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16 | Dell SonicWALL WXA 1.3 User’s Guide
Key Features in WXA 1.3
The WXA 1.3 release includes the following Key features:
• Wan Acceleration— The WAN Acceleration service allows network administrators to
accelerate WAN traffic between a central site and a branch site by using Transmission
Control Protocol (TCP) and Windows File Sharing (WFS).
• TCP Acceleration— The TCP Acceleration service is a process that decreases the amount
of data passing over the WAN by using compression, which accelerates selected traffic
passing between a central site and a branch site.
• WFS Acceleration— WAN Acceleration refers to a wide range of technologies that are
aimed at accelerating applications, improving throughput, and enabling bandwidth
scalability using Windows File Sharing (WFS).
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Unsigned SMB— In a network that supports unsigned SMB traffic, the WFS
Acceleration service configuration is greatly simplified. The reason for this is unsigned
SMB traffic does not have a security layer, so the WXA series appliance can intercept
the traffic without joining the domain, eliminating the need to configure custom zones,
configuring reverse lookup, and add file shares. Unsigned SMB is enabled by default.
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Signed SMB— In a network that supports SMB signing, it is required that the WXA
series appliance join the domain, due to the presence of a security layer in signed SMB
traffic. Although this type of configuration is more complex than unsigned SMB, it offers
a more granular configuration of the WFS Acceleration service. The WAN Acceleration
> WFS Acceleration page displays a warning when signed SMB traffic is detected on
the network. If this warning is present, please enable the Support SMB Signing
checkbox, join the WXA appliance to the domain, and access the signed shares through
the WXA appliance’s shares.
• WFS Basic Configuration Mode— The Basic configuration mode is a simplified and user
friendly way to have the Dell SonicWALL WXA series appliance join the domain, add
servers to the configuration, and create the necessary records on the domain. The Basic
mode is available when using Signed SMB and is the preferred mode for configuring WFS
Acceleration.
• Web Cache Management— The Web Cache feature stores copies of Web pages passing
through the network that are frequently and recently requested. When a user requests one
of these Web pages, it is retrieved from the local web cache instead of the Internet, which
can result in significant reductions in downloaded data and bandwidth usage.
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YouTube Web Caching— The Web Cache feature is capable of caching YouTube
videos (currently only Flash video format is supported). This feature is only available
when using Moderate and Aggressive web caching strategies.
• WXA Setup Wizard (requires the NSA/TZ series appliance to be running SonicOS
5.9)— The WXA Setup Wizard in the SonicOS management interface guides you through
the setup of the WXA series appliance, allowing the user to easily enable TCP Acceleration,
WFS Acceleration (unsigned and signed SMB), and Web Caching. If you choose to use
signed SMB, the WFS Setup Wizard is automatically launched from the initial WXA Setup
Wizard. This wizard enables WFS Acceleration support for signed SMB, and walks the user
through joining the domain and configuring file servers.
• WAN Acceleration Client (requires the NSA/TZ series appliance to be running SonicOS
5.9)— The WAN Acceleration Client (WXAC) gives remote users the benefit of WAN
Acceleration when using SonicWALL NetExtender.