Let’s face it—managing encrypted traffic is no walk in the park. As businesses double down on security and privacy, SSL/TLS encryption is now everywhere. That’s great news for data protection, but it also means more complexity for traffic management and visibility. That’s exactly where ADC 4.2 steps in. This release brings a trio of powerful features designed to give you better control over your SSL orchestration, smarter traffic handling, and deeper insights through better health checks. Here’s what’s new—and why it matters.
Including TAP Mode Devices In SSL Orchestration: Visibility Without Disruption
SSL Orchestration (SSLO) allows decrypted traffic to be passed through a chain of security tools for inspection, filtering, or logging. While inline devices can block or act on threats in real time, TAP mode devices passively monitor traffic, which is critical for forensic analysis and threat detection. SSLO can now mirror decrypted traffic to TAP mode devices. This opens the door to deploying more flexible monitoring strategies, letting you observe encrypted traffic flows without risking disruption to your production services. It’s a win for visibility, and a win for operational agility—especially for teams looking to add tools or conduct live analysis without taking systems offline.
Intelligent Load Handling: Smarter Balancing, Seamless Continuity
When it comes to orchestrating traffic across multiple security devices, not every appliance has the same power or capacity. So why treat them all the same? ADC 4.2 introduces weighted load balancing for SSLO, giving you a smarter way to assign traffic based on the real-world capabilities of your infrastructure. With nine common balancing algorithms now available, you can match your architecture more closely and avoid overloading individual devices while others sit underused. This update also introduces conditional bypass logic, which adds an extra layer of resilience. If the number of active devices drops below a specified threshold, SSLO can now automatically bypass the service chain—keeping traffic flowing smoothly rather than causing a disruption. Of course, all state changes are logged, so you have a clear audit trail. It’s all about using your resources wisely and ensuring continuity, even when parts of the chain become unavailable.
SSL Health Checks: Accurate Monitoring for Encrypted Services
For enterprises that encrypt internal communications—especially those in finance, government, or large-scale corporate environments—monitoring service availability through encrypted protocols like SMTPS, IMAPS, or POP3S has always been tricky. TCP-level health checks for these services couldn’t really account for SSL-specific behavior. That meant potential blind spots in your monitoring and less reliable load balancing decisions.
ADC 4.2 introduces SSL-type health checks. These checks can be bound directly to a server-ssl-profile, making them fully aware of the actual encryption protocols in use. They can also detect SSL-level failures, providing far more accurate status data for your services. The result is smarter routing, better uptime, and health monitoring that truly reflects how your applications are functioning. Every update in ADC 4.2 is rooted in real-world needs: better visibility, smarter orchestration, and more accurate insights into how your encrypted traffic behaves. For more details, reach out to Hillstone Networks representative.
