P4-IPsec: Implementation of IPsec Gateways in P4 with SDN Control for Host-to-Site Scenarios
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In this paper we propose P4-IPsec which follows the software-defined networking (SDN) paradigm. It comprises a P4-based implementation of an IPsec gateway, a client agent, and a controller-based, IKE-less signalling between them. P4-IPsec features the Encapsulation Security Payload (ESP) protocol, tunnel mode, and various cipher suites for host-to-site virtual private networks (VPNs). We consider the use case of a roadwarrior and multiple IPsec gateways steered by the same controller. P4-IPsec supports on-demand VPN which sets up tunnels to appropriate resources within these sites when requested by applications. To validate the P4-based approach for IPsec gateways, we provide three prototypes leveraging the software switch BMv2, the NetFPGA SUME card, and the Edgecore Wedge 100BF-32X switch as P4 targets. For the latter, we perform a performance evaluation giving experimental results on throughput and delay.
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