Abstract
Web switching may be viewed as an optimized combination of networking functions, such as load balancing, bandwidth and traffic management, cache switching, and site-level security, that are implemented on a single device and are specifically designed to address the unique requirements of World Wide Web (or simply, Web) traffic; for example, efficient management of Web traffic, simplified website management, and fast, reliable, and error-free website operation. More precisely, “Web switches are network devices that can be used to construct a ‘user- and content-aware’ network infrastructure, which has the explicit objective of seamless and high-performance routing of specific user requests for specific Web content to the best server containing that content, irrespective of its physical location (Johnson, 1999a).” A web switch, therefore, is an extremely fast and “intelligent” LAN switch that switches traffic based on content, rather than just addresses (Passmore, 1999), and integrates the traffic management and control functions that have traditionally run on a number of separate devices. These include sophisticated URL load balancing capabilities via local and global server load balancing, bandwidth control, network address translation (NAT), packet filtering, cache redirection, and policies to manage and speed the flow of web traffic.