Fastpath-based VPN gateway over network processor

Networks, along with the explosive growth of the Internet, developed quickly and make our lives more convenient and efficient. However, at the same time, people will face much more network security problems such as illegal observation, modification, IP Spoofing, etc. This article proposes a novel type of universal software architecture named Fastpath which is purposely designed and optimized for Network Element (NE) in the Next Generation Networks (NGN), under Linux. Furthermore, it illustrates the experience in developing IPSec-based VPN gateway over IXP425, and offloading IPSec processing to NPEs and coprocessors by using APIs of software AccessLibrary through Open Crypto Framework (OCF). Finally, we investigate the performance issues both internally and externally. Through the benchmarks, we analyze the performance of the system and identify that Fastpath and network processor together can construct a universal and high-functional platform for NE which focuses on network processing.