Build an Open Source SSL Accelerator

Amin Zelfani writes "SSL accelerators like Big-IP 6900 from F5 Networks typically carry a $50k or more price tag. An article over at o3magazine.com shows you how to build an SSL accelerator that's on par with the commercial solutions, using Open Source projects. SSL Accelerators offload the encryption / decryption process from web servers, reducing load and reducing the number of certificates needed."

Comments

Ideally...

[jd]

...you'd offload the entire TCP/IP stack (Linux' networking isn't the fastest) as well as the SSL. Preferably get the IPSEC in there as well. It shouldn't be too hard to build a card that does the lot. You could then use VCHAN or some other kernel bypass method to forward the data as though Linux had just processed the packets within its own networking stack. The software doesn't need to know where the operation is taking place, so long as the API is the same.

However, just getting the SSL onto a card is a definite advantage, as SSL is a heavy processor consumer and is used frequently-enough that it's a drag on systems.

There are many encryption chips out there (Freescale's S1, for example) and there are projects on OpenCores that you can download right into a low-cost FPGA, so you can get pretty much whatever speed you want at whatever budget you're prepared to set aside.