Cryptographic Accelerator Option now available for the SnapGear/SecureEdge platforms
SnapGear engineers have completed the addition of the Hi/fn 7901
network security processor to the SnapGear family of Internet Security
Appliances and SecureEdge development platforms. This is an important enhancement to the
base offering, giving the units the ability to handle T1 link speeds with
virtually unlimited numbers of clients while dealing with key lengths as
large as 2048 bits. Combined with the inherent security firewalling and VPN
features of the appliance even the most sensitive financial or military data
is protected.
Steps to Strong Encryption
The upgrade required two stages. Firstly, the Hi/fn processor needed to be
added to the main board layout, a task that was completed within three weeks
and the
first prototypes were functional without modification. Secondly, the uClinux
kernel needed a device driver written such that
there would be minimal disruption to the existing security architecture.
This is where the modular nature of an open system such as Linux provided an
advantage, yielding a device driver that can work with any CPU architecture.
No changes to the IPSec and PPTP stacks were required, again due to the
modular design and ease of developing on Linux.
Facts and Figures
Previously all cryptographic and compression functions were handled by the
main CPU, a Motorola ColdFire processor.
The Hi/fn processor support was added as a device driver which takes up only
4Kb of memory, an astoundingly small footprint for a SnapGear appliance that
can have anywhere up to 32Mb of RAM onboard.
With the
addition of the Hi/fn functionality throughput improved by a factor of 4,
yielding raw encryption speeds with 3DES of 26 Mbps with encryption overhead
only 1% of main CPU utilisation. 3DES is a high-strength secure symmetric
algorithm with an effective key length of 112 bits. The SnapGear family now
has cryptographic support for DES, 3DES, and RC4 symmetric encryption; SHA-1
and MD5 secure hashing; RSA, DSA, and Diffie-Hellman public key
cryptography; and bulk data compression. The first units shipped with the
Hi/fn were the SecureEdge SE2530 line, to OEM customers who cannot be named in
order to maintain
non-disclosure agreements.
What is SecureEdge?
The SecureEdge family provides OEM developers a ready-made reference platform to
build Internet Security Appliances. Think of it as a sophisticated
Development Kit that provides an embedded open source Linux (uClinux) abstracted from hardware components
for access and connectivity. Why reinvent the wheel for what are essentially
commodity items? SecureEdge products allow faster time to market by removing the
risks and uncertainty inherent in building and testing hardware, letting you
the OEM focus on your market opportunities and the soft modifications you
need to make to satisfy those opportunities. We do the rest. With the SecureEdge
family you gain tested interfaces including 10/100/1000 ethernet, serial
ports, xDSL, USB, PCI, ISA, along with a Linux API and application stacks
for VPN, security, firewall, routing, DHCP, etc. And because it's all open
source you're not locked in to a vendor and you gain the ready reusable
application base of the entire Linux community. The days of hand-coding
asembler in embedded devices are gone - with SecureEdge if you can program in a
high-level language then you're instantly up and running and shipping your
product in a little as three weeks. For more information please visit
http://www.snapgear.com/oemhome.html
Value Add
SnapGear now maintains a base of electronics engineers in addition to software
engineers.
SnapGear recognises that having embedded operating systems only solves half the
problem - and it can be a costly exercise developing or sourcing hardware
that is tailored to your needs. The answer is to provide a complete solution
for some of the hottest development arenas - internet and security
appliances. By combining expertise in electronics design with world-class
kernel developers SnapGear is able to provide a truly turn-key solution. We
understand your problems and proved it by going ahead and building the
product our OEM and ISP partners wanted to build.
Further information on SnapGear VPN Routers
Further information on SecureEdge Development Platforms
Further Technical Bulletins
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