* [Blog](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog)
* [Palo Alto Networks](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/corporate/)
* [Announcement](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/announcement/)
* Intelligent Traffic Offlo...

# Intelligent Traffic Offload Uses SmartNIC/DPU for Hyperscale Security

[](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww2.paloaltonetworks.com%2Fblog%2F2021%2F07%2Fintelligent-traffic-offload%2F)  
[](https://twitter.com/share?text=Intelligent+Traffic+Offload+Uses+SmartNIC%2FDPU+for+Hyperscale+Security&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww2.paloaltonetworks.com%2Fblog%2F2021%2F07%2Fintelligent-traffic-offload%2F)  
[](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww2.paloaltonetworks.com%2Fblog%2F2021%2F07%2Fintelligent-traffic-offload%2F&title=Intelligent+Traffic+Offload+Uses+SmartNIC%2FDPU+for+Hyperscale+Security&summary=&source=)  
[](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com//www.reddit.com/submit?url=https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/2021/07/intelligent-traffic-offload/&ts=markdown)  
\[\](mailto:?subject=Intelligent Traffic Offload Uses SmartNIC/DPU for Hyperscale Security)  
Link copied  
By [Navneet Singh](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/author/navneet-singh/?ts=markdown "Posts by Navneet Singh")  
Jul 12, 2021  
3 minutes  
[Announcement](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/announcement/?ts=markdown)  
[Hybrid Cloud Data Center](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/category/hybrid-cloud-data-center/?ts=markdown)  
[Next-Generation Firewalls](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/category/next-generation-firewalls/?ts=markdown)  
[Products and Services](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/products-and-services/?ts=markdown)  
[network traffic analysis](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/tag/network-traffic-analysis/?ts=markdown)  
[NVIDIA](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/tag/nvidia/?ts=markdown)  
[Partners](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/tag/partners/?ts=markdown)  
[service provider](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/tag/service-provider/?ts=markdown)  
[Virtualized Next-Generation Firewall](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/tag/virtualized-next-generation-firewall/?ts=markdown)  
[VM-Series](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/tag/vm-series/?ts=markdown)

Hyperscale data centers have particular needs when it comes to storage, networking and security. Cloud-scale enterprises and telcos have found that a key strategy for allowing clouds and 5G to scale has been taking advantage of smart network interface (SmartNIC) and data processing units (DPUs) to offload networking functions. With the recently announced [Intelligent Traffic Offload (ITO) service](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/resources/datasheets/intelligent-traffic-offload-service-for-vm-series-virtual-ngfws) from Palo Alto Networks, enterprises and telcos can now utilize the same SmartNIC or DPU investments used for storage and networking to scale security capabilities. This is a fundamental shift in how security is done, moving from traditional firewalling at the perimeter, closer to distributed apps that live at the edge.

To enable customers to standardize SmartNICs and DPUs across their entire environment, which includes storage, networking *and* security, Palo Alto Networks has built an open, API-driven, extensible technology with leading SmartNIC and DPU vendors such as NVIDIA. This technology dramatically improves virtual firewall performance by up to 5x by offloading traffic that does not benefit from firewall inspection to SmartNICs and DPUs. The goal of this approach is to enable security functions on any Smart NIC or DPU; our APIs are publicly available on [GitHub](https://github.com/att/sessionOffload).

## Hyperscale Environments Need New Security Approaches

Ideally, organizations would virtualize firewalls at the same time that they virtualize the rest of their infrastructure. Unfortunately, virtual firewalls haven't been able to handle the scale that service provider and hyperscale environments require. Service providers and cloud-scale enterprises have instead been forced into making an expensive choice between deploying massive hardware firewalls or massive numbers of virtual firewalls to ensure performance at scale -- until now.

## Meet the New Intelligent Traffic Offload Service

In certain service provider and hyperscale data center environments, up to 80% of traffic -- including media and encrypted traffic -- does not benefit from security inspection. For example, imagine streaming media traffic from a trusted source, such as an online class. This traffic consumes a tremendous amount of bandwidth, but it has very little security value. Thus, there is no security benefit for passing that traffic through a firewall.

When the ITO service is enabled on a VM-Series virtual NGFW, it can intelligently identify flows that will benefit from security inspection -- and those that will not, such as our streaming media example. When a flow that won't benefit from inspection is identified, ITO offloads the traffic to the SmartNIC or DPU, allowing it to bypass inspection. This ensures the 20% of traffic that *will* benefit from inspection is protected, without wasting resources on inspecting traffic that cannot benefit from inspection. The result? Capital expenditure savings of up to 150%.
![Intelligent Traffic Offload gif, showing how to turbocharge your VM-Series performance with the Palo Alto Networks Intelligent Traffic Offload service. When traffic won't benefit from security inspection, offload it to a SmartNIC.](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/word-image.gif)
Figure 1: The Intelligent Traffic Offload service at work.

