Method and Apparatus for Storing and Indexing High-Speed Network Traffic Data
First Claim
1. A method of network database maintenance comprising:
- sequentially recording in real-time packetheader, packet flow and/or packet content attributes in a plurality of database units in an order of arrival of the network packet data, the packet header, packet flow and/or packet content attributes derived from network packets captured and stored in one of a packet capture repository and a file system;
indexing each database unit of the plurality of database units to point to a memory location of the network packet data in one of the packet capture repository and the file system; and
generating an index bit mask on each database unit of the plurality of database units, the index bit mask providing an identification of a particular packet header, packet flow or packet content attribute in the database unit.
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Abstract
Storing and indexing of high-speed network traffic data is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of network database maintenance includes sequentially recording in real-time packet header and/or packet content attributes derived from network packets captured and stored in one of a packet capture repository and a file system in database units ordered by arrival of the network packet data. In addition, the method includes indexing each database unit to point to a memory location of the network packet data in one of the packet capture repository and the file system. The method also includes computing a hash value on certain input data and creating index bitmaps on each database unit to facilitate grouping of a similar attributes associated with the network packet data recorded in the database units. The resulting data may then be stored in compressed and/or encrypted formats on a file system for efficiency and security.
126 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method of network database maintenance comprising:
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sequentially recording in real-time packetheader, packet flow and/or packet content attributes in a plurality of database units in an order of arrival of the network packet data, the packet header, packet flow and/or packet content attributes derived from network packets captured and stored in one of a packet capture repository and a file system; indexing each database unit of the plurality of database units to point to a memory location of the network packet data in one of the packet capture repository and the file system; and generating an index bit mask on each database unit of the plurality of database units, the index bit mask providing an identification of a particular packet header, packet flow or packet content attribute in the database unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of network database maintenance comprising:
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providing a memory slot allocation of a fixed size, the slot configured to store in real time a flow of packets over a network; providing a plurality of database units for the slot, each of the plurality of database units being designated to store a particular packet header, packet flow or content attribute of the packets stored in the slot; inserting in real-time a packet header, packet flow or content information in the plurality of database units, the packet header, packet flow or content information associated with the network packet data stored in the slot, indexing each of the plurality of database units to point to a memory location of the network packet data in the slot; computing a hash on certain input values from the plurality of database units for the purpose of more efficient representation of the certain input data; and providing an index bit mask for each of the plurality of database units, the index bit masks configured to include a bit for each of the particular packet header, packet flow, hash value, or content attribute identified for a particular database unit. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A computing system comprising:
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one of a packet capture repository and a file system to store a network packet data, the network packet data including a header and content information; and an index module to index each database unit of a plurality of database units to point to a memory location of the network packet data in one of the packet capture repository and the file system, a plurality of index bit masks being created on at least one of each database unit of the plurality of database units or each hashed representation of each database unit of the plurality of database units to facilitate grouping of a similar header or content information associated with the network packet data sequentially recorded in real-time in the plurality of database units in an order of arrival of the network packet data. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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Specification