Patent ID: 8261337

Claim:
A security device to be interconnected, via a plurality of links, between a first network device and a plurality of second network devices in a network, the security device comprising: a plurality of first interfaces, within the security device, to: receive data units from the first network device destined for different ones of the plurality of second network devices, identify a session associated with each of the data units, and process the data units in accordance with the identified sessions and a firewall security policy; a switch fabric to receive, based on the processing, select ones of the data units forwarded from the plurality of first interfaces; and a plurality of second interfaces, within the security device, to receive the select ones of the data units via virtual wires, where each of the plurality of first interfaces are further to: establish, through the switch fabric, the virtual wires, where each of the virtual wires provides a dedicated interconnection, through the switch fabric, between one of the plurality of first interfaces and a corresponding one of the plurality of second interfaces, and where the dedicated interconnection preserves a network topology associated with the transmission of data units between the first network device and the different ones of the plurality of second network devices prior to the security device being interconnected via the plurality of links.