## Hear From NVIDIA

Don't just hear it from Palo Alto Networks. [Hear it from Nvidia](https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/07/12/palo-alto-networks-cyber-defenses/), who helped us build Intelligent Traffic Offload:

#### NVIDIA on Supercharging Digital Transformation While Staying Ahead of Cyberthreats

"Growing trends such as 5G, cloud native and hybrid cloud architectures demand that enterprise data centers assume a zero trust security posture to navigate emerging cyberthreats," said Ash Bhalgat, Senior Director, Cloud, Telco and Cybersecurity Market Development at NVIDIA. "NVIDIA BlueField DPUs drastically improve performance for security and other software-defined functions by offloading, accelerating and isolating them from the host CPU. Through our collaboration with Palo Alto Networks on the first BlueField2-enabled virtual NGFW available on the market, NVIDIA is enabling enterprise customers to supercharge their digital transformation with extreme efficiency while staying ahead of cyberthreats."

Read more details about [ITO](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/resources/datasheets/intelligent-traffic-offload-service-for-vm-series-virtual-ngfws).

*** ** * ** ***

## Related Blogs

### [Announcement](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/announcement/?ts=markdown), [Partner Integrations](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/sase/category/partner-integrations/?ts=markdown), [Products and Services](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/products-and-services/?ts=markdown)

[#### Orange Business Services Partners With Palo Alto Networks for SASE](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/2021/06/orange-business-services-sase/)

### [AI Application Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/category/ai-application-security/?ts=markdown), [AI Governance](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/ai-governance/?ts=markdown), [Announcement](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/announcement/?ts=markdown), [Firewall](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/firewall/?ts=markdown), [Next-Generation Firewalls](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/category/next-generation-firewalls/?ts=markdown), [Partners](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/partners/?ts=markdown), [Products and Services](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/products-and-services/?ts=markdown)

[#### Palo Alto Networks Announces Support for NVIDIA Enterprise AI Factory](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/2026/01/support-nvidia-enterprise-ai-factory/)

### [AI Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/ai-security/?ts=markdown), [Announcement](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/announcement/?ts=markdown), [Partners](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/partners/?ts=markdown)

[#### Securing GenAI with AI Runtime Security and NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/securing-genai-with-ai-runtime-security-and-nvidia-nemo-guardrails/)

### [5G Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/category/5g-security/?ts=markdown), [Announcement](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/announcement/?ts=markdown), [Products and Services](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/products-and-services/?ts=markdown)

[#### UScellular and Palo Alto Networks Join Forces to Secure 5G](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/2024/12/uscellular-and-palo-alto-networks-secure-5g/)

### [AI Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/ai-security/?ts=markdown), [Announcement](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/announcement/?ts=markdown), [Data Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/category/data-security/?ts=markdown), [Network Perimeter](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/category/network-perimeter/?ts=markdown), [Partner Integrations](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/sase/category/partner-integrations/?ts=markdown), [Partners](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/partners/?ts=markdown), [Products and Services](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/products-and-services/?ts=markdown)

[#### Palo Alto Networks Prevents Data Loss at Enterprise Scale with NVIDIA](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/2024/10/data-loss-at-enterprise-scale-with-nvidia/)

### [Announcement](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/announcement/?ts=markdown), [Next-Generation Firewalls](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/category/next-generation-firewalls/?ts=markdown), [Products and Services](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/products-and-services/?ts=markdown)

[#### Google Cloud and Palo Alto Networks Deliver Cloud-Native NGFW Service](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/2024/04/google-cloud-ngfw-enterprise/)

### Subscribe to the Blog!

Sign up to receive must-read articles, Playbooks of the Week, new feature announcements, and more.
![spinner](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/wp-content/themes/panwblog2023/dist/images/ajax-loader.gif) Sign up  
Please enter a valid email.  
By submitting this form, you agree to our [Terms of Use](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/legal-notices/terms-of-use?ts=markdown) and acknowledge our [Privacy Statement](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/legal-notices/privacy?ts=markdown). Please look for a confirmation email from us. If you don't receive it in the next 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.  
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google [Privacy Policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy) and [Terms of Service](https://policies.google.com/terms) apply.  
{#footer} {#footer}

## Products and Services

* [AI-Powered Network Security Platform](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security?ts=markdown)

* [Secure AI by Design](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/precision-ai-security/secure-ai-by-design?ts=markdown)

* [Prisma AIRS](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/prisma/prisma-ai-runtime-security?ts=markdown)

* [AI Access Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sase/ai-access-security?ts=markdown)

* [Cloud Delivered Security Services](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/security-subscriptions?ts=markdown)

* [Advanced Threat Prevention](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/advanced-threat-prevention?ts=markdown)

* [Advanced URL Filtering](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/advanced-url-filtering?ts=markdown)

* [Advanced WildFire](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/advanced-wildfire?ts=markdown)

* [Advanced DNS Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/advanced-dns-security?ts=markdown)

* [Enterprise Data Loss Prevention](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sase/enterprise-data-loss-prevention?ts=markdown)

* [Enterprise IoT Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/enterprise-device-security?ts=markdown)

* [Medical IoT Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/medical-device-security?ts=markdown)

* [Industrial OT Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/medical-device-security?ts=markdown)

* [SaaS Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sase/saas-security?ts=markdown)

