F5's Updated Big-IP Aimed at SDN and Hybrid Cloud Environments
F5's Updated Big-IP Aimed at SDN and Hybrid Cloud Environments by UCStrategies Staff
An updated version of the Big-IP application delivery software, Big-IP v11.4, has been unveiled by F5 Networks, and this seeks to assist organizations by simplifying the distribution and management of applications over virtual and physical networks.
Big-IP v11.4 is the fourth iteration of Big-IP v11, which is the application delivery that was launched by F5 two years ago. Similar to that release, the Big-IP v11.4 has been created to streamline the application deployment process within next-generation data centers, or those using a variety of hardware, virtual and cloud environments.
The director of Enterprise Marketing Architecture at F5, Alan Murphy, said: “We have all these customers who are trying to use these new technologies as they come into the data center, or they are trying to use off-premise technologies, like those from a cloud provider. And they are having a really difficult time in two areas.”
According to Murphy, the first is the management of application growth, particularly as there are more mobile devices used in the enterprise. Second is the control and management of applications across hybrid data centers, or those comprised of both on and off-premise environments.
F5’s ScaleN architecture supports Big-IP v11.4 in addressing these challenges. ScaleN can scale up or scale out to produce an elastic application delivery controller (ADC) processing platform which conforms itself as business needs change. Put another way, ScaleN is able to choose network resources for specific applications or services as needed, and then automatically dial those resources down when they aren’t.
Murphy commented: “With the v11.4 release, we see the culmination of a lot of work that has gone into ScaleN on the hardware and software side, and we have seen the full realization of what this technology can do. ScaleN was designed from the ground up to be the scaling mechanism for all of our hardware and software combined.”
F5’s physical and virtual application delivery appliances support ScaleN, and the Big-IP 5000 and 7000 series application controllers, which were brought out with Big-IP v11.4, are part of this.
The new iCall technology from F5 is also included in Big-IP v11.4. iCall, and through integration with F5’s Application Visibility and Reporting (AVR) system, enables Big-IP appliances to alter traffic distribution dependent upon network policies. For example, if a policy notes a certain application, like Microsoft Exchange, should never use over 80 percent of a network’s resources, iCall is able to acknowledge and implement that policy. Murphy stated: “iCall, at its heart, goes back to application visibility.”
Furthermore, native integration for software-defined networking topologies such as VXLAN and NVGR are included with Big-IP v11.4. In relation to the SDN trend, F5 has commented that it will “expand capabilities.” FishNet Security is a Kansas City, Missouri-based solution provider, and its CEO and co-founder, Gary Fish, said that although the Big-IP v11.4 will not have an effect on his business as an F5 partner straight away, it will highlight the industry’s move towards more programmable, software-based data centers.
Fish said: “The idea of the programmable network is starting to take hold. In reality, I think [adoption] is going to take a little bit, but enhancements like this from manufacturers like F5 will continue to open the door to making this a reality.” (CY) Link