Sure Connect - Global Test

You can use the SureConnect feature of the ADC appliance to service all incoming connections with either the requested content or a custom web page that displays information about delay in the request being serviced.

When servers are overloaded with the requests, the servers might either respond slowly or not at all. The SureConnect feature enables the ADC appliance to detect and compensate such conditions by ensuring that every client request gets serviced in some way, such as either a custom web page or actual content is sent to the client.

To use Sure Connect, you need to do the following:

  • Enable the Sure Connect feature on the appliance.

  • Next, enable the feature on the required VServer.

  • Then, configure a Sure Connect policy.

  • Finally, bind the Sure Connect policy to the VServer.

Where Sure Connect is enabled, administrators may want to instantly know if a request matches a Sure Connect policy. They will also be keen to be notified every time a Sure Connect condition is fired. This will help them determine how effective the Sure Connect policy configurations are. This is also a great way to know whether any web site/application is slow in responding to requests. Using the Sure Connect - Global test, administrators can receive such useful alerts on the Sure Connect feature.

This test monitors Sure Connect policiies and reports the count of requests that match one/more of these policies. The test also reveals how many times Sure Connect conditions are triggered, so that you can quickly detect if the conditions are being fired more frequently than you would like them to. Revisiting the policies and tweaking them (if required), can help streamline this process. Additionally, you can figure out when alternate content is served and when in-memory JavaScript is served by the Sure Connect feature. Error conditions such as corruption of Sure Connect cookies and requests from unsupported browsers are captured and promptly reported by this test.

Target of the test : A Citrix ADC VPX/MPX

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the Citrix ADC VPX/MPX appliance being monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The IP address of the host for which the test is being configured.

NetScaler Username, NetScaler Password, and Confirm Password

To monitor a ADC device, the eG agent should be configured with the credentials of a user with read-only privileges to the target ADC device. Specify the credentials of such a user in the NetScaler Username and NetScaler Password text boxes. Then, confirm the password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.

SSL

The eG agent collects performance metrics by invoking NITRO (ADC Interface Through Restful interfaces and Objects) APIs on the target ADC device. Typically, the NITRO APIs can be invoked through the HTTP or the HTTPS mode. By default, the eG agent invokes the NITRO APIs using the HTTPS mode. This is why, the SSL flag is set to Yes by default. If the target ADC device is not SSL-enabled, then the NITRO APIs can be accessed through the HTTP mode only. In this case, set the SSL flag to No.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Policy matches

Indicates the number of incoming requests that matched configured sure connect policies during the last measurement period.

Number

 

Undefined policy hits

Indicates the number of times Sure Connect conditions were triggered during the last measurement period.

Number

Typically, a Sure Connect condition is triggered, if either or both of the following thresholds are reached/violated:

  • The configured Delay threshold is violated: Every policy is configured with a Delay threshold, which represents how long a web site/application's should take to service a request to it for Sure Connect to be triggered for that request.

  • The maxConn threshold configured in the policy is violated: This threshold signifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be open for requests that match the policy's URL or rule.

If the value of this measure is very high, it could be because either or both of the aforesaid thresholds are unreasonably low. You may want to fine-tune the policy configuration to make sure that this does not happen.

Responses transmitted

Indicates the number of in-memory JavaScript served which throws the pop-up window during the last measurement period.

Number

 

Reissued requests

Indicates the number of reissued Sure Connect requests during the last measurement period.

Number

Valid reissued requests

Indicates the number of requests that were handled in a single Sure Connect session during the last measurement period.

Number

 

Alternate content requests

Indicates the number of alternate content served which throws the pop-up window during the last measurement period.

Number

 

Post requests

Indicates the number of HTTP POST requests that triggered Sure Connect feature during the last measurement period.

Number

 

Statistics timeout

Indicates the number of times that Sure Connect statistics were reset during the last measurement period.

Number

 

Unsupported browsers

Indicates the number of requests that came from all unsupported browsers during the last measurement period.

Number

Ideally, the value of this measure should be 0.

Tampered cookies

Indicates the number of corrupted Sure Connect cookies during the last measurement period.

Number

Ideally, the value of this measure should be 0.