F5 Introduces Next Wave of Software Defined Application Services

New BIG-IP® 11.6 software gives customers unmatched capabilities to protect against sophisticated threats, future-proof application delivery, and accelerate cloud migration

SEATTLE – F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) today introduced new Software Defined Application Services™ (SDAS™) for its physical and virtual BIG-IP® solutions, extending the company’s access, security, and acceleration technologies for the highest levels of scale and performance.

Aligned with the F5 Synthesis™ architectural vision to provide customers with a comprehensive application delivery fabric to orchestrate IT capabilities, BIG-IP® version 11.6 software enables adaptable services that assure resources are deployed efficiently.

Solution Highlights

This announcement extends the reach of F5’s Application Delivery Controller (ADC) portfolio and SDAS, augmenting capabilities across BIG-IP® product modules and providing further enhancement opportunities via F5’s growing technology partner ecosystem. With F5’s flexible application delivery platform, customers are empowered to advance their deployments in a number of compelling new ways, including:

• Bolstering Defenses Against Sophisticated Threats

Today’s organizations face a variety of attacks targeting multiple areas of the OSI stack (e.g., DDoS, zero-day, application-level attacks). Due in part to the vast number of applications in production environments, the range of specific deployment scenarios, and the vital role apps play for enterprises and services providers, application-related vulnerabilities continue to be a popular target for hackers.

F5 delivers the industry’s strongest zero-day threat protection and the most complete bot defense capabilities, providing organizations with a programmable platform that can be tailored to specific infrastructure and business priorities. F5’s WebSafe™ module is now available, offering advanced, real-time protection against online fraud for every user, every device, and every browser—preventing attackers from spoofing, disabling, or otherwise bypassing security checks.

• Future-Proofing Application Delivery

To capitalize on the increasing performance, productivity, and efficiency advantages of next-generation applications, organizations must scale their infrastructures while identifying cost-effective ways to support new protocols. With the latest version of BIG-IP®, customers achieve simpler, faster, and more secure application performance—while delivering “hyperscale” DNS capabilities (up to 200x the scalability of competitive offerings) to extend and secure infrastructures by mitigating outages and keeping DNS services available.

F5 is the only ADC vendor to support HTTP 2.0, providing up to 50% faster page load times than competitive solutions. F5 also offers 10x the scalability of other access solutions, empowering businesses with access capabilities to meet the IT challenges associated with the exponential growth of Internet-connected devices.

• Accelerating Cloud Migration

F5 is committed to helping customers take advantage of the efficiency and agility afforded by cloud solutions. With F5 solutions offered in both physical and virtual form-factors, SSL processing duties can be offloaded from F5’s virtual editions to hardware products. BIG-IP® now provides maximum SSL performance for hybrid deployments with the first and only hybrid crypto offload solution, removing a potential roadblock for organizations migrating to the cloud.

Improved protection for multi-tenant ADC environments is also provided with highly secure Virtual Clustered Multiprocessing™ (vCMP®) instances through enhanced resource isolation methods, guarding against tenant-to-host and tenant-to-tenant threats. In addition, F5 promotes accelerated, secure cloud migration with industry-leading REST API capabilities for web application firewall solutions.

Supporting Quotes

“The move to F5 Synthesis architecture has meant we are able to offer our customers a higher quality of experience,” said Barry Kezik, General Manager Network Planning and Engineering, Vodafone Australia. “The DNS services in the BIG-IP platform allowed us to offer an improved service with a reduction in latency, due to F5 DNS’s caching capabilities.”

“Enterprises are feeling the need to adapt quickly to new protocols, applications, and cloud technologies in the aim of streamlining operations, adding efficiencies, and gaining competitive advantage,” said Karl Triebes, CTO and EVP of Product Development at F5. “Simultaneously, they’re being asked to scale infrastructures to support mobile devices and all types of content delivery—even in the face of more sophisticated security threats. These demands combined illustrate the need for a holistic approach to application delivery. With BIG-IP v11.6 supporting a comprehensive suite of services across data center, cloud, and hybrid environments, customers maintain maximum flexibility without sacrificing performance or security.”

Availability

BIG-IP® version 11.6 is available now, with features that enhance performance and security across F5’s product module portfolio. F5’s fraud protection solutions are currently available in the Americas and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) regions, with availability in APJ (Asia Pacific and Japan) to follow. Please contact a local F5 sales office for additional product availability information pertaining to specific countries.

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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