Cobalt CacheRaQ User Manual www.cobaltnet.
©1998 Cobalt Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Cobalt Networks and Cobalt CacheRaQ are trademarks of Cobalt Networks, Inc. All other company, brand, and product names may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies and are hereby recognized. This publication and the information herein is furnished AS IS, subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Cobalt Networks, Inc. Furthermore, Cobalt Networks, Inc.
Important Safeguards For your protection, please read all these instructions regarding your CacheRaQ™ and retain for future reference. 1. Read Instructions All the safety and operating instructions should be read and understood before the appliance is operated. 2. Ventilation The Cobalt CacheRaQ ‘s vents (on the front) and the fan opening (on the back panel) are provided for ventilation and reliable operation of the product and to protect it from overheating. These openings must not be blocked or covered.
. Power Cord ! Caution: The power supply cord is used as the main disconnect device. Ensure that the socket-outlet is located/installed near the equipment and is easily accessible. ! Attention: Le cordon d’alimentation est utilisé comme interrupteur général. La prise de courant doit être située or installée a proximité du matérial et être facile d’accés. ! Achtung: Zur sicheren Trennung des Gerätes vom Netz ist der Netzstecker zu ziehen. Vergewissern Sie sich, daß die Steckdose leicht zugänglich ist.
the most reliably. A browser program failure, although annoying, will not adversely affect your CacheRaQ’s data. The CacheRaQ has been tested with both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, versions 4. Regulations and Information NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a commercial environment.
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Contents 1 Introduction Product Overview 1 2 Front View 2 Back View 3 How to Use This Guide 3 Organization of This Guide 3 Requirements 4 Other Information 4 2 Setting Up the Cobalt CacheRaQ 7 Phase 1: Making the Connection 8 Installing the Cobalt CacheRaQ 8 Connecting to the Network 9 Connecting the Power Supply 9 Powering On the CacheRaQ 9 Using the LCD Console During Setup 10 Configuring Network Settings 11 Phase 2: Setting Up With the Browser 3 Cobalt CacheRaQ Administrati
Appendix B: Product Specifications 33 Appendix C: Example Network Topologies 37 vi
Chapter 1 Introduction The Cobalt CacheRaQ is a dedicated World Wide Web caching device — it stores documents that have been retrieved from the Web. Once a document has been retrieved from the Web, users can obtain it from the CacheRaQ without having to access the Web again. This reduces the communication load on the Wide Area Network (WAN) and helps users obtain Web documents much more quickly. The Cobalt CacheRaQ can operate in several modes: • Traditional Proxy Caching mode.
Chapter 1 Product Overview Front View Status Indicators Logo Badge LCD Screen Reset LCD Password Control Port Buttons The Cobalt logo indicator light glows green when the CacheRaQ is powered on. • The Status Indicators signal Ethernet, hard drive, and Web activities: Tx/Rx (Transmit/Receive) blinks with network traffic. Link solid light indicates the network connection. Col blinks when collisions are detected on the network. 100 M solid light indicate that 100 Mbit Ethernet is being used.
Introduction Back View Network 2 Network 1 Cobalt Networks and Cobalt CacheRaQ are trademarks of Cobalt Networks, Inc. OK to Power Off Serial Col Link Tx/Rx 100 M PPPPPMYWWSSSS R15 664 NCU CacheRaQ Col Link Tx/Rx 100 M S/N 100 - 240 VAC 50/60 Hz 1.0 A 40W max www.cobaltnet.com Serial Connector Cooling Fan Network 1 Connector Network 2 Connector OK to Power Off Network Status Indicators Power Socket Power Switch • The Serial Connector allows for serial console connection.
Chapter 1 Chapter 3, “Cobalt CacheRaQ Administration,” describes how to configure various features of the CacheRaQ and how to view the statistics and log files. Appendix A, “Using the LCD Console,” describes how to use the CacheRaQ’s LCD console functions — configuring (and resetting) the CacheRaQ’s network settings, rebooting, and powering down. Appendix B, “Product Specifications,” contains the product specifications and functional information.
