Content processors are sometimes confused with

network processor A network processor is an integrated circuit which has a feature set specifically targeted at the Computer networking, networking application domain. Network processors are typically software programmable devices and would have generic characteri ...

s that inspect the

packet Packet may refer to: * A small container or pouch ** Packet (container), a small single use container ** Cigarette packet ** Sugar packet * Network packet, a formatted unit of data carried by a packet-mode computer network * Packet radio, a form ...

payload of an IP packet travelling through a

computer network A computer network is a collection of communicating computers and other devices, such as printers and smart phones. In order to communicate, the computers and devices must be connected by wired media like copper cables, optical fibers, or b ...

. These components allow for the design and deployment of next-generation networking systems that can make packet or message processing decisions based on an awareness of the packet or message content. The work of Content Processors is often termed Content Processing or

Deep Packet Inspection Deep packet inspection (DPI) is a type of data processing that inspects in detail the data (Network packet, packets) being sent over a computer network, and may take actions such as alerting, blocking, re-routing, or logging it accordingly. Deep ...

, DPI, though some people feel that the expression DPI is too limiting as many Content Processors can modify and re-write content on the fly - therefore they can do much more than just inspect which implies a sort of monitoring only function. Unlike knowledge based processors or Ternary

Content-addressable memory Content-addressable memory (CAM) is a special type of computer memory used in certain very-high-speed searching applications. It is also known as associative memory or associative storage and compares input search data against a table of stored ...

(TCAMS), which mainly target the packet header (twenty percent of the packet currently comprises the header), content processors go much further into the packet or message thereby determining the nature of the content in the packet itself (80% of the packet currently is data). Applications of content processors include: layer 7 application,

application-oriented networks Application-oriented networking (AON) involves network devices designed to aid in computer-to-computer application integration. Application-oriented networks are sometimes called "intelligent networks" or "content-based routing networks" and they ...

switches In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type o ...

, routers, unified threat management (UTM)

computer appliances A computer appliance is a computer system with a combination of hardware, software, or firmware that is specifically designed to provide a particular computing resource. Such devices became known as ''appliances'' because of the similarity in ...

Intrusion Detection An intrusion detection system (IDS) is a device or software application that monitors a network or systems for malicious activity or policy violations. Any intrusion activity or violation is typically either reported to an administrator or collec ...

, prevention systems (IDS/IPS),

anti-virus Antivirus software (abbreviated to AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware. Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name ...

compliance Compliance can mean: Healthcare * Compliance (medicine), a patient's (or doctor's) adherence to a recommended course of treatment * Compliance (physiology), the tendency of a hollow organ to resist recoil toward its original dimensions (this is a s ...

, OIPand

XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing data. It defines a set of rules for encoding electronic document, documents in a format that is both human-readable and Machine-r ...

gateways. The various layers of the

OSI model The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is a reference model developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that "provides a common basis for the coordination of standards development for the purpose of systems inter ...

are given in the link that follows with a description of layer 7 where content processing is and will become and integral part of the intelligent network as the next generation networks mature. Advanced Content Processors can both examine and transform content. For example: Microsoft's new Office 2007 product has the ability to save documents in an open

format, instead of .ppt, .xls and .doc applications will save to an encapsulated (actually ZIP) file type named .pptx, .xlsx and .docx. So a content processor could be used to examine all of a corporations documents and replace one company name with another, or change an included corporate logo - all because the structured data represented in XML can be manipulated much more easily than a proprietary and undocumented format. XML is often described as a self-describing language. Some Content Processors support the ability to handle both message-based or packet-by-packet analysis and some can keep track of content across multiple packets so that the signatures they may be searching for can cross packet boundaries and they will still be found.

References

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External links

Tarari Content Processors
Networking hardware

See also

References

External links