F5 BIG-IP Release Handles Cloud, SDN Environment Management

F5 Networks has completed its vision of an “everywhere, anywhere” application delivery world with the release of BIG-IP 11.4 application delivery manager, which tackles the complexities associated with managing cloud and software defined network (SDN) environments.

“BIG-IP 11.4 is a huge feature release but the important part is its closes out the vision we set out two years ago when started with 11.x branch of products,” said Alan Murphy, director of Enterprise Marketing Architecture at F5. “The culmination of all pieces from 2010 to today realizes our vision of application delivery resources everywhere, anywhere.

“It’s kind of like graduating college,” he said.

The latest release addresses in particular the issues of delivering to cloud or SDN environments, which often can muck up even the best of networking intentions.

“The No. 1 limiter of this everywhere, anywhere vision has been how to manage an SDN or cloud environment and [answer the question,] how do I have total control of the environment when move to the cloud?” Murphy said. “This release gives a level of control, manageability, support and scale so when it spins up in a new environment the application service is treated as though were a local service.”

BIG-IP 11.4, available as either a hardware appliance or a virtual appliance, integrates with existing SDN environments through VMware (VMW) and Microsoft (MSFT) virtualization solutions, Murphy noted, so users can create an infrastructure that scales the applications along with the network, cutting down on issues related to performance. And that’s good, considering SDN’s potential throughout the entire networking stack, Murphy said.

“I don’t believe SDN will stay relegated to the networking side – its power and value will be felt across both the networking and the application layers,” he said. “Right now it is very much dictated on Layer 2 and Layer 3. It’s cool but really it’s nothing more than a software replacement for plugging a wire into a switch. However, once the market is comfortable with replacing their hardware with virtual, and want to see how they can realize the efficiencies at the application layers (layers 4 through 7), I believe the SDN space will explode. We’re just now at the point where people are comfortable asking, ‘Can I put everything in the cloud?’ I think SDN will take that same path.”

F5 also announced iCall, a new management technology that integrates with other existing network management offerings and acts as “the brains that enacts the scaling,” Murphy said. “iCall is integrated with enterprise manager at the enterprise level and BIG-IQ, and integrates with all of the big-name management players to share information and share events so when they see a problem they send us a message so we can manage users such that they don’t see any difference in quality of service.”

At the end of the day, he said, it’s about ensuring a positive user experience. “It all comes back to ensuring apps are available and tools are available to move the business forward without the network getting in the way.”