Introduction In Japan, send e-mail to info-japan@cobaltnet.com. For Cobalt Technical Support and Service Cobalt Networks, Inc., provides telephone technical support at no charge for the first 30 days. In the U.S.A., call (888) 70-COBALT or (888) 702-6225, or send email to support@cobaltnet.com. Outside the U.S.A., call +1 650 930-2500, or send e-mail to support@cobaltnet.com. In Europe, send e-mail to support-europe@cobaltnet.com. In Japan, send e-mail to support-japan@cobaltnet.com.
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Chapter 2 Setting Up the Cobalt CacheRaQ This chapter explains how to configure the Cobalt CacheRaQ for your network. If the CacheRaQ has been configured previously for a different network, refer to “Changing the Network Configuration,” in Appendix A. The configuration process occurs in two phases. • “Phase 1: Making the Connection,” explains how to install the CacheRaQ on your network.
Chapter 2 If you use Traditional Proxy mode, the HTTP and FTP proxy port numbers for browser configuration are both 3128 by default (they can be changed as described later in this chapter). Alternatively, you can configure the browsers to use the CacheRaQ’s Proxy Auto-Configuration (PAC) file; the URL for this file is http:// cacheraq-name/proxy.pac. Example network configurations appear in Appendix C, "Example Network Topologies," and detailed information is available at the Cobalt Networks Web page (www.
Setting Up the Cobalt CacheRaQ If you plan to operate the CacheRaQ in an equipment rack, first connect the mounting ears to the sides of the CacheRaQ (as shown in the next figure), near either the front or the rear of the case. Then attach the ears to the equipment rack. Connecting to the Network Once you’ve determined which of the CacheRaQ's network interface(s) to use, connect the interface(s) to your network with twisted-pair Ethernet cabling (see the following diagram).
Chapter 2 ! Caution: It is important to follow the proper power-down procedure before turning off the CacheRaQ. Refer to “Powering Down” in Appendix A. Using the LCD Console During Setup During startup, the LCD console displays status information relating to the boot process itself. During setup, the console buttons are used to enter network configuration information for the CacheRaQ. After setup, the LCD console is used to change network configuration information, to reboot, and to power down the system.
Setting Up the Cobalt CacheRaQ E The E button (“enter”) accepts the information entered. Refer to Appendix A, “Using the LCD Console,” for more information. Configuring Network Settings Now that you’ve made the network and power connections, you’re ready to configure the network settings. The settings that are configured through the LCD console are the Network 1 IP address, the Network 1 netmask, and the Gateway address.
Chapter 2 The LCD displays: [S]AVE [C]ANCEL 8. To save the configuration information, use the Left and Right buttons to select [S]ave, and then press E . (If you enter Cancel instead, you return to step 6 above.) If you enter Save, you’ll see: VERIFYING AND SAVING 12After verifying and saving, the CacheRaQ then completes the boot process, and the LCD screen shows several messages before displaying the IP address assigned to Network 1.
Setting Up the Cobalt CacheRaQ 3. To access the CacheRaQ, enter its Network 1 IP address into the browser’s URL field. For example: 4. Press the Return or Enter on your keyboard. A Welcome page appears, with the Cobalt logo at the top and a Start button at the bottom. 5. Click the Start button to begin the Setup Wizard configuration process. A second browser window opens to the Setup Wizard.
Chapter 2 against its original server to ensure that the cached copy of the document is up to date. The method used to determine when to refresh a document is described in the next paragraph. Cached documents are refreshed after they expire. Documents expire after they have been in the cache for a certain amount of time. This amount of time is set for each document according to the document’s Last-Modified timestamp.
