Hello!
Could you help me with SSL offload? I plans install http reverse prosy for SSL offload (I know, Tilera CPU supports it on very big speeds) on CCR with Router OS.
This is right, but this function must also be inserted first in RouterOS, that we all are able
to use it! The Tilera hardware given tech specs are not matching 1 : 1 to the RouterOS
capabilities, but more then this given functions or options must be inserted inside of
the RouterOS system by MikroTik coders (code writers)
This is an interesting question. The Tilera CPU supports key-exchange (RSA, etc.) acceleration, which is the most expensive part of a SSL handshake
This is not true, sorry! The Tilera platform used by MikroTik to build the CCR series
is owning one or two units if the high speed encryption engine so called "MiCA" (at this point
I want say tank you MikroTik for choosing this variant) and this MiCA is taking any data out
directly from the RAM for doing the encrypting or decrypting work that means the entire or
whole crypto work is done outside of the Tilera many Core CPU!!! But, that we are all able to
use this as a function or option or so called feature, MikroTik must write code that is using this
MiCA encryption engine for taking the entire load from the CPU, but if this is done the CCR
series could be also used as a fine VPN concentrator as well.
- the actual encryption of the data itself after key exchange has been done is not that CPU intensive anymore. But if you have a high session rate and lots of threads (CPUs), this could speed up things.
The Tilera CPU cores (tiny cpus) are only used for two real things
- WAN interface
- or for the OS on the Tilera system like MikroTik RouterOS
As an example:
MikroTik CCR1036 = 36 cores
- 16 core for the WAN interface
- 20 cores for the entire system called RouterOS
And all the cryto workload will be done outside of the CPU natively inside of the
one or two MiCA engines.
As far as I know, RouterOS doesn't support such functions, but - if it would be possible to boot some kind of plain Linux on the box and if a engine plugin for OpenSSL were available, you cold theoretically do such things.
Why booting a second system or pre boot system?
And by the way the Linux must be compiled for the Tilera platform it selfs
otherwise the code will not be executed on this machine!
Question: Has anyone already booted a plain Linux on a CCR and if yes - how?
No one is able to do so, or your are owning a Tilera SDK and you have an account
to the over 2500 pre compiled code packets (.rpm) from the Tilera company and also
perhaps a compiler that matches the Tilera platform.
I think that with stud, varnish and haproxy the CCR would surely make a decent HTTP load balancer and accelerator.
Then I wish for my self and all others an extra LAN port either SFP, SFP+ or copper based
for setting up two or more routers to build a router cluster with ARP balance over CARP
so that the whole load will be balanced over many routers, but this depends on the own wishes
mostly.