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316 Chapter 10: Managing Network Performance with Queuing and Compression
Compression Issues
Specific issues arise during specific network implementations. In selecting the algorithm that
will be utilized for a particular deployment, the following should be considered:
·
Modem compression--Some modems implement compression. Modems making use of
MNP5 and V.42bis are not compatible. Although each offers 2 and 4 times compression,
they cannot communicate with each other. If you use modem compression, make sure that
the modems at both ends of the connection are using a common protocol. If compression is
being performed by the modem, do not attempt to configure compression at the router level.
·
Data encryption--Encryption occurs at the network layer where compression is a Layer
2 function. The purpose of encryption is security, obviously. Encryption requires the
removal of anything that looks like a pattern. In other words, when LZ tries to run, there
are no redundant strings for it to replace with a token. Therefore, the compression is
unsuccessful and can actually expand the traffic it was attempting to compress. In such a
case, the traffic is sent uncompressed. If you don't want to send traffic uncompressed, you
can implement compression and encryption at Layer 3 using IPComp (IP Compression
Protocol) and IPSec (IP Security Protocol), respectively.
·
CPU and memory--Some algorithms are memory-intensive and some are CPU-
intensive. Thus, before planning or implementing compression, you must know the
physical configuration of your router (that is, its RAM and CPU) before ordering
additional hardware.
Configuring Compression
To configure compression, there are a number of commands. Most are technology-specific. The
technology-specific commands are not what one would consider intuitive overall. For software
compression, use the compress command:
RouterA(config-if)#compress [predictor | stac | mppc]
For Frame Relay deployments, use the frame-relay payload-compress command to enable
STAC compression on an interface or a subinterface. There are no additional configuration
parameters for use with this command, as illustrated by the following command structure:
RouterA(config-if)#frame-relay payload-compress
For X.25 deployments, use the x25 map compressdtcp command to enable TCP header
compression.This enables the mapping of compressed TCP headers to X.121 addresses.
To enable TCP header compression for a given interface, use the ip tcp header-compression.
Its command structure is as follows:
RouterA(config-if)#ip tcp header-compression [passive]
The passive keyword at the end of the command specifies that compression be performed only
if packets received on that interface are compressed on arrival.