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    App Acceleration in Prisma Access
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    App Acceleration in Prisma Access

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    App Acceleration in Prisma Access

    Learn how Prisma Access can speed up app performance using App Acceleration.
    Where Can I Use This?What Do I Need?
    • Prisma Access (Managed by Strata Cloud Manager)
    • Prisma Access (Managed by Panorama)
    • A minimum Prisma Access version of 5.0 Innovation
    • Prisma Access license
    • App Acceleration requires a Prisma Access dataplane version of 10.2.10.
    • App Acceleration Add-On License
      The App Acceleration license includes a 30-day evaluation license for Autonomous DEM (ADEM) so you can retrieve App Acceleration performance metrics from ADEM.
    App Acceleration directly addresses the causes of poor app performance and acts in real-time to mitigate them, dramatically improving the user experience for Prisma Access GlobalProtect and Remote Network users.
    The primary causes of poor user experience when accessing apps are dynamic content (content that must be processed for each user individually, on-demand) and network connectivity issues.
    App Acceleration provides you with the following functionality:
    Acceleration for top SaaS apps—App Acceleration for Prisma SASE accelerates dynamic content to improve the response time of top SaaS apps. It securely and intelligently prepares the dynamic content that each user needs, before the user requests it.
    As a result, App Acceleration dramatically reduces the response time of applications and the APIs powering them to improve the user experience and boost productivity.
    Accelerated applications are listed in the Supported Apps section.
    Network Acceleration—When your users access apps, they can experience poor app performance that is caused by decreased throughput, which could be caused by packet loss, degraded wireless connectivity, network congestion, and other factors. These networking issues can adversely affect the employee experience and reduce their productivity.
    When the internet was conceived, networks were homogenous and wireless connectivity was in its infancy. Fundamental protocols like TCP were originally created for these networks. Today, networks are no longer homogenous and wireless connectivity creates a highly variable user experience. When users experience degraded network conditions, TCP can't differentiate if the problem occurred because of device limitations, network limitations, or physical constraints.
    Without requiring any changes to your client configuration or applications, App Acceleration securely builds an understanding of the:
    • Device capability—The type of client endpoint
    • Network capability—The type of network
    • App Context— The type of app being used
    Using its understanding of device, network and application context, App Acceleration maximizes throughput and adjusts in real-time to account for changing network conditions.
    When compared to direct internet access, App Acceleration offers a marked throughput improvement for TCP traffic when connecting through Prisma Access.
    You can view throughput improvements from App Acceleration in Prisma SASE Incidents and Alerts. AI-powered Autonomous DEM (ADEM) integrates with App Acceleration and provides you with metrics such as the number of applications that were accelerated and the performance boost gained overall.

