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An In-Depth Look at Chips for Network-Security Applications The network-security market remains as dynamic as the threats that are driving its growth. Security-equipment vendors must scale the performance of their VPN/firewall products while adding application-level features. To satisfy enterprise customers, security-software vendors are turning to hardware-accelerated appliances for intrusion prevention (IDS/IPS), antivirus, antispam, and content filtering. The convergence of these hardware and software products is creating Unified Threat Management (UTM) platforms, which have the most demanding processing requirements. For anything above SOHO-class equipment, standard processors alone can no longer deliver the required performance in a cost-effective and power-efficient manner. As a result, security-equipment and -software vendors turned first to accelerators (coprocessors) for encryption and later for content inspection. Today, a new breed of processors is taking integration to the next level by integrating one or more CPUs, memory and I/O controllers, and special-purpose engines for security functions. These integrated security processors are replacing the combination of a standard processor plus accelerator for many new designs. Get Up to Speed Quickly This report covers processors that integrate high-throughput encryption, such as Cavium's Octeon families, RMI's XLR/XLS/XLP, and Freescale’s MPC8572 and P4080. We also cover unique processors from Netronome and Tilera, which integrate 40 or more cores and target network-security applications. In addition, the report examines vendors developing content-inspection accelerators: Cavium's new Nitrox DPI, LSI Tarari, NetLogic NETL7, Lionic, and cPacket. Finally, we cover IPSec and SSL accelerators from Cavium, Exar (Hifn), SafeNet, and Broadcom. With one report, you can quickly compare the key vendors and their products and accelerate your selection process. This report analyzes each vendor and each product, probing their strengths and weaknesses and presenting key details in a consistent, easy to compare fashion. For example, we have sorted through various performance claims to put all the security processors on a level playing field, showing who can deliver real system throughput. We also tell you who can really do packet processing and who is just pretending. Make
Informed Decisions This report is written for:
• Engineers who are designing network-security equipment
and need to select a processor or security accelerator
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Guide to Security Processors and Accelerators