Gateway HTTP URL Filtering Extraction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional URL filtering systems in computer networks are inefficient due to the need for external devices to process entire HTTP requests, leading to excessive processing burdens and bandwidth usage, as they enforce policies based on client requests without extracting only the necessary information for policy processing.
Innovation Solution
Configuring a gateway device to extract and transmit only the required HTTP headers and values for policy processing, reducing the processing load on external devices and conserving network bandwidth by performing much of the necessary processing locally.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If external devices process entire HTTP requests for URL filtering, then policy enforcement is achieved, but processing burden and bandwidth usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device extracts only the necessary URL information from complete HTTP requests before forwarding to external filtering devices. This extraction principle reduces the data volume transmitted and processed by external devices, thereby decreasing their processing burden while maintaining effective policy enforcement on URL content.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the HTTP request processing into two stages: first, the gateway device performs initial processing to extract URL information; second, external devices process only the extracted URL data. This segmentation divides the processing workload, reducing the burden on external devices while ensuring comprehensive policy enforcement.
2Reliability
If external devices process entire HTTP requests, then accurate URL filtering is achieved, but network bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device extracts only the URL component from complete HTTP requests, removing unnecessary headers and body content. This extraction reduces bandwidth consumption by transmitting only essential filtering data to external devices, while maintaining accurate URL filtering capability through preserved URL information.
3Productivity
If gateway device performs local processing, then external device requirements decrease, but gateway device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device performs preliminary processing by extracting URL information from HTTP requests before forwarding to external devices. This preliminary action reduces the workload for external devices and improves overall processing efficiency, while the gateway's added functionality is justified by the performance gains.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for handling hyper-text transfer protocol (“HTTP”) requests from client devices is disclosed. The method comprises receiving an HTTP request from a client device to connect to a destination server. It further comprises extracting a plurality of HTTP headers from the HTTP request using a gateway device in accordance with a user defined configuration to create a subset of the request. Next, it comprises forwarding the subset to an external security device from the gateway device to perform URL policy processing using the request. Finally, it comprises based on a received result of the URL policy processing, transmitting the client request to the destination server.