DPI Coverage Getting it Wrong
Over the past two days news has trickled out that NebuAd's CEO has resigned and the company is now suspending their web-monitoring plans. Blogs and mainstream media are not only calling this a win for online privacy, but a few have talked about how this will kill off deep packet inspection (DPI) as a technology. ZDnet's "Between the Lines" more specifically wrote:
"...it doesn’t sound like there’s a long prosperous future ahead for deep packet inspection..."
As Dennis commented on the ZDnet post, this is a bit of 'throwing the baby out with the bathwater'. DPI capabilities go way beyond marketing uses, including enhancing network security and data leak prevention. To collectively dismiss DPI because of the NebuAd example is short-sighted and a bit irresponsible.
To elaborate on these points, here are the DPI slides we shared a few weeks ago from Dennis' portion of the DPI webinar. These should be helpful for folks who are only looking at one angle of this story.
BreakingPoint Test Methodology for DPI Released
As we discussed last week BreakingPoint has created a detailed test methodology and video series that helps network engineers to test the DPI features of content-aware network devices. Just like we did with the IPS test methodology, you can view the videos and download the full methodology for your own use. DPI is certainly in the news a lot, and much of the coverage focuses on privacy concerns and P2P bandwidth shaping.
Here again is the intro video, than make your way over to our DPI Test Methodology and let us know what you think.
Deep Packet Inspection Testing Webinar
As we've been talking about here on the blog and on Twitter, today was the first in a series of webinar's being hosted by NSS Labs on the topic of deep packet inspection (DPI). Dennis Cox, BreakingPoint's CTO, joined the call and had several slides that provided a good overview for what DPI encompasses and the different elements one must recognize when testing for DPI functionality. I thought I would provide the slides Dennis discussed on the webinar and when the archived webinar is available I'll provide you the link.
Deep Packet Inspection is All the Rage
Quick post on some interesting deep packet related information:
- NSS Labs will be kicking off their DPI Webinar Series tomorrow, from what I hear there will be a really good crowd on the line, registration is here. UPDATE: Here's the link to our Deep Packet Inspection Testing slides from the Webinar.
- Miercom announced results of their test of Solera Networks' Deep Packet Capture device. You'll see in the report some of their use of BreakingPoint for network equipment testing. Miercom actually has an easy way to search through their results reports, so take a look.
- Speaking of BreakingPoint and deep packet, very soon we are going to be putting out our latest test methodology, this time looking at deep packet inspection (DPI). Here is an intro video:
Deep Packet Inspection (DPI)
Every month or so I write a blog post for dpacket.org. For those that don't know, dpacket.org, it's the online community site focused on deep packet inspection. It's run by Kyle Rosenthal out of San Francisco. If you are a vendor making DPI devices or interested in DPI in general I suggest you join and check it out. It's a new community and it's just starting to grow.
Most of the time I write about Network Processors, I'm very passionate about that technology and have been lucky to work on them throughout my career.
May 5th 2008: Common Problems with Network Processors
March 3rd 2008: Moving as Fast as Intel
Feburary 4th 2008: Deep Packet Inspection and the Role of Network Processors
