Spacenet SSL Accelerator
Spacenet has developed a patented software technology which enables integration of SSL-based applications into VSAT networks with no significant loss of performance.
The Spacenet SSL acceleration method is accomplished by breaking a single SSL session into multiple component SSL sessions that are organized in such a way that they are able to take advantage of Spacenet IPA performance enhancements.
Spacenet’s patented Internet Page Acceleration (IPA) solution is the leading technology for accelerating standard HTTP web requests over VSAT networks. Spacenet’s IPA intelligently “pre-fetches” images and other objects to defeat the latency inherent in satellite networks due to the distance between the satellite and the network locations on Earth.
However, the nature of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol runs counter to most existing acceleration methods and renders them largely ineffective. When using SSL, each object (text, image, script, etc.) that a web browser requests requires a “SSL handshake” between the client and server to authenticate the secure transaction, preventing Spacenet IPA from properly accelerating the browsing session. This problem is further complicated by the fact that any given SSL web page may include 10-100 objects.
Spacenet’s solution to this challenge uses software integrated into the end-user PC (designed for Windows operating systems) and Spacenet hub equipment to create local SSL sessions on each side of the satellite link (which incorporates its own strong security through encryption and frequency/time hopping). One SSL session is created between the client/browser and the RPA (Remote Page Accelerator) component of the VSAT IDU, and another is created between the server and the HPA (Hub Page Accelerator) at the Spacenet hub location.
When the user’s web browser requests an HTTPS page, starting an SSL session with the RPA, it requests a valid certificate (which must match the requested domain name, must not be expired and must match the SSL private key). On the hub side, when the HPA starts an SSL session with the server, it checks the validity of the certificate provided by the server in the same manner that the client’s browser validates the certificates it receives from the servers.
This enables the RPA to perform all necessary SSL handshaking, and allows the HPA to perform its intended role of pre-fetching HTTP objects for fast loading. Together, this enables delivery of web content over SSL with little or no performance degradation compared to non-VSAT SSL links.
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