METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING PACKET FLOWS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT THEREFOR

摘要

Packet flows are processed, e.g. to perform an intrusion detection function in a communication network, by means of a multiprocessor system including a plurality of processing units. The packets are distributed for processing among the processing units via a distribution function. Such a distribution function is selectively allotted to one of the processing units of the plurality. A preferred embodiment of the arrangement involves using a single Symmetric Multi-Processor machine with a single network port to Gigabit/sec link. The corresponding system architecture does not require any intermediate device, or any external load balancing mechanism. All the processing work is performed on a single system, which is able to dynamically balance the traffic load among the several independent CPUs. By resorting to a specific scheduling arrangement, such a system is able to effectively distribute the computations required to perform both the loadbalancing and the detection operations.