Configuring Hybrid Networking, QoS, and Path Selection : Defining applications
  
Defining applications
You define applications in the Networking > App Definitions: Applications page.
Application definitions enable you to attach a business relevancy to all traffic that goes through your network. To simplify SteelHead configuration, the definition of an application is a separate task in RiOS 9.0 and later. A separate application definition allows you to configure multiple rules using the same application without having to repeat the application definition for each rule.
Application definitions also enable you to use application groups so that you can configure and reuse a single rule for multiple applications. Using application groups in a rule can reduce the number of rules significantly.
RiOS 9.0 and later separates application definition from the QoS rules. For more information about QoS rules, see Configuring QoS.
We strongly recommend that you define applications and push application definitions from a SteelCentral Controller for SteelHead to the SteelHead appliances. For details, see the SteelCentral Controller for SteelHead Deployment Guide.
To view a list of predefined applications, see Reference: Application Signatures for AFE.
Defining an application means that you group together a set of criteria to match certain traffic. After you define the criteria, you can use an application to configure QoS and path selection rules.
To define custom applications
1. Choose Networking > App Definitions: Applications to display the Applications page. The custom applications group is empty until you add application groups.
2. Select Custom Applications from the drop-down menu.
3. Click + Add.
4. Complete the name and description.
5. Specify the application traffic characteristics.
For easier configuration, you can use host labels instead of local and remote subnets and port labels instead of TCP/UDP port numbers.
In addition to criteria matching on the IP-header based characteristics or the VLAN ID, you can use the AFE to let RiOS automatically detect the application. See the description of the Application Layer Protocol control in the table for details.
6. Complete the configuration as described in this table.
Control
Description
Traffic characteristics:
Local Subnet or Host Label
Specify an IP address and mask for the traffic source, or you can specify all or 0.0.0.0/0 as the wildcard for all traffic.
Use this format: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/xx.
—or—
Specify a host label. You predefine host labels on the Networking > App Definitions: Host Labels page.
Port or Port Label
Optionally, specify all source ports, a single source port value or a port range of port1-port2, where port1 must be less than port2. The default setting is all ports.
—or—
Specify a port label. You predefine port labels on the Networking > App Definitions: Port Labels page.
Remote Subnet or Host Label
Specify an IP address and mask pattern for the traffic destination, or you can specify all or 0.0.0.0/0 as the wildcard for all traffic.
Use this format: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/xx.
—or—
Specify a host label. You predefine host labels on the Networking > App Definitions: Host Labels page.
Transport Layer Protocol
Select a transport layer protocol from the drop-down list.
The default setting is All.
Application Layer Protocol
Specify an application layer protocol or an application signature. To specify an application signature, type the first letters of the application. For example, if you want to create specific criteria to identify Facebook traffic, type the first three letters and select a Facebook application from the drop-down menu.
Port
or
Port Label (if port labels have been defined)
Optionally, specify all destination ports, a single source port value or a port range of port1-port2, where port1 must be less than port2. The default setting is all ports.
—or—
Specify a port label. You predefine port labels on the Networking > App Definitions: Port Labels page.
VLAN Tag ID
Optionally, specify a VLAN tag as follows:
• Specify a numeric VLAN tag identification number from 0 to 4094.
• Specify all to specify the rule applies to all VLANs.
• Specify none to specify the rule applies to untagged connections.
RiOS supports VLAN v802.1Q. To configure VLAN tagging, configure transport rules to apply to all VLANs or to a specific VLAN. By default, rules apply to all VLAN values unless you specify a particular VLAN ID. Pass-through traffic maintains any preexisting VLAN tagging between the LAN and WAN interfaces.
DSCP
Optionally, specify a DSCP value from 0 to 63, or all to use all DSCP values.
Traffic Type
Select Optimized, Passthrough, or All from the drop-down list. The default setting is All.
Application properties:
Application Group
Select an application group for the application from the drop-down list (highest priority to lowest):
Business Bulk—Captures business-level file transfer applications and protocols, such as CIFS, SCCM, antivirus updates, and over-the-network backup protocols.
Business Critical—Captures business-level, low-latency transactional applications and protocols, such as SQL, SAP, Oracle and other database protocols, DHCP, LDAP, RADIUS, the Riverbed Control Channel (to identify and specify a DSCP value for out-of-band traffic), routing, and other network communication protocols.
Business Productivity—Captures general business-level productivity applications and protocols, such as email, messaging, streaming and broadcast audio/video, collaboration, intranet HTTP traffic, and business cloud services O365, Google apps, SFDC, and others through a white list.
Business Standard—Captures all intranetwork traffic going within local subnets as defined by the uplinks on the SteelHead. Use this class to define the default path for traffic not classified by other application groups.
Business VDI—Captures real-time interactive business-level virtual desktop interface (VDI) protocols, such as PC over IP (PCoIP), Citrix CGP and ICA, RDP, VNC, and Telnet protocols.
Business Video—Captures business-level video conferencing applications and protocols, such as Microsoft Lync and RTP video.
Business Voice—Captures business-level voice over IP (VoIP) applications and protocols (signaling and bearer), such as Microsoft Lync, RTP, H.323 and SIP.
Recreational—Captures all Internet-bound traffic that has not already been classified and processed by other application groups.
Standard Bulk—Captures general file transfer protocols, such as FTP, torrents, NNTP/usenet, NFS, and online file hosting services Dropbox, Box.net, iCloud, MegaUpload, Rapidshare, and others.
Custom Applications—Captures user-defined applications that have not been classified into another application group.
Category
Select a category for the application from the drop-down list.
Business Criticality
Select a service class for the application from the drop-down list:
• Lowest Criticality—Specifies the lowest priority service class.
• Low Criticality—Specifies a low-priority service class: for example, FTP, backup, replication, other high-throughput data transfers, and recreational applications such as audio file sharing.
• Medium Criticality—Specifies a medium-priority service class.
• High Criticality—Specifies a high-priority service class.
• Highest Criticality—Specifies the highest priority service class.
These are minimum service class guarantees; if better service is available, it’s provided. For example, if an application is specified as low priority and the higher-priority classes aren’t active, then the low-priority class receives the highest possible available priority for the current traffic conditions. This parameter controls the priority of the application relative to the other applications.
The service class describes only the delay sensitivity of a class, not how much bandwidth it’s allocated, nor how important the traffic is compared to other classes. Typically, you configure low priority for high-throughput, non-packet delay sensitive applications like FTP, backup, and replication.
 
7. Click Save to Disk to save your settings permanently.