    App Acceleration Requirements and Guidelines

    When configuring App Acceleration, make a note of the following guidelines and requirements:
    • Supported Apps—App Acceleration supports the following apps:
      • Amazon S3
      • Azure Storage
      • Box
      • Google Drive
      • Microsoft 365:
        • My Content
      • Microsoft OneDrive
      • Salesforce
      • SAP Ariba
      • ServiceNow
      • Slack (file downloads)
      • Zoom:
        • File downloads from chat
        • Cloud recording downloads
        • Zoom Team Chat
    • Supported Locations—App Acceleration is available for all Prisma Access locations except for the following locations:
      • All Local Zones
      • Bahrain
      • China
      • Ireland
      • South Africa West
      • Sweden
      • United Arab Emirates
    • Trusted Root CA Upload—You need to set up a trusted Root CA and perform a commit and push operation and then select it during App Acceleration setup, as shown in the following procedures. If using Strata Cloud Manager to configure App Acceleration, set up the Root CA in the Prisma Access scope. If you change the certificate you use, you must also commit and push the changed certificate before you select it.
    • Forward Trust Certificate and Trusted Root CA—Enable the CA/certificate you uploaded as a forward trust certificate and trusted root CA, as shown in the following procedures. If SSL decryption is applied to any accelerated apps, you must mark the certificate as a forward trust certificate and trusted root CA, or users will encounter SSL errors when trying to access those apps.
    • Unsupported Prisma Access Functionality—The following functionality does not support App Acceleration and Prisma Access deployments with these features enabled won't be accelerated:
      • IPv6
        App Acceleration coexists with IPv6 networking when IPv6 is configured; however, only IPv4 TCP traffic is accelerated. IPv6 traffic is not accelerated, but functions normally.
      • Remote Networks that use Overlapped Subnets (supported by default in Prisma Access (Managed by Strata Cloud Manager) deployments, configurable in Prisma Access (Managed by Panorama) deployments.
    • App Acceleration Guidelines:
      • QUIC Protocol Support—Some browsers (such as Google Chrome) might use the Quick UDP Internet Connections (QUIC) protocol by default. Layer 7 App Acceleration can't be used on traffic using QUIC. As a workaround, disable the QUIC protocol when you configure App Acceleration.
      • SaaS Apps and Zy-* Response Headers—Users connecting to Prisma Access deployments that have App Acceleration enabled for top SaaS apps can expect to see response headers with a name of Zy-*, such as Zy-Server and Zy-Accelerated, and a zy_sid session cookie.
        If the response header is Zy-Accelerated, a value of 1 indicates that the response was accelerated and a value of 0 indicates the response wasn't accelerated.
      • Content Localization—If an accelerated SaaS app localizes content based solely on the user's IP address or user ID, when acceleration is enabled for that app, its content won't be localized.
      • Change to Default Behavior for Security Policy Rules with an Action set to Deny—If you have a Security policy rule with an action set to Deny that is applied to traffic going through App Acceleration using a rule based on source or destination address, application, or service, the traffic will complete a three-way handshake but Prisma Access will block it, and the Deny policy functions as configured.
      • Amazon S3 and Azure Blob Storage cache-control—Amazon S3 and Azure Blob Storage buckets and files have a series of HTTP response headers associated with them. One of these values is cache-control. Files are not accelerated if the cache-control value is:
        • Unset
        • Set to a value of max-age=0
        • Set to a value of max-age=no-cache
        To gain the benefit of App Acceleration for Amazon S3 and Azure Blob Storage, set the cache-control max-age value to one that’s greater than zero.
    • Apps with Shared Domain in Activity Insights—When using App Acceleration, Layer 7 acceleration is based on the domain. Under certain conditions, if two apps share the same domain, the app reporting in Activity Insights might attribute one app's Layer 7 traffic to another app. For example, if some traffic from MS Teams and OneDrive app share the same domain, the MS Teams app reporting will display under OneDrive.
    • Long-Lived Connections and System Logs—App Acceleration's writes Layer 4 logs when an individual TCP connection ends. For short-lived connections, this behavior is transparent, because short-lived connections are frequently created by applications.
      App Acceleration collects metrics for the entire period that the connection is active. For long-lived connections such as those used by mounted SMB network drives, this behavior can make it seem as if metrics are collected only during the end of the connection.

    Configure App Acceleration

    To configure App Acceleration in Prisma Access, select one of the following tabs depending on your deployment (Prisma Access (Managed by Strata Cloud Manager) or Prisma Access (Managed by Panorama)).

