Back in 2000, I wrote an article entitled “Parsing With Precision” for Network World Magazine. The gist of the article is that x86-based load balancers were going the way of the dinosaurs, and switch-based (and thus ASIC-based) load balancers were the future. The reason was performance. I’d had a few machines melt down under load.
Three years later, and the landscape had dramatically changed (I even wrote a mea culpa article). The x86-based load balancers were gaining in performance, buoyed by the rapid increase in x86 performance overall. Processors were getting faster and internal buses were able to handle larger amounts of traffic. Combined with the relative ease of development of the x86 platform (versus spinning ASICs), this gave x86-based load balancers an advantage.
But instead of an x86 versus ASIC smackdown, devices became hybrids. x86-based devices started to incorporate ASICs, such as NIC/switch ASICs, SSL/encryption ASICs, and compression ASICs. This helped them address the Layer 4 performance and bandwidth limitations of the x86 platform. Switch-based vendors started to speed up their general processors so that they can boost their Layer 7 performance.
On the mailing list, this debate has come up again. Some are pro-x86, and others are pro-ASIC.
Both sides are correct. ASIC-laden devices are needed to handle high levels of traffic, while pure software devices can push very respectable traffic levels (especially when paired with an inexpensive SSL ASIC).
Do I need ASIC?
So the question boils down to whether or not you need an ASIC. Generally, your performance needs would dictate this. For the SMB, the vast majority of customers are fully served by a non-ASIC x86 solution, with perhaps the addition of an SSL ASIC. If you’re starting out at 40 Mbps, quadrupling your traffic would put you at 160 Mbps, which is well within the ability of most mid-range SMB value market systems (GigE ports, SSL ASIC, Pentium 4 2.8 GHz processor). These devices can be purchased for less than $20,000 USD, and in many cases even less. If you don’t need to push more than 100 Mbps, you can find full featured load balancers for less then $3,000 USD.
Enterprise clients are generally dealing with products that are already hybrids. F5′s BIG-IP, A10 Networks, Cisco ACE, and other vendors that market towards the Enterprise all have copious ASICs installed throughout their various subsystems to boost performance. This can get you from 500 Mbps through to 16 Gbps, depending on the vendor. This performance, as you can expect, comes with a pretty hefty price tag.
Bottom line, there’s a myriad of solutions out there, depending on your needs and budget. ASICs may be the answer, but at lower levels of traffic, software-based appliances have more than enough power.
