Deploying SAP Business Objects with F5 LTM + WA Part II

In a previous post I reviewed the configuration of monitors, profiles and added nodes as part of the LTM + WA configuration with Business Objects.  Part I of this deployment can be found here:  https://devcentral.f5.com/s/weblogs/mquill/archive/2012/07/03/deploying-f5-big-ip-ltm-with-sap-business-objects-part.aspx

In this next section we will configure the virtual servers on the LTM, and configure Web Accelerator (WA).  Although this was a single-site deployment, a distributed deployment of Business Objects should see substantial benefits when enhanced with WA. 

 

We will begin by configuring the pools:

 

Configure Pools:

BOE_WEB_HTTP Pool Configuration

Pool Name	BOE_WEB_HTTP
Configuration	Advanced
Health Monitors	BOE_HTTP
Availability Requirement	All (Health Monitors)
Allow SNAT	Yes
Allow NAT	Yes
Action on Service Down	None
Slow Ramp Time	10 Seconds
IP ToS to Client	Pass Through
IP ToS to Server	Pass Through
Link QoS to Client	Pass Through
Link QoS to Server	Pass Through
Reselect Tries	0
Enable Request Queuing	No
Request Queue Depth	0
Request Queue Timeout	0ms

BOE_WEB_HTTP Pool Members and Ports

Pool Member IP Address	Pool Member Port ID
10.1.86.151	8080
10.1.86.151	6080
10.1.86.151	9080
10.1.86.151	7080
10.1.86.152	8080
10.1.86.152	6080
10.1.86.152	9080
10.1.86.152	7080
10.1.86.153	6080
10.1.86.153	7080
10.1.86.153	8080
10.1.86.153	9080
10.1.86.154	6080
10.1.86.154	7080
10.1.86.154	8080
10.1.86.154	9080
10.1.86.155	6080
10.1.86.155	7080
10.1.86.155	8080
10.1.86.155	9080
10.1.86.156	6080
10.1.86.156	7080
10.1.86.156	8080
10.1.86.156	9080
10.1.86.157	6080
10.1.86.157	7080
10.1.86.157	8080
10.1.86.157	9080
10.1.86.158	6080
10.1.86.158	7080
10.1.86.158	8080
10.1.86.158	9080
10.1.86.159	6080
10.1.86.159	7080
10.1.86.159	8080
10.1.86.159	9080
10.1.86.160	6080
10.1.86.160	7080
10.1.86.160	8080
10.1.86.160	9080

 

Configure BOE_gzip iRule 

In this configuration we have configured an iRule in order to optimize gzip compression on all web logins

when HTTP_REQUEST {

if {[HTTP::header exists "Accept-Encoding"]}{

HTTP::header remove "Accept-Encoding"

}

}

Configure Business Objects Virtual Server

Navigate to Virtual Servers and click ‘Create’ the Name of our Virtual Server in this example is ‘BOE_BASE_WEB_VS’ Configuration Details of the Virtual Server are below:

Name	BOE_Web_Base_VS
Destination	10.1.86.206
Service Port	8080
Protocol	TCP
Protocol Profile (Client)	TCP
Protocol Profile (Server)	Use Client
OneConnect Profile	BOE_oneconnect
HTTP Profile	BOE_BASE_HTTP
HTTP Compression Profile	None
Web Acceleration Profile	None
Stream Profile	None
SNAT Pool	BOE_SNAT_Pool

Navigate to the ‘Resources’ Section

Default Pool: BOE_Web_http

Default Persistence Profile: BOE_Cookie

Deploying Web Acceleration for Business Objects Portal

Overview: During the process of validating the integration of F5 LTM with SAP BI, we configured the Web Acceleration feature on the F5 BIG-IP. Web Acceleration, when deployed in either a symmetric or asymmetric configuration can accelerate the browser performance, cache static web objects locally on the BIG-IP and address WAN latency which can substantially degrade browser performance. It is important to note that the validation of the BI platform and all client access was simulated locally in the SAP Co-Innovation Lab environment; this means that the full benefit of WA in this particular instance could not be realized. The following steps are best practices implementation steps for deploying WA and compression with F5.

Configure WA Policy

- Under WebAcclerator -> Policies click on the + sign to add a new policy

Policy Name	BOE_Web
Policy	Generic Policy Complete
Requested Hosts	Paf51105.pro.coil, Paf51106.pro.coil
Send Metadata	Always
Metadata Cache Max Size	25mb
IBR Prefix	;wa
IBR Default Lifetime	26 Weeks
X-WA-Header Info	None
Performance Monitor	Disabled
Data Retention Period	30 Days

Click ‘Update’ to commit the changes

- Navigate to Policies and click + to create a policy

- The name we designated is BOE_Generic_policy-Complete

- Accept all defaults and click ‘Update’ (In most circumstances the default settings should be optimal)

Create Optimized Virtual Server:

- Navigate again to the Virtual Servers Section and click on the + to create a new Virtual Server

- Configuration Details are in the table below

Name	BOE_Web_VS
Destination	10.1.86.205
Service Port	8080
Protocol	TCP
Protocol Profile (Client)	BOE_LAN
Protocol Profile (Server)	(Use Client Profile)
OneConnect Profile	BOE_Oneconnect
HTTP Profile	BOE_HTTP
HTTP Compression Profile	BOE_Compression
Web Acceleration Profile	BOE_WA
SNAT Pool	BOE_SNAT_Pool
Default Pool	BOE_Web_HTTP
Default Persistence Profile	BOE_cookie