    Configure App Acceleration in Prisma Access (Strata Cloud Manager)

    Configure App Acceleration in a Prisma Access (Managed by Strata Cloud Manager) deployment.
    To configure App Acceleration in a Prisma Access (Managed by Strata Cloud Manager) deployment, complete this task.
    1. (Optional) Disable the Quick UDP Internet Connections (QUIC) protocol.
      App Acceleration cannot accelerate apps at Layer 7 without disabling QUIC.
      1. Go to ManageConfigurationNGFW & Prisma AccessSecurity ServicesSecurity Policy and Add RulePre Rules.
        Create this Security policy rule in the Global configuration scope.
      2. Select an Application / Service of quic and an Actions of Deny.
      3. Save your changes.
      4. Go to ManageConfigurationNGFW & Prisma AccessObjectsServicesService and Add services for UDP port 80 and UDP port 443.
        Palo Alto Networks recommends adding services for UDP port 80 and UDP port 443 and creating an additional security policy to block UDP traffic on those ports, because newer versions of QUIC might be misidentified as unknown-udp.
      5. Return to ManageConfigurationNGFW & Prisma AccessSecurity ServicesSecurity PolicyAdd Rule for a second security policy, specifying the services under Application / Services and an Action of Deny.
        When complete, you will have two security policies: One that blocks the QUIC protocol and one that blocks traffic on UDP ports 80 and 443.
    2. Import a root certificate authority (CA) certificate and private key in Strata Cloud Manager in the Prisma Access scope to use with App Acceleration and push your changes.
      A self-signed root CA/certificate is the top-most certificate in a certificate chain. App Acceleration uses the root CA/certificates to create certificates for the accelerated apps. Push the root CA/certificate in Prisma Access so that App Acceleration can begin creation of the app- specific certificates.
      The root CA/certificate must have these characteristics: :
      • The CA must be a trusted CA.
      • (Recommended) The CA should be unique and used for App Acceleration only.
      • The CA can't be expired. Make a note of the CA expiration date, and renew the certificate before it expires. If a CA/certificate in use by App Acceleration expires, users will receive an SSL error when trying to access accelerated apps. It is critical to ensure that the CA is valid when App Acceleration is in use by your organization.
      • It must include a key.
      • It must use a passphrase.
      • It must be in the Prisma Access scope.
      • (Mobile Users—GlobalProtect Deployments Only) It must be installed in the local root certificate store.
        You can perform this installation by adding it to the list of trusted certificates as described in this procedure or, if you are using ActiveDirectory, you can distribute the root CA from AD using an Active Directory Group Policy Object (GPO).
      If you ever need to change the root CA/certificate, you must upload it and commit your changes before you can use the changed certificate.
      1. Go to ManageConfigurationNGFW and Prisma AccessObjectsCertificate Management.
      2. Import a certificate.
      3. Select the following parameters:
        • Enter a unique Certificate Name for the certificate, such as AppAcceleration_CA.
          The name is case-sensitive and can be up to 31 characters long. Use only letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores in the name.
        • Choose File and browse for the Certificate File received from the CA and Open it.
        • Select a Format:
          • Encrypted Private Key and Certificate (PKCS12)—This is the default and most common format, in which the key and certificate are in a single container (Certificate File).
          • Base64 Encoded Certificate (PEM)—You must import the key separately from the certificate. You're required to select a Key File if you select this format.
          • Enter a Passphrase and Confirm Passphrase.
      4. Save your changes.
    3. Mark the root CA/certificate you added as a forward trust certificate and a trusted root CA.
      If you don't specify the certificate as a forward trust certificate and trusted root CA, users will encounter SSL errors when trying to access accelerated apps when using SSL decryption.
      1. Select the root CA/certificate you added.
      2. Select the certificate as a Forward Trust Certificate and Trusted Root CA.
      3. Update the certificate.
    4. Push your changes.
    5. (Mobile Users—GlobalProtect Deployments Only) Add the root CA/certificate you added to the list of GlobalProtect trusted certificates and install it in the local root certificate store.
      Alternatively, if you are using ActiveDirectory, you can distribute the root CA from AD using an Active Directory GPO.
      1. Go to WorkflowsPrisma Access SetupGlobalProtectGlobalProtect AppGlobal App Settings.
      2. Click the gear to edit the Settings.
      3. Add Trusted Certificate Distribution.
      4. Select the Trusted Root CA you created in a previous step and select Install in Local Root Certificate Store.
      5. Save your changes.
      6. Push your changes.
    6. Enable App Acceleration and choose the certificate file you created.
      1. Go to WorkflowsApp Acceleration from the left navigation bar.
        The App Acceleration window displays.
      2. Move the slider to the right to have App Acceleration be Enabled for all Mobile Users—GlobalProtect and Remote Networks.
        If commits are ongoing, App Acceleration settings will take effect after all commits complete.
        App Acceleration will be enabled for all TCP traffic. If you wish to accelerate SaaS apps, you will need to select a root CA/certificate, as shown in the next step.
    7. Select the certificate you created in a previous step.
      If you need to change the certificate from an existing one, make sure you have committed and pushed the certificate to your firewalls and users, then select it here. You must commit the new certificate before you select it.
      After you import the certificate, you must wait until App Acceleration generates domain-specific certificates for each app. This process can take up to one hour. In the meantime, you can move the slider for the Accelerated Apps to the left to temporarily disable App Acceleration and access the apps until the certificates are generated; if you don't, you might receive an SSL error until the certificates are generated.
      Allow up to 10 minutes for acceleration to be active after you have turned it on for a given application.
    8. (Optional) Show Advanced Options and change the metric testing parameters.
      • (Optional) To disable the collection of metrics to obtain performance information, deselect Allow tests to collect performance metrics for Mobile Users.
        Palo Alto Networks recommends that you enable metric collection to view the app performance improvements when using App Acceleration.
      • (Optional) To change the percentage of users for which predictive tests are processed from the default of 5%, select another percentage in the drop-down and Confirm the changes.

