Create a Simple Location-Based Traffic Tree

Instructions for organizing the traffic running on your network by location only

A simple location-based tree is for a main site's WAN or Internet link with traffic that goes to multiple branches or to multiple departments. It categorizes first by travel direction and then by location. It's appropriate for occasions when your primary concern is to provision bandwidth, and you don't particularly care how it's used or how applications perform. Additionally, it can be appropriate for a main site in topologies where other PacketWise units manage applications at each location, and the main site just manages the amount of traffic going out to each branch. For more information on this type of tree's capabilities, limitations, scaling considerations, and configuration recommendations, see Traffic Tree Designs.

The following steps help you create a simple location-based traffic tree.

Steps:

1. Disable traffic discovery, telling PacketWise not to automatically classify traffic and create classes as it passes. You will create your own classes instead.
   
   
2. If you already had some application-based classes in your tree, remove them. You should have a tree with only the basic classes your PacketWise unit had when originally shipped.
   
   The factory-default traffic class tree includes:
   
   • /Inbound and /Outbound classes with a Default class for each
   • A Localhost class for the Inbound and Outbound directions
     
     
3. Create a new class for each of your locations under both the Inbound and Outbound branches of your tree. When you create your matching rules, use criteria to identify your locations (usually subnets, host lists, addresses, or VLAN or PVC identifiers). (Example)
   
   You can create each class manually. Or, if there are many classes and it gets to be a tedious task, make it easier by creating a PacketWise command file and a data entry form.
   

PacketGuide recommendations that describe creation of a specific type of traffic tree:

• Create an application-based traffic tree
• Create a simple location-based traffic tee
• Create a location-based traffic tree with per-location applications
• Create a location-based tree with global applications