When shaping is on, traffic is classified and measured, and policies and partitions actively control bandwidth allocation.

When shaping is off, traffic is classified and measured, but it is not actively managed.

When shaping is set to watch, PacketShaper watches the traffic on your network from a non in-line position; that is, the unit is not cabled into the main data path. Consistent with its role as a passive watcher, a PacketShaper in watch mode will not perform traffic shaping; any existing policies and partitions will be ignored. See Watch Mode Overview for more information.

The IP address assigned to the unit. The address should not be:

- loopback address (127.0.0.1)
- network address (all host bits 0)
- broadcast address (all host bits 1)
- class D or class E address

Note: If you are using the flow detail records feature, you will need to reset the PacketShaper if you ever change its management IP address. FDRs will not be sent until the unit is reset.

The IP address the unit uses to reach other networks.

The unit uses this gateway to route unit-initiated transactions to a non-local address — for example, FTP transfers initiated from the unit to a server on a non-local network. Frequently, the gateway address is the same as the site router address.

Specify none if there isn't a gateway or to clear the gateway setting.

The IP address of the access router to the link the unit is managing

• When you set the site router to none, the unit monitors/manages all traffic passing through it, regardless of whether the traffic is going to or from the site router. Most customers set site router to none; this is the recommended setting.
  
  
• The site router should be set to none if you are using acceleration.
  
  
• When you set an IP address, the unit only monitors/manages Ethernet packets going to and from this router. All other Ethernet packets, including multicast, are ignored.

The IP address(es) of the Domain Name Server(s). Enter a maximum of eight addresses separated by spaces and/or commas.

If you don't specify a DNS server, Top Talker/Listener reports will list IP addresses only, instead of more meaningful domain names.

To manage bandwidth, PacketWise must know the capacity of the access link it is managing. Data rates may be specified as integer bits per second, followed by a “k” (thousands), “M” (millions), “G” (billions), or specified symbolically (“T1”, “E1”, “T3”).

• For a full-duplex WAN link, enter the total link speed for the inbound and outbound rates. Because full-duplex has wires that can simultaneously communicate in both inbound and outbound directions, you should enter the same rate for Inbound Rate and Outbound Rate. For example, if you have two T1 lines (3 Mbps), you should enter 3M for Inbound Rate and 3M for Outbound Rate.
  
  
• In rare situations in which the PacketShaper is managing half-duplex links, split the rate between the inbound and outbound links. For example, if you are managing a 10 Mbps half-duplex link, you could configure 5 Mbps for the inbound rate and 5 Mbps for the outbound rate since data can be transmitted in only one direction at a time.
  
  Note: If you have any NIC in the PacketShaper set to half-duplex, you will not be able to transmit and receive at the same time, limiting the bandwidth to half. For example, if you have set 10 Mbps half-duplex on the NIC, the PacketShaper will be able to pass only 5 Mbps IN and 5 Mbps OUT at one time. Hence, you will not be able to manage a WAN link size greater than 5 Mbps.

• If your unit is using LAN Expansion Modules (LEMs) to manage different WAN links and you don’t want to control each LEM separately, the rate should be the size of the smallest LEM. For example, if you have two 100 Mbps LEMs managing two links, you should specify 100M for the rate.

  On the other hand, if you want to control each link separately, the rate should be the sum of the link speeds on all devices. For example, if the built-in device is controlling a T1 line (1.5 Mbps) and a LEM is managing two T1 lines (3.0 Mbps), you should specify 4.5M for the rate. To control traffic across each link separately, you can create a class for each device (for example, Builtin_LEM and Upper_LEM) and assign partitions that match the link size (1.5M for the Builtin_LEM class and 3.0M for the Upper_LEM class).

  If your unit is using two LEMs to manage a single WAN link, specify the WAN link speed for the rate. Although the Info page will give you an error message (such as “Link speed of 155 Mbps exceeds outside NIC speed of 100 Mbps”) in the latter situation, it is still appropriate to specify the actual size of the link for the rate.
  

• When using the direct standby feature in a load-sharing topology, you should set the link speed to the sum of both WAN links. Because each unit receives copied packets from its partner, the Packeteer unit must have overall Inbound and Outbound partition sizes that will support that level of extra traffic. Note: In this situation, you may want to use the access-link monitoring feature (advanced mode) to monitor the routers’ WAN interfaces and avoid oversubscribing the WAN bandwidth.
  
  
• Software configuration determines maximum shaping capacity. See PacketShaper or PacketShaper ISP Configuration Limits.
  
  
  Note: 10BaseT links rarely reach the 10 Mbps limit. Keep Ethernet's practical limits in mind when configuring rates.
  

PacketShaper 1200, 1400, 1550, 2500, 6500:

Choose: auto-negotiate, 10BaseT half-duplex, 10BaseT full-duplex, 100BaseT half-duplex, 100BaseT full-duplex.

PacketShaper 1700, 3500, 7500:

As above, plus 1000BaseT full-duplex

When you select auto-negotiate, the PacketShaper detects the connected device’s port speed and configures the speed and duplex settings for a “best match.” While the PacketShaper automatically negotiates ports according to the IEEE 802u standard, other connected devices may not operate in compatible modes, which can result in connectivity problems.

PacketShaper 8500, 9500, 10000 (Gigabit Fiber-Optic)

The choices for gigabit fiber-optic are auto-negotiate, autoneg-only, and 1000BaseX full-duplex. If auto-negotiate is specified and auto-negotiation signals are not received from the other side, the negotiation will time out in one second and the interface will be set at 1000 fixed. To force auto-negotiation without timing out, use the autoneg-only option.

PacketShaper 1700, 3500, 7500, 8500, 9500, 10000 (Gigabit Ethernet)

For gigabit Ethernet, you can specify auto-negotiate or 1000BaseT full-duplex. (1000BaseT actually does the same thing as auto-negotiate; manual setting to gigabit Ethernet is not part of the 802.3 Ethernet standard.)

LAN Expansion Modules

If you have installed one or two LAN Expansion Modules, you will see additional NIC Mode fields. The additional fields will be named to reflect the module location. Possible additional fields are:

Lower_inside and Lower_outside
Upper_inside and Upper_outside
Left_inside and Left_outside
Right_inside and Right_outside

Backup Interfaces

On the PacketShaper 1400, you will have the following additional NIC Mode fields:

Backup_Inside Fast Ethernet NIC Mode
Backup_Outside Fast Ethernet NIC Mode

Notes:

• Whenever you wish to change Network Interface Card (NIC) settings, always select auto-negotiate first, then select a different value if desired. Do not change from one non-auto setting to another non-auto setting directly; re-negotiation may fail and In Link Down or Out Link Down appears on the LCD.
  
  
• Although you can specify different fixed speeds on the Inside and Outside interfaces, such a configuration will result in a network interruption if the PacketShaper is turned off because the end devices will not be able to negotiate the correct speed for the link.

Management Gigabit Ethernet NIC Mode

(1700, 3500, 7500 only)

Choose: auto-negotiate, 10BaseT half-duplex, 10BaseT full-duplex, 100BaseT half-duplex, 100BaseT full-duplex, or 1000BaseT full-duplex.

When you select auto-negotiate, the PacketShaper detects the connected device’s port speed and configures the speed and duplex settings for a “best match.” While the PacketShaper automatically negotiates ports according to the IEEE 802u standard, other connected devices may not operate in compatible modes, which can result in connectivity problems.