At+t Corp.

Dalibor F Vrsalovic

Partha P Dutta

Thomas B London

Karl Andres Siil

Daniel N Zenchelsky

John J Chiang

Sinisa Srbljic

Nino Vidovic

A system and method for loading a filtering rule at a firewall. A firewall receives a packet and determines if a rule that pertains to the packet is loaded at the firewall. If a pertinent rule is found, it is implemented and the action prescribed by the rule for the packet is performed. If no pertinent rule is found, then a pertinent rule is retrieved from a source external to the firewall, and loaded at the firewall. The rule is then implemented for the packet. After the rule expires, e.g., when the user logs off, the rule is deleted from the firewall.

System and method for dynamic retrieval loading and deletion of packet rules in a network firewall

A system and method for load balancing. A packet is received at a firewall, which implements a rule and refers the packet to a load balancing proxy. The proxy performs a load balancing analysis at the load balancing proxy. Based on the results of the load balancing analysis, the proxy determines a load balancing rule, which is implemented by the firewall. At the end of the session to which the received packet belongs, the load balancing rule is deleted at the firewall.

System and method for network load balancing

A system and method for providing peer-level access control on networks that carry packets of information, each packet having a 5-tuple having a source and destination address, a source and destination port, and a protocol identifier. The local rule base of a peer is dynamically loaded into a filter when the peer is authenticated, and ejected when the peer is loses authentication. The local rule base is efficiently searched through the use of hash tables wherein a hashed peer network address serves as a pointer the peer's local rules. Each rule comprises a 5-tuple and an action. The action of a rule is carried out on a packet when the 5-tuple of the rule corresponds to the 5-tuple of the packet.

System and method for providing peer level access control on a network

A cache for use with a network filter that receives, stores and ejects local rule bases dynamically. The cache stores a rule that was derived from a rule base in the filter. The cache rule is associated in the cache with a rule base indicator indicating from which rule base the cache rule was derived, and a rule base version number indicating the version of the rule base from which the cache rule was derived. When the filter receives a packet, the cache is searched for a rule applicable to a received packet. If no such rule is found, the filter rule base is found, and an applicable rule is carried out and copied to the cache along with a rule base indicator and version number. If a cache rule is found, it is implemented if its version number matches the version number of the rule base from which it was derived. Otherwise, the cache rule is deleted. The cache provides an efficient way of accurately implementing the rules of a dynamic rule base without having to search the entire rule base for each packet.

Session cache and rule caching method for a dynamic filter

A scalable distributed caching system on a network receives a request for a data object from a user. The caching system carries out a locator function that locates a directory cache for the object. The directory cache stores a directory list that identifies the locations of object caches that purport to store copies of the object requested by the user. The object caches on the object directory list are polled, and in response send messages to the cache that received the user request indicating if each object cache stores a copy of the requested object. The receiving cache sends a message requesting a copy of the object to the object cache that sent the message first received by the receiving cache indicating that an object cache stores the requested object. The object cache that sent the first received message then sends a copy of the object to the receiving cache, which stores a copy and then sends a copy to the user. The directory list for the object is then updated by adding the network address of the receiving cache. Outdated copies of objects stored on object caches are deleted in a distributed fashion to maintain the coherence of the cached copies. This is further reinforced by the association of time-to-live parameters with the each copy and each object cache address on directory lists.

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Dalibor F Vrsalovic