Buffered session filtering for inline bypass application

1. A switch appliance, comprising:

a first network port for communication with a first node, the first network port configured to receive a packet;

a second network port for communication with a second node;

a first instrument port for communication with a first inline tool;

a buffer; and

a processing unit coupled to the first network port, the second network port, the first instrument port, and the buffer;

wherein the processing unit is configured to determine whether a packet processing state has been set as an inline-tool processing state or a bypass state;

wherein the processing unit is configured to pass the packet to the second network port for transmission to the second node, and also to store a copy of the packet in the buffer, if the packet processing state has not been set as the inline-tool processing state nor the bypass state.

2. The switch appliance of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is configured to pass the packet to the first inline tool if the packet processing state has been set as the an inline-tool processing state.

3. The switch appliance of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is configured to bypass the first inline tool by passing the packet to the second network port without sending the packet to the first instrument port, if the packet processing state has been set as the bypass state.

4. The switch appliance of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is configured to pass additional packets received at the first network port for transmission to the second node, and also to store copies of the additional packets in the buffer, until the processing unit has sufficient information to determine whether to set the packet processing state as the inline-tool processing state or the bypass state.

5. The switch appliance of claim 4 , wherein the processing unit is configured to set the packet processing state as the inline-tool processing state based on the information.

6. The switch appliance of claim 5 , wherein the processing state is for a session, and wherein when the packet processing state for the session is set as the inline-tool processing state, the processing unit is configured to operate the buffer to pass packets in the buffer belonging to the session to the first instrument port.

7. The switch appliance of claim 4 , wherein the processing unit is configured to set the packet processing state as the bypass state based on the information.

8. The switch appliance of claim 7 , wherein the processing state is for a session, and wherein when the packet processing state for the session is set as the bypass state, the processing unit is configured to pass subsequent packets belonging to the session to the second instrument port without sending the subsequent packets to the first instrument port.

9. The switch appliance of claim 1 , further comprising a second instrument port for communication with a second inline tool.

10. The switch appliance of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is also configured to determine if a session has already been created for the packet.

11. The switch appliance of claim 10 , wherein the processing unit is configured to create a session for the packet if there has been no session created for the packet.

12. The switch appliance of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is also configured to determine if packets in the buffer exceed a limit.

13. The switch appliance of claim 12 , wherein the processing unit is configured to pass the buffered packets to a collector if the buffered packets in the buffer exceed the limit.

14. The switch appliance of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit includes a packet deduplication module or a filter for removing duplicate packets received from the first inline tool.

15. The switch appliance of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is configured to add information to, or to modify information in, the packet.

16. A method performed by a switch appliance having a first network port for communication with a first node, a second network port for communication with a second node, a first instrument port for communication with a first inline tool, a buffer, and a processing unit coupled to the first network port, the second network port, the first instrument port, and the buffer, the method comprising:

receiving a packet at the first network port;

determining whether a packet processing state has been set as an inline-tool processing state or a bypass state, wherein the act of determining is performed by the processing unit of the switch appliance; and

passing the packet to the second network port for transmission to the second node, and storing a copy of the packet in the buffer, if the packet processing state has not been set as the inline-tool processing state nor the bypass state.

17. The method of claim 16 , comprising passing the packet to the first inline tool if the packet processing state has been set as the an inline-tool processing state.

18. The method of claim 16 , comprising bypassing the first inline tool by passing the packet to the second network port without sending the packet to the first instrument port, if the packet processing state has been set as the bypass state.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising passing additional packets received at the first network port for transmission to the second node, and storing copies of the additional packets in the buffer, until the processing unit has sufficient information to determine whether to set the packet processing state as the inline-tool processing state or the bypass state, if the packet processing state has not been set as the inline-tool processing state nor the bypass state.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising setting the packet processing state as the inline-tool processing state based on the information.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the processing state is for a session, and wherein the method comprises passing packets in the buffer belonging to the session to the first instrument port when the packet processing state for the session is set as the inline-tool processing state.

22. The method of claim 19 , further comprising setting the packet processing state as the bypass state based on the information.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the processing state is for a session, and wherein the method further comprises passing subsequent packets belonging to the session to the second instrument port without sending the subsequent packets to the first instrument port, when the packet processing state for the session is set as the bypass state.

24. The method of claim 16 , wherein the switch appliance further comprises a second instrument port for communication with a second inline tool, and wherein the method further comprises passing one or more additional packets to the second instrument port.

25. The method of claim 16 , further comprising determining if a session has already been created for the packet.

26. The method of claim 25 , further comprising creating a session for the packet if there has been no session created for the packet.

27. The method of claim 16 , further comprising determining if packets in the buffer exceed a limit.

28. The method of claim 27 , further comprising passing the buffered packets to a collector if the buffered packets in the buffer exceed the limit.

29. The method of claim 16 , further comprising removing duplicate packets received from the first inline tool using a packet deduplication module or a filter.

30. The method of claim 16 , further comprising adding information to, or modifying information in, the packet.