Setting Up the Cobalt CacheRaQ The sixth setting, Disk Space for Usage Statistics, controls how much disk space to devote to the per-client and per-server usage information that’s calculated nightly. (These statistics are described in more detail in the next chapter.) Click NEXT to move to the next Setup Wizard screen. 2.
Chapter 2 The Administrator Setup page lets you specify the admin password, enter a full name for the admin user, and specify an email address that the CacheRaQ can use to notify the Administrator of any problems that might arise. The only required field on this screen is the Password for admin. If you forget or want to reset the admin password, see “Resetting the Admin Password” in Appendix A, which describes the procedure for resetting it.
Chapter 3 Cobalt CacheRaQ Administration This chapter describes the Cobalt CacheRaQ's administrative functions, which are available through the Web interface. This interface includes the following items: • Network Setup • Cache Setup • Filter Setup • Report Setup • Cache Statistics • Cache Logs • Network Usage • CPU Usage • Maintenance The Network Setup screen is exactly as described for step 2 in the Setup Wizard. For information on this screen, see on page 15.
Chapter 3 software manages its own disk storage by removing old, infrequently-requested documents when the available disk space is low. Remove Cache Statistics Now. This option removes all log files and statistics files stored on the CacheRaQ. Cache Cluster Settings. This option lets you configure the CacheRaQ as a Cluster Master. To do this, you simply enter the host names (or IP addresses) of Cluster Slaves in the fields marked “Cluster Slave 1,” “Cluster Slave 2,” etc.
Cobalt CacheRaQ Administration peers, as described above in “Inter-Cache Protocol (ICP) Settings.” With this configuration, the Cluster Master will (as usual) send all requests to the Cluster Slaves, which will then query the ICP peers that have been configured. Filter Setup The CacheRaQ is capable of filtering HTTP traffic that passes through it. The Filter Setup page allows you to choose among three options: • No Filtering. The CacheRaQ allows all HTTP traffic. This is the default option.
Chapter 3 cache hit latency vs. average cache miss latency as a function of time of day. • Usage Report. This report lists the names of client machines and server machines that have retrieved (or served, in the case of servers) more than a specified number of documents or more than a specified number of total bytes of content. Four thresholds are configurable: bytes per client, documents per client, bytes per server, and documents per server.
Cobalt CacheRaQ Administration Download Log Files. This page lets you download entire log files on a daily basis — it lists all the available access.log and cache.log files from previous days. To download a log file via your browser, you shift-click the filename. You can also click a file to view it; but keep in mind that these files (particularly access.log) can be quite large and therefore may be cumbersome to display in a Web browser.
Chapter 3 • Cache hit rate. This number refers to the ratio of cache hits to total cache requests. • Average cache hit object size. This is the average (mean) document size for documents which were delivered from the cache. • Average cache miss object size. This is the average (mean) document size for documents which had to be retrieved from their original servers. • Bandwidth savings.
Cobalt CacheRaQ Administration • All clients. This option returns a list of clients that requested documents through the CacheRaQ. The list contains the number of bytes sent to each client and the number of documents sent to each client. • A specific client. For a specified client host name or IP address, this option returns a list of servers accessed by this client. • All servers. This option returns a list of all servers that were accessed by one or more clients through the CacheRaQ.
Chapter 3 CPU Usage This page displays a graph of the CacheRaQ’s load average as it varies over time. The system’s load average is a rough indicator of overall system activity. Generally speaking, a high load average indicates a busy system. A CacheRaQ with a load average that routinely exceeds 1.0 may be overloaded— a Cache Cluster might be appropriate for the workload in this situation. Contact Cobalt Support for diagnostic assistance if you believe your CacheRaQ is overloaded.
Cobalt CacheRaQ Administration Once you've entered the name of the package file you want to install, enter the admin password and click the “Install a ‘.pkg’ Package” button. (The admin password is required as a security precaution.) Once the package is installed, you may be prompted to reboot the CacheRaQ (some packages require reboot to take effect).
