F5 Networks Secures IoT and 5G Networks with Availability of Standalone Carrier-Class Firewall

F5 firewall solution to protect service provider networks at the lowest TCO, while enabling them to future-proof their networks as they transition from 4G to 5G and NFV

SHANGHAI – F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) today announced at Mobile World Congress Shanghai the availability of  its high performance and scalable carrier-class firewall solution focused on delivering end-to-end security across service provider networks. The standalone carrier-class firewall supports up to 1.2 billion concurrent connections and over 20 million connections per second. Today’s announcement is aligned with F5’s commitment to expand its portfolio of dedicated security offerings. F5’s carrier-class firewall is designed to address security concerns around the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), migration to 5G and NFV networks, as well as increased security vulnerabilities affecting devices, networks, and applications.

F5 delivers:

• Comprehensive and integrated portfolio of security solutions

The core networks of service providers face threats from multiple points—devices, networks, applications—while network attacks also impact the DNS, control plane, and signalling (including SIP and Diameter). F5’s consolidated portfolio of L4–L7 services, including the integration of CGNAT, provides end-to-end security and delivers a multi-layered solution to protect the application, control plane, and data plane against APTs and DDoS attacks. This enables service providers to protect their brand and retain customers by improving Quality of Experience for their subscribers while future-proofing their network as they evolve their network architectures.

• Massive scale and performance with lowest total cost of ownership

5G networks have ultra-low latency characteristics to handle the growth associated with IoT. To secure future networks, service providers need to increase the agility, performance, and security of the Gi LAN. F5 offers service providers powerful performance solutions that can scale in concurrent connections and connection per seconds (CPS) to support the requirements for 5G and IoT. A recent study done by independent research firm ACG revealed F5’s Carrier-Class Firewall (based on VIPRION® 4800) achieved up to 80 percent lower TCO than alternative offerings while providing 216 percent higher ROI.

Supporting Quotes

“Service providers today are responding to the exponential growth of subscribers, data, devices, and the Internet of Things by re-architecting their networks and making sure they can scale. There are significant challenges when it comes to protecting the security of these networks. F5 security solutions protect service provider networks from attacks, enabling the security of subscribers, devices, and core network elements such as the Gi LAN and data centre,” said Mallik Tatipamula, Vice President for Service Provider Solutions, F5 Networks.  

“The relentless, rapid growth in number of users, devices, and applications on mobile networks creates a need for operators’ security solutions to scale efficiently on a similar trajectory. This is true on every plane of operation and in all application areas. A central element in achieving these goals is the carrier-class firewall in the Gi LAN. Firewall scaling on multiple dimensions—number of concurrent sessions, connection setups per second, and throughput—is critical. F5 has skilfully achieved a balance of capabilities in its carrier-class firewall that delivers superior performance on each of these important dimensions for the Gi LAN with a compelling economic return,” said Paul Parker-Johnson, Principal Analyst, ACG Research.

Availability

The standalone Carrier-Class Firewall will be available in the third quarter of calendar year 2016. Please contact a local F5 sales office for additional information and product availability in specific countries.

Additional Information

• F5 Carrier-Class Network Firewall
• ACG Research Report: Delivering Security Efficiently and at Scale for Tomorrow’s Mobile Apps

About F5

F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) makes apps go faster, smarter, and safer for the world’s largest businesses, service providers, governments, and consumer brands. F5 delivers cloud and security solutions that enable organizations to embrace the application infrastructure they choose without sacrificing speed and control. For more information, go to f5.com. You can also follow @f5networks on Twitter or visit us on LinkedIn and Facebook for more information about F5, its partners, and technologies.

F5 is a trademark or service mark of F5 Networks, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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