Redirecting network traffic based on content

摘要

A rule indicates that data having particular characteristics be automatically routed to a particular destination. When software on a switching device detects a new data stream, it is analyzed to determine whether it has characteristics specified by the rule. If it does, the packet is encapsulated with a special tag, indicating that the packet should be routed to the new destination. Also, an entry is added to a quick-lookup table in the switching device. The entry indicates that future packets in the data stream that have the same source and destination port and address should also be routed to the new destination.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method for routing traffic through a network including a plurality of interconnected switching devices, comprising:
(a) receiving a packet that includes a header and contents, the packet in a data stream; (b) determining whether the packet's data stream does not have an entry in a quick lookup table of an access switching device to determine whether the packet is in a new data stream, wherein the quick lookup table maps data streams to respective outputs of the access switching device and is separate from a forwarding table that maps groups of destination addresses to respective outputs; (c) determining that a rule in a plurality of rules correlates to the contents of the packet; (d) determining a destination for the packet based on the rule; (e) determining a label to attach to the packet, the label indicating to the plurality of interconnected switching devices how to route data to the destination; and (f) attaching the label to respective packets in the new data stream to direct the data stream to the destination determined based on the rule and the contents.