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Appendix A Using the LCD Console During startup, the CacheRaQ’s LCD screen displays status information relating to the boot process itself. During setup, the LCD console is used to enter network configuration information. Once the CacheRaQ is running, the LCD console also serves multiple purposes: • Change network configuration information — useful if the CacheRaQ’s location is changed. • Reboot the system. • Power down — necessary if you need to unplug the CacheRaQ’s power.
Appendix A The LCD screen displays: SELECT: SETUP NETWORK 2. Press the 3. Enter the Network 1 IP address, and then press the E button. 4. Enter the netmask for Network 1, and then press the E button. 5. Toggle the cursor to [S]ave or [C]ancel and press the E button. E button. If you select Cancel, you see the prompt to enter the IP address (return to step 3, above). If you select Save (and the netmask is valid), you see the prompt to enter the Gateway. 6. Enter the Gateway, and press the 7.
Using the LCD Console The CacheRaQ will reboot. Powering Down ! Caution: To prevent the potential loss of data, it is important to follow the proper power-down procedure before turning off the CacheRaQ. To select the power-down application: 1. From the LCD console, hold down the approximately 2 seconds. S button for The LCD screen displays: SELECT: SETUP NETWORK 2. Press the S button twice until POWER DOWN appears in the LCD display: SELECT: POWER DOWN 3. 4.
Appendix A To reset the CacheRaQ to a factory-fresh network state, perform the following steps: 1. From the LCD console, hold down the approximately 2 seconds. S button for The LCD screen will display: SELECT: SETUP NETWORK 2. Press the S button three times until RESET NETWORK appears in the LCD display: SELECT: RESET NETWORK 3. Press the 4. Using the control keys, toggle the cursor between [Y]ES and [N]O and select [Y]ES to reset the network configuration. 5. Press E E button.
Using the LCD Console IP address is the CacheRaQ’s assigned IP address. 3. Go to the Administrator Setup screen. If you’re prompted for a username or password, enter admin as the username, and enter any name or word for the password. 4. Enter a new password in the Password field on the Administrator Setup screen. 5. Click Save Changes to save the new password.
Appendix A 32
Appendix B Product Specifications Caching Features Caches HTTP and FTP traffic (only HTTP traffic is cached in transparent mode) Configurable for both Transparent Caching and Traditional Proxy Caching mode Supports HTTP/1.
Appendix B Setup Wizard guides administrator through initial setup Password protection for browser-based management interface Online Active Assist real-time help Advanced management via telnet Performance and Usage Reporting and Logging Detailed event logging and Web-based statistical reporting (see “Cache Statistics” on page 21) Optional nightly e-mail reports Complete log files available for download Automatic log file rotation SNMP agent Active Monitor Real-time pro-active system maintenance daemons E-ma
Product Specifications Hardware Superscalar RISC microprocessor 6.4 GB or 12.7 GB hard disk drive 128 MB or 256 MB 5-Volt EDO 60-ns DRAM, packaged in 72-pin Single In-Line Memory Modules (SIMMs) Dual 10/100 Mbps Ethernet network interfaces, autosensing LCD console Serial console interface Power consumption: 25 W typical, 35 W peak Physical Specifications Dimensions: 17.00 in. x 12.50 in. x 1.75 in. (43.2 cm x 31.8cm x 4.5cm - fits in standard 19” rack) Weight: 9 lbs. 3 oz. (4.
Appendix B 36
Appendix C Example Network Topologies This appendix shows how the Cobalt CacheRaQ can be used in a variety of ways in different network environments. It illustrates the connections among the network components and gives configuration details for each setup.
Appendix C CacheRaQ in Traditional Mode Installation Notes • • Configure the CacheRaQ for Traditional Proxy mode. Configure clients’ browsers to use the CacheRaQ as the HTTP Proxy. Instructions for Internet Explorer Version 4 1. Choose Internet Options from the View menu. 2. Click the Connection tab. 3. Check “Access the Internet using a proxy server.” 4. Under Automatic Configuration, click Configure. 5. In the URL field, enter http://cacheraq-name/proxy.pac .
