F5 Networks unveiled a series of solutions designed for customers requiring consistent application services across private, public and hybrid cloud application deployments. In addition, F5 announced combined solutions with Equinix Cloud Exchange and Performance Hub that empower enterprises to deploy applications in multiple public cloud infrastructures. F5 is bringing these solutions to market as IT is tasked to enable both established and emerging environments to better integrate DevOps practices, agile development and cloud resources.
“A digital economy means that applications and services must be easy to deploy, low-friction, and quick to scale to help organizations pivot toward new market opportunities,” said Ryan Kearny, EVP of Product Development and CTO of F5. “Only F5 provides programmable, feature-rich software and hardware to unify the delivery of apps across data center and cloud environments, including container and microservices use cases. Our solutions further reduce deployment time through valuable integrations, native orchestration capabilities, and compelling partnership solutions, such as our colocation offerings with Equinix.”
Migrating IT workflows to the cloud promises significant advantages, but can place stress on parallel management, security and operations functions. As enterprises travel different paths to the cloud, F5 is introducing technologies that are said to “bridge between established IT and more cloud-fluent infrastructure models.”
F5 is expanding its BIG-IP offerings with the iSeries. The new hardware platforms incorporate programmability with support for node.js via iRules LX, enabling customers to tailor their systems for evolving infrastructure needs. Unique to the iSeries, F5’s TurboFlex technology enables selectable performance profiles to maximize investment protection and deliver dedicated cloud, security and app delivery optimizations. Similarly, iSeries platforms can be specifically configured to support enhanced DDoS protection, as well as private cloud and SDN technologies from organizations such as OpenStack, Cisco, and VMware. Additional detail about F5’s iSeries platforms is available HERE.
F5’s partnership with Equinix, leveraging both the Equinix Cloud Exchange and Performance Hub, enables enhanced global access to application delivery and security services. Through the Equinix Cloud Exchange—available in 21 markets—F5 provides direct access to its cloud services, bypassing the public Internet and thus increasing performance and security. And by combining the F5 cloud gateway with Equinix Performance Hub, customers can take advantage of a hybrid interconnection model, providing high-speed and low-latency connectivity between multiple cloud providers and enterprise networks. For more information about F5’s collaboration with Equinix and cloud interconnect colocation, visit HERE.
F5 will similarly expand its agile software portfolio. Specifically, F5 is introducing the following:
- Application Services Proxy, which provides basic load balancing and application traffic visibility in a lightweight form factor. This gives customers flexibility in developing, testing and scaling applications and associated services in concert with cloud and container environments.
- Container Connector offerings that enable the provisioning of services for containerized applications, and make it easy to integrate capabilities from management/orchestration systems such as Kubernetes and Mesos/Marathon. For load balancing, Application Services Proxy can be used in highly portable environments; for more substantial application delivery services, the connector automates provisioning to a BIG-IP solution.
- Application Connector that simplifies access for enterprise applications hosted in the public cloud. To accomplish this, it delivers application services from the edge of the cloud by automatically discovering cloud-hosted instances and connecting them to the customer’s data center or hosted location.
BIG-IP iSeries platforms are available now. Offerings from F5 and Equinix, along with related partnership details, are available now. Contact a local F5 sales office for additional product and service availability information pertaining to specific countries. Formal availability for F5’s Application Services Proxy, Container Connector and Application Connector technologies will be announced at a later date.
