F5 Networks Puts ADCs in Charge

According to Eric Giesa, F5 Networks vice president of product management and marketing, version 11 of F5 Networks’ BIG-IP software creates an application control backplane that allows IT organizations to not only dynamically provision applications, but also allocate what server, storage and network resources each application will be allowed to invoke.

The latest version of the company’s BIG-IP software, says Giesa, allows IT organizations to provision applications, including the network and underlying storage resources required, in a matter of minutes. Many IT organizations can provision a virtual machine quickly, but it still takes weeks to allocate networking and storage resources. Because the ADC is integrated with all of these devices, Giesa says it is only natural the ADC serve as central points of control.

To make it easier to access this capability, F5 Networks is also rolling out a series of iApp tools that IT organizations can use as templates for deploying applications, or they can choose to develop their own iApp templates, said Giesa.

In addition, F5 Networks is also releasing a new Application Security Manager that is based on version 11 of its BIG-IP software.

Version 11 of the company’s BIG-IP software will be available in the third quarter.