XML Accelerator

Speed XML Processing, Validation and Transformation

The SecureSpan™ XML Accelerator offloads extremely processor-intensive XML parsing, validation and transformation operations from application servers, database servers and Enterprise Service Buses (ESB). The XML Accelerator appliance is specifically designed to accelerate XML message throughput and reduce the latency associated with processing all common XML message formats including POX, SOAP, REST and AJAX.

The SecureSpan XML Accelerator can be configured to validate XML documents against an acceptable predefined schema, probe XML data for specific content or values and transform documents from one version to another. Control over message processing operations is through intuitive SecureSpan policies, which provide visual tools to navigate XML structures and quickly define message queries or transforms. Messages can be examined for specific content or context and routed to specific endpoints or returned to requestors after processing. All complex XML message processing is performed in onboard ASIC-based hardware accelerators to maximize message throughput and minimize processing latency.

The SecureSpan XML Accelerator is available as a linearly scalable, high performance 64-bit, multi-processor, 1U appliance with onboard XML acceleration and optional SSL accelerator. Deployment options include acting as an XML co-processor for a network of XML applications in a data center or as XML offload for an ESB. All operations on the SecureSpan XML Accelerator can be configured independently for inbound and outbound traffic.

To future proof customers against changing requirements, the SecureSpan XML Accelerator is software upgradeable to the SecureSpan XML Data Screen, XML Firewall and VPN or XML Networking Gateway.

Example Deployment Pages:

Problems Addressed:

• Accelerated XML message processing offload
• Accelerated document transformation and concatenation
• Accelerated XML data validation
• Message versioning between applications
• ESB co-processing

Innovations:

• First 64-bit architecture with onboard XML acceleration
• Policy based message and content handling
• Operates in both in-line and ESB co-processor configurations
• Built-in clustering support for scalability and high availability
• Future-proof through software upgrade to SecureSpan XML Data Screen, SecureSpan XML Firewall and VPN, or SecureSpan XML Networking Gateway

Key Features:

Accelerated XML Parsing and Processing
• Hardware accelerated message classification, parsing and optimized FastPath Stream Processor minimizes latency
• Hardware accelerated message searching, element detection and content comparisons
• High speed message transformations based on internal or external XSLT

Accelerated Message Validation and Routing
• High speed message validation against predefined external schema
• Configurable limits on XML message size, element size, nesting depth, string length, etc.
• Routing based on specific message content or message context
• User defined variables provides low-latency caching of message context for subsequent policy decisions or message processing

Policy Flexibility
• Support for XML, SOAP, POX, AJAX, REST and other XML-based services
• Configuration wizards simplify policy creation and activation
• Cut and paste support for predefined XPath and XSLT
• Rollback to previous policy versions and reuse of user defined policy fragments
  
• Supports template-based XML response messages and custom error reporting
• Policies can be applied to request-only, response-only or both request and response messages

Administration Options
• GUI-based SecureSpan Manager deployed as either stand alone application (Windows / Linux) or browser-based (Internet Explorer / Firefox)
• Centralized cluster management and configuration with delegated administration
• Drag and drop policy-based policy configuration
• Intelligent, real-time validation and testing of policies
• Secure configuration backup and policy migration between environments
• Logging and audit trapping of exceptions and system/user defined events via SNMP and SMTP
• Support for external logging sinks
• Dashboard for graphical, real-time performance monitoring

Supported Standards and Specifications
• XML 1.0, SOAP 1.1, REST, AJAX, XPath 1.0, XSLT 1.0, WSDL 1.1, XML Schema, LDAP 3.0, SAML 1.1/2.0, PKCS #10, X.509 v3 Certificates, FIPS 140-2, Kerberos, W3C XML Signature 1.0, W3C XML Encryption 1.0, SSL/TLS 1.1 / 3.0, SNMP, SMTP, HTTP/HTTPS, JMS 1.0, MQ Series, Tibco EMS 4.0, WS-Security 1.0, WS-Addressing, WS-Trust 1.0, WS-Federation,  WS-SecureConversation, WS-MetadataExchange, WS-Policy, WS-SecurityPolicy, WS-PolicyAttachment, WS-SecureExchange, WSIL, WS-I, WS-I BSP, UDDI 3.0

Form Factor
• 1U rack mount appliance, 64-bit multiprocessor platform with XML acceleration ASIC, optional SSL/crypto acceleration with HSM, four GE/FE NICS and dual PSUs
• Gateway software for Red Hat and SUSE Linux and Solaris platforms^*
• Soft appliance supporting a broad range of host operating systems

 
^{*Note: Some features available in appliance version only}