Configuring the SaaS Accelerator

You can accelerate SaaS application traffic by registering a SteelHead with a SaaS Accelerator Manager (SAM) that is set up for SaaS acceleration.

When you set up SaaS acceleration on SAM, SAM deploys and manages a SaaS service cluster in the cloud. Once registered, SteelHeads (and Client Accelerator clients) peer with the SaaS service cluster to accelerate the SaaS traffic.

The SaaS Accelerator feature also includes proxy certificate management to simplify the deployment process.

SaaS Accelerator is an end-to-end solution and simplifies deployment and certificate management. It is intended as a replacement for SteelHead Cloud Accelerator with Akamai, which has been renamed to Legacy Cloud Accelerator.

For details, including all configuration procedures, see the SaaS Accelerator Manager User Guide.

Before you can set up the SteelHead and accelerate SaaS traffic, you need to perform these steps on the SAM.

SaaS Accelerator requires an additional license, but the license is not installed on the SteelHead; it is installed on the SAM. In addition, SteelHead CX models 580, 780, and 3080 require the Standard license tier or higher to accelerate SaaS traffic. Without a license, SaaS traffic is passed through.

2. Enable automatic signing and certificate management capabilities. On the SAM, choose Optimization > SSL Optimization.

3. Configure SaaS applications for acceleration. On the SteelConnect Manager, choose Optimization > SaaS Accelerator.

For details, see the SaaS Accelerator Manager User Guide.

When you have configured SAM for SaaS acceleration, you can configure SteelHead as a client.

We strongly recommend that you configure and push SaaS acceleration policies from a SteelCentral Controller for SteelHead to the SteelHeads, particularly with large scale deployments and production networks with multiple SteelHeads. For details, see Configuring SaaS acceleration on multiple SteelHeads using SCC.

1. On the SAM, choose Optimization > SaaS Client Appliances and copy the registration token.

2. On the SteelHead, choose Optimization > SaaS: SaaS Accelerator and add these values:

– SAM Port. The client-side SteelHead uses port 3900 on the primary interface to communicate with SAM, and the port needs to be open on the branch firewall. You cannot change this value.

– Registration Token. Paste the registration token you copied in Step 1 to this field.

When the registration process completes, the registration details and a helpful list of remaining configuration tasks appear on the page. Completed tasks are prefaced by a check mark.

A new SaaS Acceleration section also appears on the page where you can view the current status and monitor acceleration status.

Choose Optimization > SSL: SSL Main Settings, and in the General SSL Settings area select Enable SSL Optimization and click Apply.

5. On the SAM, move this SteelHead appliance to the whitelist. Newly added appliances always appear on the graylist in the Access List column. You need to change their status to the whitelist to allow acceleration. For details, see SaaS Accelerator Manager User Guide.

6. Enable SaaS acceleration on this appliance. Choose Optimization > SaaS: SaaS Accelerator, select Enable Acceleration, and click Apply.

When you click Apply, be patient. It can take several minutes to start acceleration.

7. Add an in-path rule to accelerate SaaS applications. The in-path rule lets the SAM associate the IP address of the SaaS service cluster in the cloud with the SteelHead and associates the SaaS service cluster with the accelerated application. See About In-Path Rules for more information.

– Choose Optimization > Network Services: In-Path Rules and click Add a New In-Path Rule. For the Destination Subnet, choose SaaS Application. A second menu appears to the right.

– In the second menu, choose a SaaS application (such as SharePoint for Business) or an application group (such as Microsoft Office 365) for acceleration. Only applications set up for SaaS acceleration on the SAM appear in the list.

At the initial release of SteelHead 9.9.2, you need to configure a unique in-path rule for each Microsoft Office 365 application, such as SharePoint and Exchange Online. An upcoming release of SAM will let you define a single in-path rule for all Office 365 traffic. When available, Microsoft Office 365 will automatically appear as an option for a SaaS application in-path rule.

In SCC 9.9.1 and later, you can configure SaaS acceleration on managed SteelHeads. SaaS Accelerator requires an additional license, but the license is not installed on the SCC and SteelHeads; it is installed on SAM.

To accelerate SaaS application traffic using your managed SteelHeads, register your SCC with an SAM that is set up for SaaS acceleration. After registering the SCC with SAM, register selected SteelHeads or a group of SteelHeads with SAM. Once registered, SteelHeads peer with the SaaS service cluster to accelerate the SaaS traffic. Make sure you move the registered SCC and SteelHead appliances to the whitelist on SAM.

On the SCC policies that include SaaS acceleration, make sure you perform these configurations:

For more details about configuring SaaS acceleration on managed SteelHeads, see the SteelCentral Controller for SteelHead User Guide.

Once configured, you can use the SaaS Acceleration Status panel to monitor activity. This panel shows all SaaS applications configured for acceleration and shows the status of their in-path rules.

The SteelHead gets data from the SAM every five minutes and shows the time for the displayed data. Click Refresh Data to get the latest information.

To cancel the acceleration, click Deregister. This action also removes all related in-path rules.