Transparent/L4 Streaming Proxy


Key Functionality

With a transparent/L4 streaming proxy, an L4 switch on the same network as the client workstation intercepts media player requests from the client and sends them to the appliance. The transparent streaming proxy service processes the requests for the players.


How Transparent Streaming Proxy Works with an L4 Switch

Figure 15


Benefits of Transparent Streaming Proxy with an L4 Switch

Transparent streaming proxy doesn't require player configuration.

After the switch and the appliance are configured, proxy services are transparent to the player.


Setting Up Transparent Streaming Proxy with an L4 Switch

Figure 16 provides a visual map for the information in this section.

NOTE:  The letters in Figure 16 are referenced in the table that follows. The addresses shown are for illustration purposes only. You will need to substitute actual addresses for your network.

Figure 16


Table .

To Do This Notes

Understand Media Excelerator's features.

  1. To ensure you achieve the results you expect, we recommend you read the information in Using Streaming with Excelerator Features .

Ensure your basic network configuration is complete.
  1. See Basic Network Configuration Setup in the Volera Excelerator 2.3 Administration Guide.

Set up HTTP transparent proxy services on the appliance.
  1. In the browser-based tool, click Cache > Transparent Handling.
  2. Check Enable Transparent Client Acceleration (Transparent Proxy - L4 Switch Support).
  3. Ensure the Port field has 80 as its value.
  4. Check the IP address for the transparent service.
  5. Click Apply.

See A in Figure 16.

Set up an MMS transparent service.

  1. In the browser-based tool, click Cache > Streaming.
  2. Click Insert.
  3. Enter the name of the service.
  4. Select Transparent as the Type.
  5. Select MMS as the protocol.
  6. Click OK.
  7. In the Streaming Service dialog box, type an alternate port, if applicable.
  8. Set log options if you are logging the services.
  9. If you are filling content through another proxy server, click Upstream Proxy Configuration.

For more information see Streaming Tab in the Volera Excelerator 2.3 Administration Guide.

See B in Figure 9.

If logging is enabled, MMS log files for the MMS accelerator server will have the same name as the MMS accelerator service. Both native MMS and HTTP-MMS requests will be logged in this log file.

NOTE:  UDP requests are filled using TCP unless the Allow UDP for Filling option is checked when a Media Cache service is created.

Set up your L4 switch to route traffic (either port 80 or port 1755) to the appliance.
  1. Follow the documentation for your switch to configure a support policy to redirect TCP port 80, TCP port 1755, and UDP port 1755 traffic to a transparent proxy address on the appliance.

See B in Figure 16.

This will route all MMS and HTTP traffic to the appliance.