Content service aggregation system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A network device comprising:
- a set of compute elements internal to the network device, wherein the set of compute elements perform a set of network services on packet data, and wherein the set of compute elements are arranged in a processing pipeline to provide the set of network services;
a forwarding table stored within the network device that defines a plurality of different routes through the compute elements of the network device, the routes defining different sets of one or more of the network services and specifying an order for applying the network services;
a hardware switching fabric internal to the network device and coupling the compute elements to communicate the packet data between the compute elements; and
a flow control element to receive a data packet, to identify the data packet as being associated with a subscriber of a data center, and to identify a subset of the network services that are associated with the identified subscriber,wherein, in response to receiving the data packet, the flow control element selects one of the routes based on the subset of network services identified as associated with the subscriber and attaches a route tag to the packet to identify the selected route,wherein the route tag causes the data packet to be forwarded within the network device to a first one of the compute elements in the processing pipeline and causes output from one of the compute elements in the processing pipeline to be forwarded to a next compute element in the processing pipeline along the selected route through the compute elements for performing the subset of the services associated with the identified subscriber.
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Abstract
A network content service apparatus includes a set of compute elements adapted to perform a set of network services; and a switching fabric coupling compute elements in said set of compute elements. The set of network services includes firewall protection, Network Address Translation, Internet Protocol forwarding, bandwidth management, Secure Sockets Layer operations, Web caching, Web switching, and virtual private networking. Code operable on the compute elements enables the network services, and the compute elements are provided on blades which further include at least one input/output port.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A network device comprising:
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a set of compute elements internal to the network device, wherein the set of compute elements perform a set of network services on packet data, and wherein the set of compute elements are arranged in a processing pipeline to provide the set of network services; a forwarding table stored within the network device that defines a plurality of different routes through the compute elements of the network device, the routes defining different sets of one or more of the network services and specifying an order for applying the network services; a hardware switching fabric internal to the network device and coupling the compute elements to communicate the packet data between the compute elements; and a flow control element to receive a data packet, to identify the data packet as being associated with a subscriber of a data center, and to identify a subset of the network services that are associated with the identified subscriber, wherein, in response to receiving the data packet, the flow control element selects one of the routes based on the subset of network services identified as associated with the subscriber and attaches a route tag to the packet to identify the selected route, wherein the route tag causes the data packet to be forwarded within the network device to a first one of the compute elements in the processing pipeline and causes output from one of the compute elements in the processing pipeline to be forwarded to a next compute element in the processing pipeline along the selected route through the compute elements for performing the subset of the services associated with the identified subscriber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A network services device, comprising:
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a plurality of compute elements optimized to provide network content services on data packets coupled to the device; and a switching fabric coupling said plurality of compute elements; and an input/output element coupled to said switching fabric and said network, wherein the compute elements are arranged in a processing pipeline to provide said set of network services; and flow control means for receiving a data packet, identifying the data packet as being associated with a subscriber of a data center, identifying a set of one or more of the network services that are associated with the identified subscriber, and attaching a route tag to the data packet, wherein the flow control means stores a forwarding table that defines a plurality of different routes through the compute elements of the network device, the routes defining different sets of one or more of the network services and specifying an order for applying the network services, wherein, in response to receiving the data packet, the flow control means selects one of the routes based on the subset of network services identified as associated with the subscriber, and attaches the route tag to the packet to identify the selected route, wherein the switch fabric forwards the data packet along the selected route through the processing pipeline of the compute elements to perform the one or more network services associated with the identified subscriber. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A network content services device, coupled to a network and at least one secure content domain, comprising:
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a plurality of compute elements; a first input/output port coupled to said network; a second input/output port coupled to the secure content domain; a switching fabric coupling the input/output ports and compute elements; a computer-readable storage medium storing code operable on the plurality of compute elements to provide network services to streams of packets received from subscribers, wherein the compute elements are arranged in a processing pipeline to operate said code; and a flow control element to receive a data packet, to identify the data packet as being associated with a subscriber of a data center, to identify a set of one or more of the network services that are associated with the identified subscriber, wherein the flow control element stores a forwarding table that defines a plurality of different routes through the compute elements of the network device, the routes defining different sets of one or more of the network services and specifying an order for applying the network services, wherein, in response to receiving the data packet, the flow control element selects one of the routes based on the subset of network services identified as associated with the subscriber, and attaches a route tag to the packet to identify the selected route, and wherein the switch fabric forwards the data packet along the selected route through the processing pipeline of the compute elements to perform the one or more network services associated with the identified subscriber.
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Specification