* Cavium processors claim to handle encryption and processing at 100M bit/sec
Cavium Networks last month released chips for IPSec and SSL VPN gear that promise faster and perhaps less expensive equipment for smaller sites.
The company launched two chips – CN220 and CN225 – that handle encryption of payloads and processing for secure authentication to VPNs at speeds of 100M bit/sec and faster – speeds needed for Ethernet, fiber and high-end flavors of DSL used for WAN access.
The key here is that the company is calling these SOHO processors, indicating that if vendors of VPN gear buy into the chips, they will be coming out with very high performance boxes for relatively small offices. This may prove intriguing for businesses looking for a good price/performance ration to support faster connectivity in offices that didn’t warrant faster connections before.
These chips could also support equipment for smaller sites that wouldn’t take performance hits when multiple VPN connections are running or when there is a lot of connecting to and disconnecting from the VPN.
What equipment becomes available to business customers will depend on which vendors actually use the new chips. In the past, some of the vendors that have used Cavium chips include 3Com, F5, Sun and WatchGuard.
While select vendors typically work with chip makers as new processors are in development, it will likely take months before any products based on these new offerings are released. Still, if a business is looking for a higher performance small office security appliance and its decisions are still months away, this could be a factor to keep in mind.
