Abstract: The present invention is directed towards systems and methods for monitoring an access gateway. The systems and methods include monitors on appliances that generate and send requests to logon agents or login page services on access gateways. Based on the responses from the logon agents or login page services, the monitors determine whether the logon agents or login page services are available.

Abstract: The present invention provides a system and a method for global server load balancing of a plurality of sites based on a number of Secure Socket Layer Virtual Private Network (SSL VPN) users. The SSL VPN users may access servers at each of the plurality of sites. A global server load balancing virtual server (GSLB) may receive a request to access a server. The GSLB virtual server may load balance a plurality of sites wherein each of the plurality of sites may further comprising a load balancing virtual server load balancing users accessing the server accessing servers via an SSL VPN session. GSLB may receive from a first load balancing virtual server at a first site, a first number of current SSL VPN users accessing servers from the first site via SSL VPN sessions. The GSLB may also receive from a second load balancing virtual server at a second site, a second number of current SSL VPN users of the users accessing servers from the second site via SSL VPN sessions.

Abstract: The present invention provides systems and methods for maintaining site persistence in a hierarchical Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) deployment. Via configuration of GSLB services locally and remotely on each of the GSLB appliances and LB appliances at a site, a site appliance identifies and associates requests from the GSLB with the site. Furthermore, the site appliance may receive a GSLB cookie with the client request and confirms the request is from the expected GSLB in the site hierarchy. When the load balancers receives a response from a server, the appliance may include the GSLB cookie with the response back to the client. The appliance may also include an LB cookie to identify the server selected by the LB. When the client sends another request, the request may include the GSLB and LB cookie. With this information, the GSLB and LB appliance may maintain site persistence for the client as well as server persistence at the site.

Abstract: In a method and appliance for using a dynamic response time to determine responsiveness of one or more network services on a server, a monitor determines a response time for each of one or more network services. The monitor establishes an average response time based on the determined response time for each of the one or more network services. The monitor associates with the established average response time a predetermined threshold for which the response time of the one or more network services may deviate from the average response time and maintain an indication of responsiveness. The monitor monitors the response time of the one or more network services to one or more requests. The monitor determines that the response time of the one or more network services deviates from the average response time by the predetermined threshold. The monitor indicates that the one or more network services are unavailable.

Abstract: A method for enabling decentralized dynamic load balancing among a plurality of appliances providing access to a plurality of sites, each site comprising a local area network and at least one server includes: determining, by a first appliance, a first number of services currently available for access via a local area network connected to the first appliance; receiving, by the first appliance from a second appliance, a communication indicating a second number of services currently available for access via a local area network connected to the second appliance; receiving, by the first appliance, a plurality of requests to connect to a service; determining, by the first appliance, a weight to be assigned to the second appliance, wherein the determination is responsive to the second number; and forwarding, by the first appliance to the second appliance, a subset of the plurality of requests, wherein the number of requests comprising the subset is determined in response to the determined weight.

Abstract: The present invention provides methods and systems for performing load balancing via a plurality of virtual servers upon a failover using metrics from a backup virtual server. The methods and systems described herein provide systems and methods for an appliance detecting that a first virtual server of a plurality of virtual servers having one or more backup virtual servers load balanced by an appliance is not available, identifying at least a first backup virtual server of a one or more backup virtual servers of the first virtual server is available, maintaining a status of the first virtual server as available in response to the identification, obtaining one or more metrics from the first backup virtual server of a one or more backup virtual servers, and determining the load across the plurality of virtual servers using the metrics obtained from the first backup virtual server associated with the first virtual server.

Abstract: Systems and methods for load balancing services based on fewest connections by decreasing granularity of service selection as a number of fewest connections serviced by the services increases may include establishing, by an appliance, a set of identifiers corresponding to a number of connections serviced by a service, the set comprising a first plurality of identifiers each identifying a predetermined number of connections and a second plurality of identifiers each identifying a predetermined range of numbers of connections. The appliance assigns, to each service servicing connections, an identifier corresponding to the number of connections serviced by the service, at least one of the identifiers selected from the second plurality of identifiers. The appliance receives a request for a service, and forwards the request to a service assigned to the identifier corresponding to a fewest number of connections with at least one service assigned to the identifier.

Abstract: The present invention provides improvements to load balancing by providing a load balancing solution that distributes a load among a plurality of heterogenous devices, such as different types of local load balancers, using metrics collected from the different devices. The load balancing appliance collects metrics from heterogenous devices using a network management protocol and communication model, such as a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). These heterogenous device metrics are available on the load balancing appliance with appliance determined metrics and metrics obtained by the appliance from homogenous devices using a metric exchange protocol. Via a configuration interface of the appliance, a user can select one or more of these different metrics for global load balancing. As such, the load balancing appliance described herein obtains a multitude of metrics from the different devices under management.

Abstract: The present solution provides a spillover management technique for virtual servers of an appliance based on bandwidth. A network administrator may configure a bandwidth threshold for one or more virtual servers, such as virtual servers providing acceleration or load balancing for one or more services. The bandwidth threshold may be specified as a number of bytes transferred via the virtual server. The bandwidth threshold may also be specified as a round trip time or derivative thereof. A user may specify the bandwidth threshold via a configuration interface. Otherwise, the appliance may establish the bandwidth threshold. The appliance monitors the bandwidth used by a first virtual server. In response to detecting the bandwidth reaching or exceeding the bandwidth threshold, the appliance dynamically directs client requests to a second virtual server.

