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WAAS - WAE slow Printing

linux
Level 1
Level 1

Hi All;

I appreciate your expertise in this case regarding Cisco WAAS and WAE devices and their printing services/capability. As i am aware WAAS printing services is done via CUPS (Common UNIX Printing services)

I have an issue with WAAS printing; I just recently set up WAE device as print server and works fine but the problem as per below:

Problem:

Printing is real slow, for example if I was to print to same printer being hosted by windows print server i.e. windows 2000 (Yes I know OLD real OLD but they still use it!!) I would be able to do it in about 5 seconds, if I was to setup the same printer on WEA device it would take in between 30-60 seconds just to process it, also for instance if I was to right click on printer and check properties tab on W2K print server it takes about 3 seconds on WAE it may take up to 30 seconds sometime more.

What I have done:

  • I have setup and used  as test printer is HP 9500MFP (socket://10.36.9.xx:9100) and I have used both drivers PCL and PS and

  • I have published the printer  in Active Directory

  • I have checked the setting on both the WAAs and WAE device but I cannot find anything that may indicate where I can priorities printing traffic or optimize it. I made sure i have associated the driver and initailised it fine

  • I have also tried to tweak with printer properties and driver but no hope.

  • I have read the Cisco white_paper_c07-502183 and printingconfigwaas paper but I could not see anything mentioning anything about optimizing print queues etc, NOT sure if I had missed it or misinterpreted it and if so then please direct me or IT IS THE LIMITATION OF THE HARDWARE!!

Environment:

  • Number of pilot users only 5 and all 5 not happy at all!!! Documents printed is mix of the two, Windows word docs and PDF docs

  • The WAAS and WEA devices are Cisco 474 and 274 respectively, the 274 will be used on branch offices and 474 is in main office (Head office) that I am currently setting up
    Note/Hint: I have noticed under accelerations on the WAAS Central manager, policies, classifiers tabs etc and I am not sure if I need to define policy in there to make it any faster and if so how would I go about it.
  • I have also included to images for you ease of understanding my situation


I hope I had provide enough information, if not please let me know. I will award MAX points to whom ever really helps me out

Your help and time is much appreciated. Thanks

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions
11 Replies 11

Jan Rockstedt
Level 1
Level 1

Hi,

What version of the WAE are you using?

Are you using the old Legacy Services for the printing?

Here is an nice troubleshoot guide.

http://docwiki.cisco.com/wiki/Cisco_WAAS_Troubleshooting_Guide_for_Release_4.1.3_and_Later_--_Troubleshooting_the_CIFS_AO#Windows_Print_Accelerator_Troubleshooting

Jan Rockstedt

Hi Jan

Thanks for your reply, it is much appreciated. As for WAE informations it is as per below:

Software Version: 4.1.1c
Model: WAVE-474-K9
Memory: 3072MB

As for the Legacy Printing services, i think the answer is Yes; i have attched snapshot of WAAS configuration section and highlighted in Yellow is the printing section, also it shows traffic in percentage wise (far right) if it helps. If this is what you are after let me know and if so then is this the cause of the problem? If so was it improved in the later version?

I will be looking into the troubleshooting guide you have provided while you study this information, if in anyway you can provide more info based on what i have provided please let me know and i will act on it immediately i.e. if software version out of date then i will upgrade etc

If you require any further info from me please feel free to request it.

Thanks Again

Jan Rockstedt
Level 1
Level 1

Hi,

As I have not used that old version and have not used the legacy service.

My skills is poor for this problem.

We use the application optimizer "AO" with version 4.2.1, before 4.1.5c, 4.1.5f and 4.1.7

Jan

Hi again,

Here some troubleshoot:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/app_ntwk_services/waas/waas/v413/configuration/guide/printsvr.html#wpxref17103

This msg is what I got in 4.2.1

CIFS legacy mode has been deprecated and no longer supported as of 4.2.x. Please migrate to CIFS Accelerator mode

Jan

Hi Jan

I really appreciate your time and effort, thank you for that.

Just wondering if i upgrade the WAE to the latest firmware would the AO be much better option, from message you pasted i would think so, should i say i hope so.

As for the troubleshooting guide you have provided thanks for that and i will be reading the troubleshooting section as i have read the other part but i really hope and i would think so that by upgrading to the latest firmware that should solve the issue.

Meanwhile if by any chance you have any information to help please advise me at your convenience. I will be keeping you updated and i have already discussed this at work that we should be upgrading to latest firmware as this usual resolves many issues just as would be with Routers etc

Thanks again

Hi,

4.2.1 is an stable version regarding me an our network.

We have no problem with 4.2.1 and the AO, the 4.2.1 solved our issues with MAPI and CIFS problem in 4.1.x.

I would say say upgrade but it's up to you to decide.

Jan

Hi Jan

Thanks again for your time, I will definitely be doing the firmware upgrade, i am just waiting on the management approval. I have been tweaking alot with this here and there and got me no where, still same issue.

I believe firmware will resolve many issues and AO seem to be better way of going forward. I will keep you updated on the progress as this issue needs to be resolved one way or another. Just hope the firmware update wuill go with ease

While at it, what is best way to deploy the firmware update without loosing current configuration and avoiding down time where possible? How you did you do it at your work? I know we can use Live CD or FTP or HTTP

Thanks Again

Jan Rockstedt
Level 1
Level 1

Hi,

I have done it from the CMA and from the CLI with ftp and not loosing any conf.

I normaly do it from the CMA.

Jan

Hi Jan,

Thanks again for your response and time, Now that I managed to convenience management to upgrade Firmware I have few questions to ask please and i hope you can share your experience,

Because i will be doing upgrade from version 4.1.1C to 4.2.3 as you can see it is quite major upgrade! Can you tell me

  • If you had any issues during the upgrade
  • How did you plan it out, was there outage, downtime etc
  • How did you set it up and execute
  • what documentation did you follow and can you please provide me link to them if any

Thanks again for your time and effort

Ricky

Hi Ricky,

No issue.

Only down time was the reboot.

Read this doc http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/app_ntwk_services/waas/waas/v423/release/notes/ws423xrn.html#wp43163

Jan

Hi Jan,

Thanks for your time and effort, i will read through all info and advise you of our progress as we have decided to go about upgrading the firmware. We just planing how we go about it.

Thanks Again, if you have any tips just let me know otherwise i will update you further and advise of the outcome and hence close the question and grade it.

Cheers

Ricky

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