* [Next-Generation Firewalls](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/next-generation-firewall?ts=markdown)

* [Hardware Firewalls](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/hardware-firewall-innovations?ts=markdown)

* [Software Firewalls](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/software-firewalls?ts=markdown)

* [Strata Cloud Manager](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/strata-cloud-manager?ts=markdown)

* [SD-WAN for NGFW](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/sd-wan-subscription?ts=markdown)

* [PAN-OS](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/pan-os?ts=markdown)

* [Panorama](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/panorama?ts=markdown)

* [Secure Access Service Edge](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sase?ts=markdown)

* [Prisma SASE](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sase?ts=markdown)

* [Application Acceleration](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sase/app-acceleration?ts=markdown)

* [Autonomous Digital Experience Management](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sase/adem?ts=markdown)

* [Enterprise DLP](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sase/enterprise-data-loss-prevention?ts=markdown)

* [Prisma Access](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sase/access?ts=markdown)

* [Prisma Browser](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sase/prisma-browser?ts=markdown)

* [Prisma SD-WAN](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sase/sd-wan?ts=markdown)

* [Remote Browser Isolation](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sase/remote-browser-isolation?ts=markdown)

* [SaaS Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sase/saas-security?ts=markdown)

* [AI-Driven Security Operations Platform](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex?ts=markdown)

* [Cloud Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cloud?ts=markdown)

* [Cortex Cloud](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cloud?ts=markdown)

* [Application Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cloud/application-security?ts=markdown)

* [Cloud Posture Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cloud/cloud-posture-security?ts=markdown)

* [Cloud Runtime Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cloud/runtime-security?ts=markdown)

* [Prisma Cloud](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/prisma/cloud?ts=markdown)

* [AI-Driven SOC](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex?ts=markdown)

* [Cortex XSIAM](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cortex-xsiam?ts=markdown)

* [Cortex XDR](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cortex-xdr?ts=markdown)

* [Cortex XSOAR](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cortex-xsoar?ts=markdown)

* [Cortex Xpanse](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cortex-xpanse?ts=markdown)

* [Unit 42 Managed Detection \& Response](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/managed-detection-and-response?ts=markdown)

* [Managed XSIAM](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/managed-xsiam?ts=markdown)

* [Threat Intel and Incident Response Services](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/unit42?ts=markdown)

* [Proactive Assessments](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/unit42/assess?ts=markdown)

* [Incident Response](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/unit42/respond?ts=markdown)

* [Transform Your Security Strategy](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/unit42/transform?ts=markdown)

* [Discover Threat Intelligence](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/unit42/threat-intelligence-partners?ts=markdown)

## Company

* [About Us](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/about-us?ts=markdown)
* [Careers](https://jobs.paloaltonetworks.com/en/)
* [Contact Us](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/company/contact-sales?ts=markdown)
* [Corporate Responsibility](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/about-us/corporate-responsibility?ts=markdown)
* [Customers](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/customers?ts=markdown)
* [Investor Relations](https://investors.paloaltonetworks.com/)
* [Location](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/about-us/locations?ts=markdown)
* [Newsroom](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/company/newsroom?ts=markdown)

## Popular Links

* [Blog](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/?ts=markdown)
* [Communities](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/communities?ts=markdown)
* [Content Library](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/resources?ts=markdown)
* [Cyberpedia](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cyberpedia?ts=markdown)
* [Event Center](https://events.paloaltonetworks.com/)
* [Manage Email Preferences](https://start.paloaltonetworks.com/preference-center)
* [Products A-Z](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/products/products-a-z?ts=markdown)
* [Product Certifications](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/legal-notices/trust-center/compliance?ts=markdown)
* [Report a Vulnerability](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/security-disclosure?ts=markdown)
* [Sitemap](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sitemap?ts=markdown)
* [Tech Docs](https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/)
* [Unit 42](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/)
* [Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information](https://panwedd.exterro.net/portal/dsar.htm?target=panwedd)
  ![PAN logo](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/etc/clientlibs/clean/imgs/pan-logo-dark.svg)
* [Privacy](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/legal-notices/privacy?ts=markdown)
* [Trust Center](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/legal-notices/trust-center?ts=markdown)
* [Terms of Use](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/legal-notices/terms-of-use?ts=markdown)
* [Documents](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/legal?ts=markdown)

Copyright © 2026 Palo Alto Networks. All Rights Reserved

* [![Youtube](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/etc/clientlibs/clean/imgs/social/youtube-black.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/user/paloaltonetworks)
* [![Podcast](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/content/dam/pan/en_US/images/icons/podcast.svg)](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/podcasts/threat-vector?ts=markdown)
* [![Facebook](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/etc/clientlibs/clean/imgs/social/facebook-black.svg)](https://www.facebook.com/PaloAltoNetworks/)
* [![LinkedIn](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/etc/clientlibs/clean/imgs/social/linkedin-black.svg)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/palo-alto-networks)
* [![Twitter](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/etc/clientlibs/clean/imgs/social/twitter-x-black.svg)](https://twitter.com/PaloAltoNtwks)
* EN  
  Select your language