H3C Technologies H3C S10500 Series Switches - Manual (Page 9)

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ACFP configuration
Introduction to ACFP
Basic data communication networks comprise of routers and switches, which forward data packets. As
data networks develop, more services run on them. It has become inappropriate to use legacy devices for
handling some new services. Therefore, some security products such as firewalls, Intrusion Detection
System (IDS), and Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), and voice and wireless products are designed to
handle specific services.
For better support of new services, manufacturers of legacy networking devices (routers and switches in
this document) have developed various dedicated service boards (cards) to specifically handle these
services. Some manufacturers of legacy networking devices provide a set of software/hardware
interfaces to allow the boards (cards) or devices of other manufacturers to be plugged or connected to
these legacy networking devices for cooperating to handle these services. This gives full play to the
advantages of respective manufacturers for better support of new services while reducing user
investments.
The open application architecture (OAA) is an open service architecture developed with this concept. It
integrates devices and software produced by different manufacturers, making them function as one
device, and thus providing integrated resolutions for the customers.
The Application Control Forwarding Protocol (ACFP) is developed based on the OAA architecture. A
router or switch mirrors or redirects the received packets to an ACFP client after matching the ACFP
collaboration rules. The ACFP client then processes the packets in different ways.
ACFP architecture
Figure 1 Diagram for ACFP architecture
As shown in Figure 1 , the ACFP architecture consists of:
• Routing/switching component—The main part of a router and a switch. It performs complete
router/switch functions and is also the core of user management control. This part is called the
ACFP server.
• Independent service component—The main part open for development by a third party and is
mainly used to provide various unique service functions. This part is called the ACFP client.
• Interface-connecting component—It connects the interface of the routing/switching component to
that of the independent service component, allowing the devices of two manufacturers to be
interconnected.