Recommended HTTP Configuration for ACE Load Balancing

Real quick one guys, i recommend the following ACE Load balancing config for HTTP Load Balanced sites:



parameter-map type http HTTP_PARAMETER_MAP
  case-insensitive
  persistence-rebalance
  set header-maxparse-length 65535
  set content-maxparse-length 65535
  length-exceed continue
  parsing non-strict



Occasional confusing issues on Nexus 5000 Layer 3

Hi Guys

This is a short post as it is really more for my own benefit, i had a hell of a time getting a Nexus 5000 to work correctly due to some misunderstanding on my part with Nexus Licensing.

So, Nexus 5000 with a layer 3 daughtercard is ENTITLED automatically to LAN Base.

Now let's say you installed LAN-Enterprise, which is meant to come with all the features of LAN Base, they are actually seperate licenses and if you have one but not the other you will have very strange issues, I had an issue where VRRP would not recognise each other as neighbors even though it let me configure it! Unlike a 3750 for example when you have to say "ip routing" in order to have the device perform layer 3 routing, the nexus does not have any similiar command and infact you will be able to configure all the L3 features you want, they just won't work!

So if you have weird problems where the nexus 5000 won't route traffic even though you have the layer 3 daughtercard and entries in your route table, be sure to check you have the LAN Base image, it's free with the layer 3 daughtercard you are entitled to it :).  Check below to see where to get it from.


Feature                      Ins  Lic   Status Expiry Date Comments
                                 Count
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FM_SERVER_PKG                 No    -   Unused             -
ENTERPRISE_PKG                No    -   Unused             -
FC_FEATURES_PKG               No    -   Unused             -
LAN_BASE_SERVICES_PKG         Yes   -   In use Never       -
LAN_ENTERPRISE_SERVICES_PKG   Yes   -   Unused Never       -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
!

If you don't have the LAN BASE license listed above you will be hosed, to get a copy just go to www.cisco.com/go/licensing, click on get demo, nexus 5000 and then select LAN Base license, you will see it's a permanent license you can install.

Understanding Fiber Link Loss budgets

Hi Guys!

Thanks to a co-worker of mine I now have a pretty good understanding of fiber link loss budgets and how to calculate them (Or do I? Post below if you think i have made an error in some calculations or understanding, I love hearing from you guys!)

Let's briefly chat about what we are trying to calculate here and why it is important.


As you may know, fiber optic cable works by using light from a transmit and receive pair on a optic cable (although in some topologies this is done on a single strand of fibre using a TDM method but we will leave that out of this discussion)

As light travels over longer distances it dissipates and becomes weaker, sometimes it is so "dull" that the photosensitive receiver at the other end cannot see the signal, conversely sometimes the light source is so bright the receiver is overloaded, like staring into a bright light or the sun.

So, when choosing fiber optics and deciding if you need an attenuator (which is like sun glasses for the SFP) or a power booster, you need to take into account the distance of the fibre, and from there you can calculate the link loss, then by using the cisco data sheets you can calculate the exact SFP you will need.

Your best bet when performing this is to speak to your fiber optics cable installer and ask for the OTDR report, this report contains information from the installer as to his measured span loss, the loss is normally listed in DB.

If you don't have this report, you can only really guess based on the average loss per km over typically installed fiber, note that diffirent installers produce varying quality when installing fibre so this is not the preferred method, seek out an accurate OTDR report if you can! The average loss per KM for a fibre run is between 0.2 to 0.5 per KM, although higher has been reported! Splices on the fibre also introduce a certain amount of loss between 0.2 to 0.5, and finally patch panels can also add similiar levels of loss, hence your always better off with an OTDR report!

Let's talk a little more about the OTDR report, first of all you should check to make sure that the wavelength that the installer used when he ran the test is the same wavelength that your SFP is going to use, lower wavelength has less power therefore it travels shorter distances.

Once you have this info, let's perform our calculations!

