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 |