Skip to main content

Deployment Provisioning

Overview

SafeSquid deployment success depends on infrastructure alignment. Many environments lack sufficient CPU cores, disk I/O capacity, or NIC density, causing policy failures, latency spikes, and data loss during operational surges. Misconfigured nodes and legacy hardware often create systemic bottlenecks.

System Requirements by Deployment Scale

Baseline Server Planning: Single Node Deployments

Organizations deploying SafeSquid must align CPU, memory, and NIC density with their expected user base and session concurrency. Misalignment leads to session drops, proxy timeouts, and degraded inspection throughput. Key considerations include concurrent connection handling, AES-NI support, and memory provisioning per session.

Provisioning Guidelines:

  • Ensure CPU supports AES-NI (Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions) for accelerated SSL decryption.
  • Use NVMe SSDs for log and cache operations.
  • Scale NICs to prevent I/O bottlenecks under burst load.

Single Server Hardware Matrix

CPURAMNICIdeal Concurrent ConnectionsPeak Burst of Concurrent ConnectionsApprox. UsersAES-NI Required
482150400100Yes
81628001500350Yes
1632420003000750Yes
24648250040001000Yes
32648300060001500Yes
6412816400080002000Yes

High Availability: Redundancy Constraints and Runtime Hazards

Active-Passive: SLA Compliance Without Runtime Optimization

Organizations that prioritize zero downtime frequently deploy Active-Passive clusters. Failover incidents expose architectural weaknesses when passive nodes lack real-time sync, full compute parity, or resilient heartbeat protocols. Fail back often creates service gaps or DNS misroutes.

Diagram: Active-Passive Setup

Hardware Specifications (Per Server in Pair):

No. of InstancesCPURAMNICIdealPeak BurstsApprox. Users
2482150400100
281628001500350
21632420003000750
224648250040001000
232648300060001500
26412816400080002000

Active-Active: Efficiency Trade-Offs Under Fault Load

Enterprises aiming for hardware efficiency frequently opt for Active-Active designs. However, node-level failures immediately force a single instance to absorb 100% traffic, often exceeding safe operating thresholds. Load balancer misrouting or stale health checks further degrade service continuity.

Diagram: Active-Active Setup

Hardware Specifications (Per Server in Cluster):

No. of InstancesCPURAMNICIdealPeak BurstsApprox. Users
1482150400100
24828001500350
2816420003000750
212328250040001000
232328300060001500
2326416400080002000

Network Configuration: Capacity Misalignment and Redundancy Gaps

Network Interfaces (NICs): Physical Port Planning

Underestimating NIC density leads to frequent contention between internal LAN traffic and upstream WAN access. Deployments using 1GbE ports for multi-gigabit traffic often suffer saturation during peak hours, especially in SSL-inspection scenarios. Hardware with only two ports lacks segmentation flexibility and limits future scaling.

  • Deployments supporting up to 1,500 Peak Bursts often operate with minimal port availability---two physical ports typically split between WAN and LAN, introducing a chokepoint.
  • Environments exceeding 1,500 Peak Bursts require high-throughput NICs (10GbE or faster) and a minimum of four physical ports to support VLAN isolation and monitoring interfaces.

Failure to implement link aggregation exposes proxy nodes to single-port failures and bandwidth ceiling constraints. Without bonding, a failed NIC can result in complete service loss or partial path isolation, disrupting proxy-to-Internet or proxy-to-LAN connectivity.

  • Low-port systems (2 ports) should apply Active-Backup bonding to mitigate failover risks with minimal complexity.
  • Systems with 4 to 8 ports benefit from symmetric bonding---dual-port pairs or quad-port aggregation---splitting load across WAN and LAN planes.
  • High-density deployments (16+ ports) must implement dual 8-port bonds, ensuring parallel high-capacity paths with full link-level redundancy.
Available NIC PortsRecommended Bonding Configuration
2 PortsSingle Active-Backup bond
4 PortsTwo bonded pairs (2x2)
8 PortsTwo high-throughput bonds (2x4)
16 PortsDual 8-port LACP bonds

Disk I/O Saturation: Logging Underperformance and Data Loss

Proxy services demand high-frequency, concurrent disk writes---especially under policies that enforce full session logging, behavioral analysis, and threat detection. Environments with SATA SSDs experience logging delays, missed entries, and data corruption under concurrent sessions.

  • Critical Directories: /var/log/safesquid, /var/db/safesquid, /var/lib/safesquid

  • Recommended Media: NVMe SSD

  • Capacity Guidelines:

    • Up to 1,500 Peak Bursts: 500 GB -- 1 TB
    • 3,000+ Peak Bursts: 2 TB -- 4 TB+
    • Extended Retention: Offload to external syslog/reporting nodes

Disaster Recovery (DR) Site: Regional Continuity Assurance

Organizations preparing for large-scale disruptions often overlook physical and geographic isolation between production and DR environments. Deployments within the same city, data center, or grid render DR failover plans ineffective during seismic or regional infrastructure failures.

DR readiness requires deploying a separate SafeSquid stack in a distant geographic zone, configured to mirror production capacity. Without isolation, disaster scenarios result in simultaneous primary and DR site failure, negating all continuity guarantees.

Next Steps: Transition to SafeSquid Installation

Once hardware, network, and storage prerequisites align with organizational load and resilience goals, the environment is ready for the SafeSquid installation phase. The next step involves preparing the operating system, deploying SafeSquid packages, and configuring policy, proxy, and access control components.

Feedback