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F E A T U R E

Smashing the SSL Speed Trap

June 11, 2001
By Lori MacVittie

Internal Devices

iVea Technologies CryptoSwift EN 2000

The CryptoSwift EN 2000 is unique among the internal SSL accelerators. It requires integration with the Web server, but communication between the Web server and the EN 2000 occurs via the network. The EN 2000's PKCS#11 modules that plug into the Web server redirect cryptographic functionality to an IP address rather than via the traditional PCI or SCSI bus. As a separate device, the EN 2000 offers a level of scalability generally not available in an integrated solution. Although we don't like having to make manual changes to the Web server configuration, as is required by all the internal solutions we tested, the EN 2000 and the CryptoSwift 600 both reduce the number of manual edits of the Web server configuration to the addition of a single line in the configuration file.

Performance of the CryptoSwift EN 2000 is acceptable in terms of the number of transactions per second processed -- more than 211, compared with a baseline rate of 170 (encrypted sessions with no acceleration) -- and significantly decreasing connect times for an SSL session under a heavy load, from 5.5 seconds for a 10-KB text file to four seconds. Although it lacks the sophisticated security of the nCipher nForce 300, the EN 2000 offers excellent support for a variety of Web servers and operating systems.

CryptoSwift EN 2000, $24,989. Available: Now. iVea Technologies, a division of Rainbow Technologies, (877) 274-4832, (949) 206-7000; fax (949) 206-7050. www.rainbow.com