US 2017/0251052 A1Published application

Socket application program interface (api) for efficient data transactions

AssigneeFortinet, Inc.

InventorWilliam A. Kish

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Abstract

Methods and systems for efficient data transactions between applications running on devices associated with the same host. According to one embodiment, a host system includes an HTTP proxy and an SSL/TLS proxy operatively coupled with each other. The SSL/TLS proxy may be configured to perform SSL negotiation with a client and the HTTP proxy may be configured to communicate with a web server in clear text. Data can be transferred directly between the proxies through a pair of connected sockets using a handle of the other proxy's socket. The handle includes a pointer to an address within a memory of a first device upon which the other proxy is running. In this manner, data stored at the address may be processed by a proxy running on a second device without copying the data to the second device and without the overhead associated with the TCP/IP protocol stack.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method of facilitating efficient data transactions between a first device and a second device residing within an Application Delivery Controller (ADC), the method comprising:

creating a first endpoint of communication between a first application running on the first device and a second application running on the second device by instantiating a first socket by invoking by the first application a create socket method of a first socket application programming interface (API) implemented on the first device;
creating a second endpoint of communication between the first application and the second application by instantiating a second socket by invoking by the second application a create socket method of a second socket API implemented on the second device;
binding the first socket and the second socket, by invoking by the first application a connect method of the first socket API and by invoking by the second application a listen method of the second socket API;
obtaining a handle of the second socket by the first application by invoking by the first application a get peer socket handle method of the first socket API, wherein the handle includes at least one pointer having a value indicative of an address within a memory of the second device;
and
processing, by the first application, data stored at the address without copying the data to the first device.

3 more elements

An Application Delivery Controller (ADC) comprising:

a first device implementing a first socket API layer that provides an interface between applications running on the first device and (i) a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) protocol stack of the first device and (ii) a network interface of the first device;
a second device implementing a second socket API layer that provides an interface between applications running on the first device and (i) a TCP/IP protocol stack of the second device and (ii) a network interface of the second device;
wherein the first device directly accesses data stored within a memory of the second device by:
creating a first endpoint of communication between a first network level application running on the first device and a second network level application running on the second device by instantiating a first socket by invoking by the first network level application a create socket method of the first socket API layer;
creating a second endpoint of communication between the first network level application and the second network level application by instantiating a second socket by invoking by the second network level application a create socket method of the second socket API layer;
binding the first socket and the second socket, by invoking by the first network level application a connect method of the first socket layer API and by invoking by the second network level application a listen method of the second socket layer API;
obtaining a handle of the second socket by the first network level application by invoking by the first network level application a get peer socket handle method of the first socket API layer, wherein the handle includes at least one pointer having a value indicative of an address within the memory of the second device;
and
processing, by the first network level application, data stored at the address without copying the data to the first device.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/597,051Filed 16 May 2017
Priority: 30 Jun 2014
Published: 31 Aug 2017
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification9 codes

H04L 67/10
Protocols: in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network
G06F 9/54
Multiprogramming arrangements: interprogram communication
G06F 9/544
Interprogram communication: buffers; Shared memory; Pipes
H04L 63/02
Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security: for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls

Family

Application14/318,940Continuation · filed 30 Jun 2014
Application15/597,051Continuation
US 10,009,419 B2Related patent
US 2015/0381710 A1Published application
US 9,680,918 B2Related patent
US 2017/0251052 A1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.