System and method for internet protocol security processing

摘要

A decentralized method for IPSec processing in virtual environments includes assigning a unique identifier to each of a set of compute nodes. Each compute node can emulate one or more virtual machines that generate IP packets for forwarding over a network (e.g., the Internet). An IP packet, received from a trusted source at a compute node, is encrypted and a trailer is appended to the encrypted packet. The trailer includes the unique identifier of the compute node. The encrypted packet with appended trailer is forwarded to a secure gateway that can perform an anti-replay check using stored parameters corresponding to the unique identifier in the trailer. In inbound processing, the unique identifier is inserted into a trailer appended to an encrypted packet by the security gateway and a VPN server directs the incoming encrypted packet to the appropriate compute node for forwarding to the virtual machine.

主权项

1. A method of processing IP packets, the method comprising:
assigning a unique identifier to a first network device; and at the first network device:
receiving an IP packet;encrypting the IP packet;appending a first trailer to the encrypted IP packet, wherein the first trailer includes the unique identifier; andforwarding the encrypted IP packet with the first trailer to a remote network device; at the remote network device:
receiving a second IP packet from an untrusted source;identifying a destination address included in the second IP packet;encrypting the second IP packet;appending a second trailer to the encrypted second IP packet, wherein the second trailer includes the unique identifier of the first network device that emulates a virtual machine having the identified destination address; andforwarding the encrypted second IP packet with the second trailer to a second network device; and at the second network device:
receiving the encrypted second IP packet with the second trailer from the remote network device; andforwarding the encrypted second IP packet to the first network device that emulates the virtual machine having the identified destination address.