PIOLINK Application Switch 4500, Layer 4/7 Load Balancer, Firewall Performance and Worm Attack Protection Evaluation

Abstract

PIOLINK, Inc. commissioned The Tolly Group and TTA to evaluate the PIOLINK Application Switch 4500 (PAS 4500) for Layer 4-7 firewall and load balancing performance, and the impact of the PIOLINK Security Manager (PSM) on the performance.

The PAS 4500 is an intelligent and secure application switch that provides Layer 4-7 load balancing and application/network security with PSM. The PSM is PIOLINK's unique security system and enhances security by offloading the deep packet inspection from the PAS 4500 without imposing noticeable delays on the other traffic in the same data path.

Engineers measured the throughput of the PAS 4500 as a firewall after configuring Layer 4 filters (based on service port number) and Layer 7 filters (based on application payload signature), respectively, for various numbers of filters and frame sizes. Engineers also measured the TCP connection rate of the PAS 4500 when configured as a Layer 4 load balancer, and again as a Layer 7 load balancer. Finally, engineers measured the capability of the PAS 4500 to process legitimate HTTP and UDP traffic while blocking the attack traffic.