F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV), the global leader in Application Delivery Networking (ADN), today introduced a BIG-IP^® virtual edition for AWS, which leverages F5’s complete portfolio of BIG-IP products for the AWS cloud. This announcement addresses organizations’ escalating demand to extend their data center and applications to AWS, maintaining enterprise-class reliability, scale, security, and performance. F5’s new AWS offering is also the featured attraction at the company’s booth (#506) at the AWS re: Invent conference at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, November 27–29.

“Enterprise customers have come to rely on BIG-IP’s strategic awareness that provides important information on how applications, resources, and users interact in order to successfully deliver applications,” said Siva Mandalam, Director of Product Management and Product Marketing, Cloud and Virtualization Solutions at F5. “Since BIG-IP for AWS will have equivalent features to physical BIG-IP devices, customers can apply the same level of control for their applications in AWS. With BIG-IP running in enterprise data centers and on AWS, customers can establish secure tunnels, burst to the cloud, and control the application from end to end.”

The BIG-IP solution for AWS includes options for traffic management, global server load balancing, application firewall, web application acceleration, and other advanced application delivery functions. With the new F5 offering:

• F5 ADN services operate seamlessly in the cloud – BIG-IP virtual editions are being made available to a growing number of customers seeking to leverage cloud offerings. Availability for AWS expands on F5’s broad support for virtualized and cloud environments based on vSphere, Hyper-V, Xen, and KVM.
• Enterprises can confidently take advantage of cloud resources – AWS customers can easily add F5’s market-leading availability, optimization, and security services to support cloud and hybrid deployment models.
• IT teams are able to easily scale application environments – Production and lab versions of BIG-IP virtual editions for AWS enable IT teams to move smoothly from testing and development into production to support essential business applications. Customers can leverage their existing BIG-IP configuration and policies and apply them to BIG-IP running on AWS.

Supporting Facts and Quotes

• F5 has the greatest market share for the advanced application delivery controller (ADC) market, deployed within the enterprise and service providers markets. According to Gartner, Inc., F5 has 59.1% market share based on Q2 2012 worldwide revenue.¹
• F5’s initial product offering will use the AWS “bring your own license” (BYOL) model, which allows customers to buy perpetual licenses from F5 and then apply these licenses to instances running in AWS. To evaluate or purchase BIG-IP software modules, customers should contact their local F5 sales office.

“As enterprises consider which applications to move to the cloud, many customers have asked for the same advanced application control they have in their local data centers,” said Terry Wise, Head of Worldwide Partner Ecosystem at Amazon Web Services. “The BIG-IP solution for AWS enables enterprises to quickly move complex applications to AWS while maintaining high levels of service at a lower overall cost.”

“Enterprises want the flexibility and scale of cloud services, yet they can struggle with application complexity and sufficient control,” said Rohit Mehra, VP of Network Infrastructure at IDC. “The challenge lies in easily expanding IT’s service portfolio with cloud and hybrid capabilities while keeping the applications fast, secure, and available. BIG-IP’s native availability inside Amazon Web Services allows enterprises to deeply embed a strategic awareness of how applications behave in cloud adoption scenarios.”

To learn more about how F5 enables organizations to realize the full potential of cloud computing, visit F5 (booth #506) at the AWS re: Invent conference. During the event, Siva Mandalam from F5 will deliver a presentation focused on “Optimizing Enterprise Applications and User Access in the Cloud” at 1 p.m. PT on Wednesday, November 28.

Availability

BIG-IP solutions for AWS will be available for purchase by the end of calendar year 2012.

Additional Resources

• Now Playing on AWS: BIG-IP – DevCentral Blog Post
• F5 Cloud Computing Solutions
• F5 BIG-IP for AWS SlideShare Presentation
• F5 DevCentral Guru Panel on Cloud and Virtualization
• Cloud and Virtualization Group on DevCentral

¹ Gartner, Inc. “Market Share: Application Acceleration Equipment, Worldwide, 2Q12,” Joe Skorupa and Nhat Pham, Sept. 24, 2012

About F5 Networks

F5 Networks, Inc., the global leader in Application Delivery Networking (ADN), helps the world’s largest enterprises and service providers realize the full value of virtualization, cloud computing, and on-demand IT. F5^® solutions help integrate disparate technologies to provide greater control of the infrastructure, improve application delivery and data management, and give users seamless, secure, and accelerated access to applications from their corporate desktops and smart devices. An open architectural framework enables F5 customers to apply business policies at “strategic points of control” across the IT infrastructure and into the public cloud. F5 products give customers the agility they need to align IT with changing business conditions, deploy scalable solutions on demand, and manage mobile access to data and services. Enterprises, service and cloud providers, and leading online companies worldwide rely on F5 to optimize their IT investments and drive business forward. For more information, go to www.f5.com.

You can also follow @f5networks on Twitter or visit us on Facebook for more information about F5, its partners, and technology. For a complete listing of F5 community sites, please visit www.f5.com/news-press-events/web-media/community.html.

F5, BIG-IP, and DevCentral are trademarks or service marks 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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