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Steelhead Appliance Installation and Configuration Guide
Installing and Configuring the Steelhead Appliance
Choosing a Network Deployment
For optimal performance, you should seek to minimize latency between Steelhead appliances and their
respective clients and servers. Steelhead appliances should be as close as possible to your network end
points (client-side Steelhead appliances should be as close to your clients as possible and server-side
Steelhead appliances should be as close to your servers as possible).
Ideally, Steelhead appliances only optimize traffic that is initiated or terminated at its local site. The best and
easiest way to achieve this is to deploy the Steelhead appliances where the LAN connects to the WAN, and
not where any LAN-to-LAN or WAN-to-WAN traffic can pass through (or be redirected to) the Steelhead
appliance.
For detailed information about your deployment options and best practices for deploying Steelhead
appliances, see the Steelhead Appliance Deployment Guide.
Before you begin the installation and configuration process, you need to select a network deployment:
Physical In-Path
. In a physical in-path deployment, the Steelhead appliance is physically in the direct
path between clients and servers. The clients and servers continue to see client and server Internet
Protocol (IP) addresses. In-path designs are the simplest to configure and manage, and the most
common type of Steelhead appliance deployment, even for large sites.
Figure 2-1. Physical In-Path Deployment
Virtual In-Path
. In a virtual in-path deployment, a redirection mechanism (such as WCCP, PBR, or
Layer-4 switching) is used to place the Steelhead appliance virtually in the path between clients and
servers.
Figure 2-2. Logical In-Path: WCCP Deployment