Example Network Topologies Transparent Mode Using One Network Interface Installation Notes • • • To avoid changes to the clients’ configuration, assign the existing gateway address used by the clients to the CacheRaQ’s Network 1 interface. Assign a new IP address to the Router/Firewall. Use the router/firewall’s new IP address as the gateway setting on the CacheRaQ. Advantage No special configuration for the client machines is necessary.
Appendix C Transparent Mode Using Two Network Interfaces Installation Notes • • To avoid changes to the clients’ configuration, assign the existing gateway address used by the clients to the CacheRaQ’s Network 2 interface. Create a new subnet containing two hosts: the router (assign it a new address) and the CacheRaQ’s Network 1 interface. Make sure that the IP addresses you assign to Network 1 and the router are on a subnet different from the clients’ network.
Example Network Topologies CacheRaQ for Workgroups Installation Notes • • You can configure the CacheRaQ for either Transparent mode (using one or two network interfaces) or Traditional Proxy mode. To set up the mode you choose, follow the instructions given on page 38 for Traditional mode, or pages 39-40 for Transparent mode. Advantage You can separate network traffic into workgroups to divide client load among multiple caching servers.
Appendix C CacheRaQ ISP Deployment Installation Notes • • • • Configure the CacheRaQ for Transparent mode using one network interface. Configure access concentrators (“DIAL UP”) to use the CacheRaQ as their gateway. Configure the CacheRaQ to use the router as its gateway. One CacheRaQ should be able to handle 1-2 Mbps of WAN traffic. Contact Cobalt Networks, Inc. for more detailed deployment guidelines.
Example Network Topologies CacheRaQ ISP Cluster Deployment Installation Notes • • • • • Configure one CacheRaQ as the Cluster Master, as explained in "Cache Setup" on page 17. Configure the Cluster Master to operate in Transparent mode using one network interface. The Cluster Slaves require no special configuration. Configure the CacheRaQ’s gateway to be the router’s IP address. Configure the access concentrators (“DIAL UP”) to use the Cluster Master as their gateway.
Appendix C CacheRaQ ISP Cluster With L4 Switch Installation Notes • • • • Configure the CacheRaQs for Transparent mode using one network interface. No Cluster Master is needed (the L4 switch replaces the Cluster Master). CacheRaQs can be connected either directly to the L4 switch or via a hub. Refer to the L4 switch’s manual for instructions on configuring the cache redirection. Advantages • • • No Cluster Master is needed. This solution is scalable — you can have dozens of CacheRaQs per switch.
Example Network Topologies CacheRaQ Cluster in Traditional Mode Installation Notes • • Configure one CacheRaQ as the Cluster Master, as explained in "Cache Setup" on page 17. No special configuration is necessary for the Cluster Slaves. Advantages • • Distributed caching allows for faster response time and more storage space. Clustered CacheRaQs are scalable — you can add more Cluster Slaves as needed. Disadvantage • This solution requires modification to the client browser configuration.
Appendix C CacheRaQ Cluster in Transparent Mode Installation Notes • • • Configure the Cluster Master for Transparent mode. (The figure above shows a two-interface configuration. A one-interface configuration is also possible.) Configure the Cluster Slaves for Traditional Proxy mode. Enter the Cluster Slave information into the Cluster Master configuration. Advantage No client-side configuration is necessary.
Example Network Topologies CacheRaQ Enterprise Cluster With L4 Switch Installation Notes • • • • Configure the CacheRaQs for Transparent mode using one interface. CacheRaQs can be connected either directly to the L4 switch or via a hub. No Cluster Master is necessary (the L4 switch replaces the Cluster Master). Refer to the switch’s manual for instructions on configuring the cache redirection. Advantages • • • • This solution allows for high-speed clustering.
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