4
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Interface-connecting component
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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.
ACFP collaboration
ACFP collaboration means that the independent service component can send instructions to the
routing/switching component in order to change its functions. ACFP collaboration is mainly
implemented through the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). Acting as a network
management system, the independent service component sends various SNMP commands to the
routing/switching component, which can then execute the instructions received because it supports
SNMP agent. In this process, the cooperating MIB is the key to associating the two components with
each other.
ACFP management
ACFP collaboration provides a mechanism that enables the ACFP client to control the traffic on the ACFP
server by implementing the following functions:
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Mirroring and redirecting the traffic on the ACFP server to the ACFP client
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Permitting/denying the traffic from the ACFP server
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Restricting the rate of the traffic on the ACFP server
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Carrying the context ID in a packet to enable the ACFP server and ACFP client to communicate the
packet context with each other. The detailed procedure is as follows:
The ACFP server maintains a context table that can be queried with context ID. Each context ID
corresponds with an ACFP collaboration policy that contains information including inbound interface
and outbound interface of the packet, and collaboration rules. When the packet received by the ACFP
server is redirected or mirrored to the ACFP client after matching a collaboration rule, the packet carries
the context ID of the collaboration policy to which the collaboration rule belongs. When the redirected
packet is returned from the ACFP client, the packet also carries the context ID. With the context ID, the
ACFP server knows that the packet is returned after being redirected and then forwards the packet
normally.
For the ACFP client to better control traffic, the two-level structure of collaboration policy and
collaboration rules is set in the collaboration to manage the traffic matching the collaboration rule based
on the collaboration policy, implementing flexible traffic management.
To better support the Client/Server collaboration mode and granularly and flexibly set different rules, the
collaboration content is divided into four parts: ACFP server information, ACFP client information, ACFP
collaboration policy and ACFP collaboration rules. These four parts of information are saved in the ACFP
server.
An ACFP server supports multiple ACFP clients. ACFP client information, ACFP collaboration policy, and
ACFP collaboration rules are organized in the form of tables.
ACFP server information is generated by the ACFP server itself. ACFP client information, ACFP
collaboration policy, and ACFP collaboration rules are generated on the ACFP client and sent to the
ACFP server through the collaboration MIB or collaboration protocol.