    Configure App Acceleration in Prisma Access (Panorama)

    Configure App Acceleration in a Prisma Access (Managed by Panorama) deployment.
    To configure App Acceleration in a Prisma Access (Managed by Panorama) deployment, complete this task.
    1. (Optional) Disable the Quick UDP Internet Connections (QUIC) protocol.
      App Acceleration cannot accelerate apps at Layer 7 without disabling QUIC.
      1. Go to PoliciesSecurityPre Rules and Add a security policy.
        Create this Security policy rule in the Shared device group.
      2. Select an Application of quic and an action of Deny.
      3. Add a second security policy.
        Newer versions of QUIC might be misidentified as unknown-udp. For this reason, Palo Alto Networks recommends adding services for UDP port 80 and UDP port 443 and creating an additional security policy to block UDP traffic on those ports.
      4. Under Service/URL Category, Add a new services for UDP port 80 and UDP port 443 and an Action of Deny.
        When complete, you will have two security policies: One that blocks the QUIC protocol and one that blocks traffic on UDP ports 80 and 443.
    2. Import a root certificate authority (CA) certificate and private key in Panorama to use with App Acceleration and commit and push your changes.
      A self-signed root CA/certificate is the top-most certificate in a certificate chain. App Acceleration uses the root CA/certificates to create certificates for the accelerated apps. Push the root CA/certificate in Prisma Access so that App Acceleration can begin creation of the app-specific certificates.
      The root CA/certificate must have these characteristics:
      • The CA must be a trusted CA.
      • (Recommended) The CA should be unique and used for App Acceleration only.
      • The CA can't be expired. Make a note of the CA expiration date, and renew the certificate before it expires. If a CA/certificate in use by App Acceleration expires, users will receive an SSL error when trying to access accelerated apps. It is critical to ensure that the CA is valid when App Acceleration is in use by your organization.
      • It must include a key.
      • It must use a passphrase.
      • (Mobile Users—GlobalProtect Deployments Only) It must be installed in the local root certificate store.
        You can perform this installation by adding it to the list of trusted certificates as described in this procedure or, if you are using ActiveDirectory, you can distribute the root CA from AD using an Active Directory Group Policy Object (GPO).
      If you ever need to change the root CA/certificate, you must upload it and commit and push your changes before you can use the changed certificate.
      1. Go to DeviceCertificatesCertificate Management.
        Be sure that you are in the Mobile_User_Template.
      2. Import a certificate.
      3. Select the following parameters:
        • Enter a unique Certificate Name for the certificate, such as AppAcceleration_CA.
          The name is case-sensitive and can be up to 31 characters long. Use only letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores in the name.
        • Browse for the Certificate File received from the CA and Open it.
        • Select a Format:
          • Encrypted Private Key and Certificate (PKCS12)—This is the default and most common format, in which the key and certificate are in a single container (Certificate File).
          • Base64 Encoded Certificate (PEM)—You must import the key separately from the certificate. You're required to Import Private Key and select a Key File if you select this format.
          • Enter a Passphrase and Confirm Passphrase.
      4. Click OK.
      5. Repeat these steps, substituting the Remote_Network_Template for the Mobile_User_Template.
