BIG-IP Next Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNFs)

Optimize networks, reduce costs, and scale with true cloud-native functionality and unmatched security.

Scalable, Secure, and Cloud-Native with BIG-IP Next CNF 2.0

big-ip-next-cloud-and-cloud-native-security

Unmatched scalability and cost efficiency

CNF 2.0 ensures high performance and reduced operational complexity using a disaggregation (DAG) layer for dynamic traffic steering, fast DNS acceleration, and consolidated subscriber services. With resource optimization that cuts CapEx by 60%+, service providers can seamlessly manage growing traffic and reduce costs.

  • Disaggregation (DAG) for Traffic Steering - Efficiently route traffic across CNF pods with dynamic steering, ensuring better resource utilization and high performance.
  • Accelerated DNS Delivery - High-speed DNS acceleration with caching ensures rapid query resolution and minimal latency for dynamic workloads.
  • Resource Optimization for Cost Efficiency - Consolidated services reduce CapEx by 60%+ and streamline operations, lowering OpEx while boosting scalability.

Product Overview

Unlock the benefits of a cloud-native solution

BIG-IP Next CNFs are easily installed using F5-provided helm charts and configured using custom resources via the Kubernetes API.

Firewall, DDoS, and Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) technology based on F5’s highly successful BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM).

Enable DNS caching and reduce DNS latency up to 80%.  DoH decrypts and resolves DNS queries over HTTPS without impacting RPS.

Ease IPv6 migration and improve network scalability and security with IPv4 address management.

Improve QoE and ARPU with tools like traffic classification and subscriber awareness.

Efficiently route traffic across CNF pods with dynamic steering, ensuring better resource utilization and high performance.

Deployable on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs enabling AI use cases

By deploying on NVIDIA BlueField-3 DPUs, service providers can bring network and security functions closer to end users. This frees compute resources for diverse applications and allows service providers to gain scalable, cloud-native solutions capable of automatically adapting to evolving network demands.

Enable efficient and secure processing of N6-LAN traffic at the edge, leveraging the high-performance capabilities of BlueField-3 DPUs to meet the stringent requirements of 5G networks.

Optimize AI-RAN deployments with dynamic scaling and enhanced security, ensuring that AI workloads are processed efficiently and securely at the edge, improving overall network performance.

Deploy advanced AI applications at the edge with the confidence of carrier-grade security and traffic management, ensuring real-time processing and analytics for a variety of edge use cases.

Core Capabilities

Increase performance by offloading functionality to DPUs.

Offload SSL processing, deploy application delivery and security services anywhere, and protect your applications against the most prevalent attacks.

CNFs include native IPv6 and telco protocol support.

A native Kubernetes API is extended with CRDs to ensure F5 products can be configured properly.

Rapidly develop tailored solutions for multiple apps with iRules.

High-speed query handling, caching, and secure zone transfers, serving as a DNS server accelerator that ensures minimal latency.

Platform Support and Integrations

BIG-IP Next Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNF) can be flexibly deployed on Kubernetes cloud-native infrastructure

The Edge Firewall CNF is certified by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).  The CNCF CNF Test Suite is an open-source test suite for telcos validating cloud native principles and best practices. 

Certify partner CNFs interoperability on SPK and Aspen Mesh

F5 and its partners certify onboarding, integration, deployment, and lifecycle management of BIG-IP Next SPK and Aspen Mesh in a cloud-native environment with F5 and vendor CNFs.

Read more about the CNF certification program ›

Resources

Next Steps

Find out how F5 products and solutions can enable you to achieve your goals.

Contact F5