So first of all, you need to know the maximum transmit and receive power of your SFP:

Let's take a typical example which is the ER module: (SFP-10GB-ER)
(all values are in the datasheet) http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/modules/ps5455/data_sheet_c78-455693.html


Transmit Power

Maximum: 4.0
Minimum: -4.7

Receive power:
Maximum: -1
Minimum: -15.8


If you compare these values to a shorter range such as the LR: (SFP-10GB-LR)

Transmit Power

Maximum:0.5
Minimum:-8.2

Receive power:
Maximum:0.5
Minimum:-14.4

(all measurements in dBm)
 You can see from the above that the ER has signifcantly more transmit power, interestingly the receive power on the LR as a maximum is quite high, I suspect this might be to prevent people accidentally burning out short-range LR modules, I would be keen to hear more from someone on this.


So how do we calculate if our SFP is going to be suitable? Let's assume you have an OTDR report and the report says that the loss is going to be 5.6 dBm, do the following:

Maximum transmit power minus Loss in OTDR Report = X
Minimum Transmit power minus Loss in OTDR Report = Y

As long as X and Y are below the maximum receive power but ABOVE the minimum receive power, you will be fine, lets work this out:

0.5 - 5.6 = -5.1
-8.2 - 5.6 = 13.8

As you can see we are safely in the margins.

You can view at any time on a SFP with DOM support the current details of its transmit and receive power:


show int eth1/50 transceiver details
Ethernet1/50
    transceiver is present
    type is 10Gbase-LR
    name is CISCO-FINISAR


           SFP Detail Diagnostics Information (internal calibration)
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Current              Alarms                  Warnings
                Measurement     High        Low         High          Low
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Temperature   33.25 C        75.00 C     -5.00 C     70.00 C        0.00 C
  Voltage        3.34 V         3.63 V      2.97 V      3.46 V        3.13 V
  Current       32.75 mA       70.00 mA     1.00 mA    68.00 mA       2.00 mA
  Tx Power        0.46 dBm       3.49 dBm  -12.21 dBm    0.49 dBm     -8.21 dBm
  Rx Power       -1.24 dBm       3.49 dBm  -18.53 dBm    0.49 dBm    -14.43 dBm  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Note: ++  high-alarm; +  high-warning; --  low-alarm; -  low-warning

As you can see the warning values match up nicely with the information available in the data sheet, curiously the Alarms are actually quite high values, but when it comes to optics you probably want to stay well within the warning levels and not push towards alarm levels!





ISDN Layer 1 Status

Hi Guys!

If your anything like me, you thought that an ISDN output like below:

#show isdn status
Global ISDN Switchtype = primary-net5
ISDN Serial0/0/1:15 interface
        dsl 0, interface ISDN Switchtype = primary-net5
    Layer 1 Status:
        DEACTIVATED


Meant that there was some sort of cabling problem, I always assumed Layer 1 deactivated means there is a cabling problem and that is that, but alas no! It can mean a few things, Check out the output below:



#show controller e1 0/0/1
E1 0/0/1 is down.
  Applique type is Channelized E1 - balanced
  Description: ### E1 Outside Line ###
  Transmitter is sending TS16 LOMF Alarm.
  Receiver has loss of multi-frame in TS16.

The above output shows that you can see a little bit of info about what Alarms the E1 Can see, this is another way of accomplishing more troubleshooting, From the output above we can see it is upset with the framing in some way, so let's change the framing:



controller e1 0/0/1
   framing no-crc4

Now let's check the status:
 

#show isdn status
Global ISDN Switchtype = primary-net5
ISDN Serial0/0/1:15 interface
        dsl 0, interface ISDN Switchtype = primary-net5
    Layer 1 Status:
        ACTIVE
    Layer 2 Status:
        TEI = 0, Ces = 1, SAPI = 0, State = MULTIPLE_FRAME_ESTABLISHED


Hooray!!! Another way to effectively troubleshoot E1 Lines.


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