        You must import these certificates in both the Mobile_User_Template and Remote_Network_Template in order to accelerate apps for your mobile users and users at remote network sites.
    3. Mark the root CA/certificate you added as a forward trust certificate and a trusted root CA.
      If you don't specify the certificate as a forward trust certificate and trusted root CA, users will encounter SSL errors when trying to access accelerated apps when using SSL decryption. If you have certificates in the Mobile_User_Template and Remote_Network_Template, perform this step in both templates.
      1. Select the root CA/certificate you added.
      2. Select the certificate as a Forward Trust Certificate and Trusted Root CA and click OK.
    4. Commit and Push your changes.
    5. (Mobile Users—GlobalProtect Deployments Only) Add the root CA/certificate you added to the list of GlobalProtect trusted certificates in the GlobalProtect portal configuration.
      Alternatively, if you are using ActiveDirectory, you can distribute the root CA from AD using an Active Directory GPO.
      1. Go to NetworkGlobalProtectPortalsGlobalProtect_PortalAgent.
        Be sure that you are in the Mobile_User_Template.
      2. Add the trusted root CA you created in a previous step.
      3. Select Install in Local Root Certificate Store.
      4. Click OK.
      5. Commit and Push your changes.
    6. Enable App Acceleration and choose the certificate file you created.
      1. Go to PanoramaCloud ServicesApp Acceleration and Get Started with App Acceleration.
      2. Go to WorkflowsApp Acceleration from the left navigation bar.
        The App Acceleration window displays.
      3. Move the slider to the right to have App Acceleration be Enabled for all Mobile Users—GlobalProtect and Remote Networks.
        If commits are ongoing, App Acceleration settings will take effect after all commits complete.
        App Acceleration will be enabled for all TCP traffic. If you wish to accelerate SaaS apps, you will need to select a root CA/certificate, as shown in the next step.
    7. In the App Acceleration configuration, type the name of the certificate you created in an earlier step exactly as it is listed in Panorama.
      Be sure that you have committed and pushed the certificate before typing it.
      If you need to change the certificate from an existing one, type the new name. You must type in the name (you cannot select it from a list), and you must commit and push the new certificate before you enter the name.
      After you import the certificate, you must wait until App Acceleration generates domain-specific certificates for each app. This process can take up to one hour. In the meantime, you can move the slider for the Accelerated Apps to the left to temporarily disable App Acceleration and access the apps until the certificates are generated; if you don't, you might receive an SSL error until the certificates are generated.
      Allow up to 10 minutes for acceleration to be active after you have turned it on for a given application.
    8. (Optional) Show Advanced Options and change the metric testing parameters.
      • (Optional) To disable the collection of metrics to obtain performance information, deselect Allow tests to collect performance metrics for Mobile Users.
        Palo Alto Networks recommends that you enable metric collection to view the app performance improvements when using App Acceleration.
      • (Optional) To change the percentage of users for which predictive tests are processed from the default of 5%, select another percentage in the drop-down and Confirm the changes.

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