Windows Server on WAAS

Windows Server on WAAS is a jointly developed and supported program from Microsoft and Cisco to optimize branch IT service delivery. Windows Server on WAAS helps reduce the cost and complexity of supporting branch office IT operations by integrating Windows Server from Microsoft with Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) technology. Windows Server on WAAS can increase branch employee productivity by delivering LANlike performance of centralized applications and increased efficiency and availability of local IT infrastructure services.

Summary

Constantly increasing demands on WAN bandwidth for delivering centralized applications.

Description
Windows Server on WAAS addresses branch IT delivery challenges by integrating Windows Server from Microsoft on the Cisco WAAS appliance. Using WAAS, Windows Server on WAAS accelerates access to centralized applications and offloads demands on WAN bandwidth. Additionally, Windows Server on WAAS provides branch Windows Server infrastructure services like Print, Microsoft Active Directory, Microsoft Domain Name System (DNS) Server, and Microsoft Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server (Figure 1). Using Windows Server on WAAS, customers can centralize relevant IT infrastructure for storage, backup, and applications such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft Exchange Server, and other enterprise services, while preserving near-LAN access for branch users. At the same time, services such as Print, Active Directory, DNS, and DHCP can be hosted at the branch office to provide local access. Local hosting of print services avoids WAN round-trips for large print files, while local Active Directory services for authentication and logon provide secure access to branch infrastructure even during a WAN outage. Using Windows Server on WAAS, you can host core IT services at the branch office without the costs of deploying and managing additional branch servers.

Branch Office IT Challenges

Branch offices are strategic to enterprises for customer intimacy and business growth, and they are where 80 percent of all employees work. The challenges IT organizations face in delivering applications efficiently to branch offices include: P  oor performance of centralized applications, reducing employee productivity and customer satisfaction. Capital and operational costs of maintaining server hardware at branch locations.  Time and effort required to deploy services to existing and new branch offices, slowing business growth. WAN outages that impact availability of local services in the branch.

Figure 1 Windows Server on WAAS Schematic Structure

Branch Office
Server

Data Center

WAN
Business, IT Apps Windows Server on WAAS Cisco WAAS Storage Backup

Clients

Local Branch IT Services

Windows Server services Microsoft Print Services Microsoft Active Directory DNS/DHCP No additional server needed Software-based deployment

Application Acceleration
File Transfer (CIFS) Enterprise HTTP(S) apps Exchange 2000/2003/2007 Microsoft SharePoint Thin client (RDP) SSL traffic Backup traffic Software Distribution Video Optimizations

Scalable DC IT Infrastructure
Centralized IT infrastructure Centralized management Microsoft SCCM WAAS CM Cisco WAAS offloads servers for Software Distribution Video (Live and Recorded) Storage

Windows Server on WAAS

Cisco WAAS for Accelerating Access to Centralized Applications
Cisco WAAS software provides industry-leading acceleration for centralized applications delivered over the WAN, using a combination of technologies developed and tested with application vendors like Microsoft. This allows you to deploy fully supported solutions for accelerating various enterprise applications as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 Typical and Peak Performance Improvements Provided by Cisco WAAS

Leveraging Windows Server 2008 from Microsoft for Appliance-Like Delivery of Core Branch IT Services
Windows Server on WAAS leverages the Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation option and provides the following server roles: Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, and Print. Using Server Core installation reduces the servicing, management, security, and hardware resources required to manage Windows Server. Server Core installation provides a minimal operating system environment and a command-line interface for administration with the following key benefits: Reduction in the number of patches by 60 percent Ten percent reduction in power consumption Improved security with reduced attack surface Read-Only Domain Controller to minimize branch  vulnerabilities

Typical and Peak Performance Improvements Provided by Cisco WAAS

2X 5X 10X 25X 50X 100X+ >100X Peak

File Sharing E-mail Web/Collaboration Patch Distribution Enterprise Applications Backup Data Replication

2 - 20X Avg 5X Avg 2 - 10X Avg 2 - 20X Avg 5X Avg 2 - 10X Avg 2 - 10X Avg 20X Peak 50X Peak 50X Peak 20X Peak

100X Peak >100X Peak

Cisco WAAS is deployed on both sides of the WAN, at the data center and the branch office, and uses many advanced technologies for application acceleration and WAN optimization, including the following: Application-protocol-specific acceleration using protocols licensed from application vendors such as Microsoft for file sharing of documents using Microsoft Common Internet File Sharing System (CIFS), Microsoft Exchange Server services using Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), Web-based applications such as Microsoft SharePoint using HTTP(S), secure enterprise applications encrypted using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), optimization of video streams using RTSP, and other protocols  Data reduction and compression technologies that provide up to 100:1 compression, depending on application workloads, to dramatically reduce the demands on costly WAN bandwidth  Network optimizations to reduce the impact of WAN conditions such as packet loss, improving the throughput of application traffic and providing accelerations for all TCP-based applications  Transparent integration with technologies such as Quality of Service (QoS) and Access Control Lists (ACLs) to preserve customer investments in security, voice, and performance management tools

A Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC) is a domain controller with a read-only version of the Active Directory database that can be deployed in environments where the security of the domain controller cannot be guaranteed. The use of RODCs provides several benefits: Prevent changes made at branch locations from  potentially corrupting the enterprise Active Directory forest via replication.  Eliminate the need to use a staging site for branch office domain controllers.  Authenticate locally instead of relying on authentication across the WAN. Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation provides an appliance-like, low-maintenance method to deploy core branch Windows services.

WAAS Virtual Blades for Hosting Windows Server Infrastructure Services

Windows Server on WAAS uses an embedded virtualization component in Cisco WAAS, termed Virtual Blades, to host Windows Server, providing dedicated hardware resources such as CPU, memory, and hard-disk space to ensure high availability and service isolation on the shared WAAS appliance (Figure 3).
Figure 3 Network-Embedded Virtualization

Cisco WAAS
Network Embedded Virtualization

WAAS Appliance

Windows Server on WAAS

The unique Windows Server on WAAS virtualization architecture provides native, line-speed performance for network services provided by Cisco WAAS and optimized performance for virtualized Windows Server infrastructure services. Cisco WAAS executes natively on the Cisco WAAS appliance hardware and exposes a small-footprint virtualization component for hosting multiple guest services provided by Windows Server in an optimized manner. The Windows Server on WAAS program includes testing of the Cisco WAAS Virtual Blades for hosting Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP2 or higher through the Microsoft Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP). Microsoft SVVP is a program that enables third-party virtualization solutions like Cisco WAAS virtualization to be validated and supported by Microsoft when running with Windows Server.

Windows Server Management

The Windows Server component of Windows Server on WAAS can be managed using commonly deployed Windows Server management tools, including Microsoft System Center Operations Manager, allowing Windows Server administrators to continue to use their existing investments in tools and training. Additionally, the Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation helps reduce the patch and security management requirements, further simplifying management of Windows Server on WAAS.

Benefits
Windows Server on WAAS optimizes the delivery of IT applications to branch offices and reduces the costs and complexity of branch IT infrastructure. You may obtain the following benefits by deploying Windows Server on WAAS:

Management Framework
The Windows Server on WAAS management framework provides a one-click, software-based deployment of Windows Server infrastructure services to the branch office without the need for deploying additional branch server hardware. This accelerates and simplifies the deployment of branch IT services across the enterprise. The Windows Server on WAAS management framework preserves and extends your investments in Windows Server management by ensuring that you can leverage existing tools.

Lower the Total Cost of Ownership.

Minimize branch server footprint by centralizing relevant IT infrastructure and hosting local services. Reduce application demands on WAN bandwidth  by optimizing centralized access and locally hosting services.  Cisco and Microsoft joint development and support ensure deployment with less effort and expertise.

Increase Branch IT Architecture Flexibility.

F  lexibility to centralize relevant services or to locally host branch IT services depending on business needs.  Reduce time and effort to provision new services and new branches using software-based services rollout.  Locate secure authentication services in the branch as needed with RODC.

Cisco WAAS Central Manager (CM)

The Cisco WAAS CM is a highly scalable tool used to manage Cisco WAAS devices deployed at the data center and branch offices from a single console. The Cisco WAAS CM can manage thousands of WAAS devices and provides the industrys most comprehensive tools for deployment, management, and reporting. It can be used to allocate and manage hardware resources for Cisco WAAS Virtual Blades on branch WAAS appliances hosting Windows Server. No additional tools are required to manage the WAAS Virtual Blades. The Cisco WAAS CM provides granular Roles-Based Access Control (RBAC) to isolate the duties of the Windows Server administrator and the network administrator to enable shared management of the Windows Server on WAAS.

Optimize Performance and Reliability.

A  chieve near-LAN-like branch user performance for centralized applications.  Increase application reliability by providing local services even during a WAN outage.  Enhance branch IT security using Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation with RODC and reduced attack surface.

Windows Server on WAAS

Additional Information
For more information about Windows Server on WAAS, contact your Cisco account manager or channel partner. Cisco WAAS Web site: www.cisco.com/go/waas Windows Server on WAAS Web site: www.windowsserveronwaas.com Windows Server 2008 Web site: www.microsoft.com/ windowsserver2008/en/us/default.aspx Microsoft SVVP Web site: www.windowsserver catalog.com/svvp.aspx?svvppage=svvp.htm

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