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Configuration of SSL acceleration is cumbersome Small Form Factor GB Ethernet and 10/100 ports not an optimal combination Reworked GUI needs more work Nortel networks alteon application switch 2424-SSl, starts at $28,495. Nortel Networks, (800) 4NORTEL, (905) 863-0000. www.nortelnetworks.com |
Configuration of a standard Layer 7 scenario with only two rules was more extensive than for Layer 4. Rules are bound to servers rather than a group or pool (as offered by competitors F5 Networks and Foundry Networks), so I had to associate the appropriate SLB (server load balancing) string to each server that would handle requests matching the rule. I also had to enable each virtual service (tied to a virtual server) for Layer 7 functionality, or "HTTP SLB" in Nortel-speak.
Running With It
I ran a standard test against the 2424 using 24-KB pages comprising 10-KB text, 4-KB images and 2-KB images, and was unable to max out the device. While processing 22,000 HTTP gets per second, the device showed only 21 percent CPU utilization. Other products I've tested under these conditions, such as those from F5 Networks and ArrayNetworks, have run in 90 percent CPU utilization while handling 10,000 HTTP gets per second. I ran this same test on other content switches in the lab, including those from ArrayNetworks, F5, Foundry and NetScaler, under the same configuration and load conditions, and the Alteon 2424 was able to process twice the requests of its competitors.
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