F5 Distributed Cloud
Protect applications across cloud, on-premises, Kubernetes, and edge environments without redesigning apps or connections.
Simplify multicloud complexity
Organizations are often forced to reroute traffic, redesign infrastructure, or adopt cloud-only enforcement models to achieve consistent protection. With AI-powered protections and threat intelligence to help organizations stay ahead of emerging threats, F5 takes a different approach by bringing security and application services to applications, wherever they run.
The difference with Distributed Cloud
Security that follows the application
Protect applications across cloud, on-premises, Kubernetes, edge, and third-party environments with a consistent security model that adapts to your architecture—not the other way around.
Front door for the entire application estate
Establish a unified entry point for applications wherever they run—from legacy and internal applications to cloud-native services and third-party platforms.
A common fabric across every environment
Connect applications, services, and security consistently across cloud, on-premises, Kubernetes, edge, and third-party environments.
Built to secure distributed applications
Unlike cloud-only enforcement models, F5 combines a global network with deployable software to extend security and application services across both F5-managed and customer-controlled environments.
How customers use Distributed Cloud Services
Protect API endpoints
Protect API endpoints
Discover, secure, and govern APIs across cloud, on-premises, and distributed environments with consistent protection against API abuse, attacks, and unauthorized access.
Protect vulnerable applications
Protect vulnerable applications
Reduce exposure to vulnerabilities with AI-assisted threat analysis, intelligent protections, and virtual patching that helps stop attacks while remediation is underway.
Establish a single application front door
Establish a single application front door
Provide a single front door for your entire application estate, extending consistent security and services across internal, external, cloud, and on-premises applications.
Distribute applications globally
Distribute applications globally
Improve performance, availability, and reach with integrated CDN, DNS, traffic management, and application delivery services across distributed environments.
Distributed Cloud products
AI security
Web app & API protection
Application delivery & traffic management
Edge distribution
Resources
Reports
Customer stories
Datasheets
DATASHEET
DATASHEET
Frequently asked questions
No. Distributed Cloud gives customers two deployment options for delivering security and application services. Teams can route traffic to F5’s global regional edge when that model is appropriate, or deploy Customer Edge software locally in customer-controlled environments when applications, data, or policy enforcement need to stay closer to where workloads run. Both approaches are managed through a SaaS-based control plane, giving teams consistent policy and operations across provider-edge and local service delivery.
Many CDN-based platforms require application traffic to be routed to the provider’s edge network for inspection and policy enforcement. F5 gives customers more deployment choice. Teams can route traffic to F5’s global regional edge for public-facing applications, while also deploying Customer Edge software in their own environments for workloads with compliance, data residency, or operational requirements that make it difficult to send traffic off premises to a third-party provider network. This allows organizations to keep sensitive data on premises while applying the same security policies used for cloud-based workloads.
No. Distributed Cloud does not require every application to be delivered over a CDN to be secured. CDN is one service for improving performance through caching, but it is not the primary way F5 connects applications. F5 provides a cloud-native network for connecting services across distributed environments and also lets customers deploy Customer Edge software locally in their own environments. This gives teams flexibility to secure cloud, on-premises, Kubernetes, edge, internal, and non-web-facing applications without forcing every application through a CDN delivery path.
No. F5 brings security and application services to applications wherever they run, reducing the need to restructure application architectures or accommodate provider-specific tooling, agents, routing changes, and policy models required by some edge-based platforms.
F5 provides an application-aware fabric for connecting applications and data across distributed environments. This reduces the need to stitch together separate networking, security, and application delivery tools while helping teams apply consistent policy and services wherever applications run.