Policy Pages Reference : Networking Policy Settings : Hardware Assist Rules
  
Hardware Assist Rules
You configure hardware assist rules in the Hardware Assist Rules page. This feature only appears on an appliance equipped with one or more Two-Port SR Multimode Fiber 10 Gigabit-Ethernet PCI-E cards.
Hardware Assist rules can automatically bypass all User Datagram Protocol (UDP) connections. You can also configure rules for bypassing specific Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connections. Automatically bypassing these connections decreases the workload on the local appliances because the traffic is immediately sent to the kernel of the host machine or out of the other interface before the appliance receives it.
For details about Hardware Assist Rules, see the SteelHead Management Console User’s Guide for SteelHead CX.
For a hardware assist rules to be applied to a specific 10-G bypass card, the corresponding in-path interface must be enabled and have an IP address.
10-G NIC Hardware Assist Rules Settings
Complete the configuration as described in this table
Control
Description
Enable Hardware Passthrough of All UDP Traffic
Specify to automatically pass-through all UDP traffic. Hardware assist rules are ignored unless this check box is selected. No TCP traffic will be passed through.
Enable Hardware Passthrough of TCP Traffic Defined in the Rules Below
Specify to pass-through TCP traffic based on the configured rules. TCP pass-through is controlled by rules. The next step describes how to step up hardware assist rules.
All hardware assist rules are ignored unless this check box is selected. No TCP traffic will be passed through.
Apply
Applies your settings.
TCP Hardware Assist Rules
Complete the configuration as described in this table.
Control
Description
Add a New Rule
Displays the controls for adding a new rule.
Type
Select one of the following rule types:
•  Accept - Accepts rules matching the Subnet A or Subnet B IP address and mask pattern for the optimized connection.
•  Pass-Through - Identifies traffic to be passed through the network unoptimized.
Position
Determines the order which the system evaluates the rule. Select start, end, or a rule number from the drop-down list.
The system evaluates rules in numerical order starting with rule 1. If the conditions set in the rule match, then the rule is applied and the system moves on to the next rule. For example, if the conditions of rule 1 do not match, rule 2 is consulted. If rule 2 matches the conditions, it is applied, and no further rules are consulted.
In general, filter traffic that is to be unoptimized, discarded, or denied before processing rules for traffic that is to be optimized.
Subnet A
Specify an IP address and mask for the subnet that can be both source and destination together with Subnet B.
Use this format: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX/XX
Note: You can specify all or 0.0.0.0/0 as the wildcard for all traffic.
Subnet B
Specify an IP address and mask for the subnet that can be both source and destination together with Subnet A.
Use this format: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX/XX
Note: You can specify all or 0.0.0.0/0 as the wildcard for all traffic.
VLAN Tag ID
Optionally, specify a numeric VLAN tag identification number.
Select all to specify the rule applies to all VLANs.
Select untagged to specify the rule applies to non-tagged connections.
Note: Pass-through traffic maintains any preexisting VLAN tagging between the LAN and WAN interfaces.
Note: To complete the implementation of VLAN tagging, you must set the VLAN tag IDs for the in-path interfaces that the appliance uses to communicate with other appliances.
Description
Optionally, include a description of the rule.
Add
Adds the new hardware assist rules to the list. You can add up to a maximum number of 50 rules.
•  RiOS applies the same rule to both LAN and WAN interfaces.
•  Every 10-G card has the same rule set.
The appliance refreshes the Hardware Assist Rules table and applies your modifications to the running configuration, that is stored in memory.
Remove Selected Rules
Select the check box next to the name and click Remove Selected Rules.
Move Selected Rules
Moves the selected rules. Click the > next to the desired rule position; the rule moves to the new position.