MAPI Multiple Context
Both MAPI and Outlook Anywhere enable multiple protocols to run over an individual TCP session and a TCP connection with the same TCP source and destination port. This feature minimizes the number of TCP connections consumed per client. Multiple context is when a client requests a new protocol over the same TCP connection. This technology has become increasingly prevalent with the adoption of Exchange 2013. RiOS v9.0 or later supports multiple context. Prior to RiOS v9.0, multiple contexts caused the connection to enter pass-through mode and create errors in the log, similar to the following examples:
[rpch/mapi/csh/req.NOTICE] 1235184
{x.x.x.x:4149 x.x.x.x:4152} MSRPC Bind Request does not contain MAPI UUID, but f5cc5a18-4264-101a-8c59-08002b2f8426 (NSPI)
and
[rpch/csh.NOTICE] 1235176
{x.x.x.x:4152 x.x.x.x:443} detected Exchange 365, but peer Steelhead does not have multi-context support.
You can identify multiple contexts in the header of the MAPI packet using a protocol decode tool, such as Wireshark.
RiOS v9.0 and later supports multiple context. Riverbed recommends that you enable this feature in an Exchange 2013 environment. Enabling this feature does not have any adverse effect on nonmultiple context traffic.
To enable MAPI multiple context support
On the SteelHead, connect to the CLI and enter the following command: (config) protocol mapi multi-context enable
(config) protocol mapi multi-context auth enable
(config) protocol mapi outlook-anywhr multi-context enable
You need multiple SteelHeads in deployments in which both Office 365 and On-Premises Exchange traffic need optimization.
For more information about Outlook Anywhere, see
Outlook Anywhere Optimization.