Fast hardware-based content recognition with application Exchange Technology

The Extreme silicon technology can easily identify the hardware. The application exchange technology can perfectly support the layer-7 Application exchange function, and also include the ability to perform syntax analysis on Webpage requests. When optical network technologies such as DWDM and frequency division switching rapidly increase network capacity, the bandwidth will become ample. However, how to make better use of bandwidth, how to manage online applications, content, and not just signals and data frames has become the focus of service providers.

In the case of ample bandwidth, the network layer and below will no longer be the main problem. The key to improving the network service level will be how to solve the problem from the transport layer to the application layer, that is, the content recognition network. Therefore, the network technology dedicated to management from the transport layer to the application layer becomes very important.

A few days ago, Extreme was introduced to the market as an Application Switch using the latest silicon technology, which completely changed the Layer 4 that network experts had to solve for a long time ~ The technical dilemma of layer-7 Application exchange enables the content recognition network to be fully implemented by hardware. According to Extreme experts, there are actually three types of software for devices that are used to implement content recognition: A device built on a PC platform, a layer-3 Switch with a general CPU, and a network processor-based system. These products are acceptable to users only when simple traffic switching is completed. However, this simple function cannot allow the network administrator to adjust the network and manage applications with profit. Especially when IT experts try to use software-based content identification devices to achieve more intelligent exchanges involving application layer data, the problem becomes more serious, such as URL exchange to improve the performance of high-end networks and continuous Cookie tracking in e-commerce applications to identify users. Because the information required for these functions is buried in data packets, as a result, software-based content recognition devices cannot mobilize computing capabilities in any real-time manner to complete switching tasks, resulting in slow response to end users.

To solve the bottleneck of content recognition technology, Extreme implements all application exchange technologies in hardware, removing complex software, general CPU, and network processors, implement all the network functions through the Application Switch, including analysis, termination, initiation, and even modification of a gigabit TCP session with a line rate. This simple solution allows service providers and enterprise users to freely set any rules required by network applications and services without sacrificing the 1-bit performance of line rate. For multimedia applications, the cost advantage of processing sessions from hundreds of thousands of users to the video server is as obvious as processing a session.

The Extreme SummitPx1 Application Switch is the first to implement this latest technology. The application exchange technology supports a completely complementary layer-7 Application exchange function, including the ability to perform syntax analysis on Webpage requests, and the ability to redirect connections to the most appropriate web server based on the requested content and server capabilities.

In addition, no matter how many forwarding rules are set for the content, the SummitPx1 Application Switch can maintain the 1-bit performance of the line speed.

The server selection algorithms of the SummitPx1 Application Switch include loops, weighted loops, least connections, and weighted least connections. These algorithms not only track the client's IP records, but also perform the merge operation on the client's status settings, it also automatically detects and tracks cookies, processes cookies used for server recognition, and supports continuous Secure Sockets Layer session identifiers.

The Extreme application exchange technology can maximize the use of network resources, making it possible to implement other data center applications based on server performance, in particular, it can bring about some strategic changes to the future network design, such as the backbone network with content recognition capabilities. Place the Application Switch on the core layer or allocation layer, instead of the server that is close to the lower layer, so that network managers can allocate network resources at a lower cost. Mobile addition and change involve fewer devices, fewer devices to be purchased, and more centralized device placement. In addition, there are also Virtual Server Load balancer, it can expand the user's network to an unprecedented level, making it a reality to manage several sites in a network.