Abstract: A method for an appliance to switch handling of transport layer connection requests from a first virtual server of the appliance managing a first plurality of services to a second virtual server of the appliance managing a second plurality of services upon exceeding, by the first virtual server, a maximum connection threshold determined dynamically from a status of the first plurality of services.

Abstract: A method for enabling decentralized dynamic load balancing among a plurality of appliances providing access to a plurality of sites, each site comprising a local area network and at least one server includes: determining, by a first appliance, a first number of services currently available for access via a local area network connected to the first appliance; receiving, by the first appliance from a second appliance, a communication indicating a second number of services currently available for access via a local area network connected to the second appliance; receiving, by the first appliance, a plurality of requests to connect to a service; determining, by the first appliance, a weight to be assigned to the second appliance, wherein the determination is responsive to the second number; and forwarding, by the first appliance to the second appliance, a subset of the plurality of requests, wherein the number of requests comprising the subset is determined in response to the determined weight.

Abstract: A method for using a network appliance to efficiently buffer and encrypt data for transmission includes: receiving, by an appliance via a connection, two or more SSL records comprising encrypted messages; decrypting the two or more messages; buffering, by the appliance, the two ore more decrypted messages; determining, by the appliance, that a transmittal condition has been satisfied; encrypting, by the appliance in response to the determination, the first decrypted message and a portion of the second decrypted message to produce a third SSL record; and transmitting, by the appliance via a second connection, the third record. Corresponding systems are also described.

Abstract: A method for compressing a stream of application layer network traffic communicated over a transport layer connection of a virtual private network connection between a client and a server using an appliance. The appliance intercepts one or more transport layer packets of a stream of application network traffic communicated via a transport layer connection of a virtual private network connection between a client and a server. The appliance accumulates data from a payload of the intercepted transport layer packets, determines data accumulated for transmission should be compressed based on one or more compression trigger, and compresses the accumulated data into a self-contained compression block for transmission.

Abstract: In a method and appliance for using a dynamic response time to determine responsiveness of one or more network services on a server, a monitor determines a response time for each of one or more network services. The monitor establishes an average response time based on the determined response time for each of the one or more network services. The monitor associates with the established average response time a predetermined threshold for which the response time of the one or more network services may deviate from the average response time and maintain an indication of responsiveness. The monitor monitors the response time of the one or more network services to one or more requests. The monitor determines that the response time of the one or more network services deviates from the average response time by the predetermined threshold. The monitor indicates that the one or more network services are unavailable.

Abstract: The intranet IP address management solution of the appliance and/or client described herein provides an environment for efficiently assigning, managing and querying virtual private network addresses, referred to as intranet IP (IIP) addresses of virtual private network users, such as a multitude of SSL VPN users on an enterprise network. The appliance provides techniques and policies for assigning previously assigned virtual private network addresses of a user to subsequent sessions of the user as the user logs in multiple times or roams between access points. This technique is referred to IIP stickiness as the appliance attempts to provide the same IIP address to a roaming VPN user. The appliance also provides a configurable user domain naming policy so that one can ping or query the virtual private network address of a user by an easily referenceable host name identifying the user.

Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for providing a hierarchy of appliances to more efficiently access resources across a plurality of branch offices.

Abstract: Methods for using a client agent to route client requests among a plurality of appliances using transport layer information include the steps of: establishing, by a client agent executing on a client, a first transport layer connection with a first appliance of a plurality of appliances, the first appliance providing access to one or more servers; establishing, by a client agent executing on the client, a second transport layer connection with a second appliance of a plurality of appliances, the second appliance providing access to one or more servers; intercepting, by the client agent, a packet transmitted by the client; selecting, by the client agent, one of the connections to transmit the intercepted packet based on a characteristic of at least one of: the transport layer connections, the plurality of appliances, or the servers; and transmitting the intercepted packet via the selected connection.

Abstract: Methods for redirecting, on a client, a communication of the client to a server to upon determining the server is not useable to communicate to the client include the steps of: establishing, by an client agent on a client, a transport layer connection between the client and an intermediary appliance, the intermediary appliance providing access to one or more servers; receiving, by the client agent from the intermediary appliance, address information identifying at least one of the one or more servers available to communicate; determining, by the client agent, the transport layer connection is unusable to communicate; establishing, by the client agent, a second transport layer connection between the client and one of the identified available servers to bypass the appliance. Corresponding systems are also described.

Abstract: The present invention is directed towards systems and methods for dynamically deploying and executing acceleration functionality on a client to improve the performance and delivery of remotely accessed applications. In one embodiment. The client-side acceleration functionality is provided by an acceleration program that performs a plurality of the following acceleration techniques in an integrated and efficient manner: 1) multi-protocol compression 2) transport control protocol pooling, 3) transport control protocol multiplexing 4) transport control protocol buffering, and 5) caching. The acceleration program establishes a transport layer connection between the client and server, and intercepts network packets at the transport layer.

Abstract: The present invention is directed towards systems and methods for dynamically redirecting on a client communications of the client with a server to bypass an intermediary that is determined to be unavailable for such communications. An acceleration program on the client establishes a transport layer connection between the client and server, and intercepts communications of the client to the server. The transport layer connection may be established via an intermediary, such as a gateway, proxy or appliance. If the client-side acceleration program determines the intermediary is not available for communicating by the client to the server, the acceleration program automatically establishes a second transport layer connection to the server in order to bypass the intermediary. The acceleration program then transmits the intercepted communications of the client via the second transport layer connection to the server.