storage, and other configuration settings for groups of Client Accelerator endpoints that have the same performance requirements. Policies can also be shared by Client Accelerators that are cluster members. A policy can be for a specific Client Accelerator endpoint, or it can represent settings for groups of Client Accelerator endpoints and SteelHeads in your enterprise environment.

The Client Accelerator ships with a default policy, Initial, which the Client Accelerator automatically provides to endpoint clients. For basic settings, you can install and deploy Client Accelerator without modifying the default policy.

For details, see Managing Client Accelerator packages.

You use packages to install and update the Client Accelerator endpoint software on each of your endpoint clients. A package is an installation bundle for the client’s operating system that contains the Client Accelerator endpoint software and the information necessary for Client Accelerator endpoints to communicate with the Client Accelerator.

In most cases, you can deploy the default package included with the Client Accelerator.

For details, see Creating packages.

Group assignments govern which policies and packages your Client Accelerator endpoints receive. Group assignments enable you to deploy different policies to groups of Client Accelerator endpoints, based on their individual performance needs. When you deploy a package to a group, the Client Accelerator uses the group assignment to identify the proper subset of Client Accelerator endpoints and automatically provides policy and software updates to them. For details, see Managing Client Accelerator assignments.

Clusters are groups of two or more Client Accelerators used to pool available endpoint licenses and share configurations when multiple Client Accelerators are needed to support large deployments. Client Accelerator endpoints associated with clusters have access to the licenses on all Client Accelerators in the cluster, even if one or more Client Accelerators are unavailable. Any cluster member can modify settings used by the cluster, and the settings are then automatically updated to the entire cluster. For detailed information about clusters, see Configuring Client Accelerator clusters.

This section describes how to connect to and navigate in the Management Console. It includes these sections:

You manage the Client Accelerator using either the web-based Management Console or the Riverbed command-line interface. We recommend that you use the Management Console to configure and manage your system. The Client Accelerator command-line features are described in the Riverbed Command-Line Interface Reference Manual.

To connect to the Management Console, you must know the URL or IP address and administrator password that you assigned when you set up your Client Accelerator using the configuration wizard of the Client Accelerator. For details, see the Client Accelerator Installation Guide.

Client Accelerator Component	Hardware and software requirements
Client Accelerator	19-inch (483-mm) two-post or four-post rack.
Management Console	The Management Console has been tested with Mozilla Firefox 24 ESR and Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 and 9.0. JavaScript and cookies must be enabled in your web browser.
Client Accelerator	RiOS 4.0.x or later on the SteelHead.

Term	Definition
endpoint/Client Accelerator endpoint	An endpoint client or Client Accelerator endpoint is a client computer: for example, a Windows or Mac laptop, or a tablet.
Client Accelerator package	A Client Accelerator install package is used to install Client Accelerator software onto each of your endpoint clients. A package created on a Client Accelerator contains the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the Client Accelerator and a certificate that secures communication between the client and the controller. The default Client Accelerator package that ships with the Client Accelerator contains default package settings. Typically, you can install and deploy the Client Accelerator without modifying the default policy or package that ship with the product. For details, see Creating packages.
policies	A policy contains optimization rules for accelerating the WAN traffic between Client Accelerator endpoints and SteelHeads in your network. A policy is required for optimization to occur. A policy also contains information about the size of the Client Accelerator RiOS data store. For details, see Managing Client Accelerator policies. Prior to Client Accelerator 4.0, policies were separated into endpoint and acceleration policies.
group assignments	A group assignment is an association between a number of Client Accelerator endpoints or users and a package and policy. A group assignment governs which policies and packages the Client Accelerator provides to the Client Accelerator endpoints. When you create a package, you can assign a group assignment to it. The group assignment is associated with the Client Accelerator endpoints upon installation of the Client Accelerator software. The Client Accelerator subsequently uses the group assignment to identify the Client Accelerator endpoint and provides the assigned policies and software updates. For details, see Managing Client Accelerator assignments. Group assignment was called Deployment ID in Client Accelerator 2.x and earlier releases.
clusters	Clusters are groups of two or more Client Accelerators used to pool available Client Accelerator licenses and configuration settings. The entire pool of available licenses remains available to the Client Accelerator endpoints even if one Client Accelerator has used all its licenses or one Client Accelerator fails. Client Accelerator endpoints can connect to Client Accelerators in a cluster and receive a consistent configuration from any Client Accelerator in the cluster. Configuration changes made to any Client Accelerator propagate to all Client Accelerators in the cluster.
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)	A demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a computer or small subnetwork that sits between a trusted internal network, such as a corporate private LAN, and an untrusted external network, such as the public internet. Typically, the DMZ contains devices accessible to internet traffic, such as web (HTTP) servers, FTP servers, SMTP (email) servers, and DNS servers.